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LAKEPORT – Sutter Lakeside Hospital chief executive officer Kelly Mather says she's leaving the position for a new job in the Sutter Health organization.
Mather, who has led the hospital since 2001, will leave Sutter Lakeside Sept. 2.
“This was a very difficult decision for my family and me as my time at Sutter Lakeside has been richly rewarding,” Mather said in a statement. “Sutter Lakeside is a 'healing hospital' pioneer and I look forward to sharing its successes with other health care organizations.”
In her new job she'll be heading Sutter Health’s efforts to promote the wellness model of health care and improve community health programs throughout Northern California.
The Sutter Lakeside Board of Directors has begun the process of hiring a successor to Mather and will rely on existing local and regional leadership to oversee hospital operations while the search unfolds.
Bill Kearney, Sutter Lakeside’s Board chairman, praised Mather's efforts. “Kelly has led the hospital with passion and insight and has gained the respect and admiration of the hospital staff, physicians and the Board of Directors,” he said in a written statement.
Mather served as the chief executive officer of San Leandro Hospital from 1996 to 2001, prior to taking the helm at Sutter Lakeside.
Since 2001, the hospital's capital improvements have included expanding its Emergency Department, adding a surgical pavilion and most recently the Don Pifer Medical Imaging Service, a $10 million dollar renovation to the medical imaging department featuring the latest diagnostic technology and patient conveniences.
In addition, the hospital campus has undergone a major face lift and its Wellness Center has expanded.
Mather has focused on a “healing hospital” model that combines wellness and illness care. She's worked with a Rural Health Partnership model to better address the community health needs of Lake County, and also has helped develop several innovative community benefit programs such as the “Healthy Kids are Contagious” school site program, which provides a health and wellness curriculum to students of Lake County schools.
Sutter Lakeside reported that, under Mather's leadership, the hospital has been one of the few financially stable rural hospitals in California.
However, decreased Medicare reimbursement forced hospital leadership to seek federal assistance, resulting in Sutter Lakeside converting to a Critical Access Hospital in March. That federal designation is meant to provide increased Medicare funding to certain rural hospitals that meet specific criteria.
Mather said she's grateful to all the employees, physicians, community leaders and Lake County residents who have supported the hospital and its over the past seven years.
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BIG VALLEY – It's summertime, which also means it's tule boat racing time at Big Valley Rancheria.
The rancheria's seventh annual Tule Boat Festival, which began Wednesday, will culminate on Friday in the annual tule boat races.
The races will be held on Clear Lake offshore of Big Valley Rancheria, located on Mission Rancheria Road.
The event is a chance for tribal members from around the county to practice the traditional Pomo craft of building sturdy boats from native tules.
Dance groups, activities for youth and environmental demonstrations also are a part of the annual festival.
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The four-fire complex was sparked to the north and northwest of Lake Pillsbury by a dry lightning storm on June 21. It's located on the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger District.
Forest Service spokesman Marc Peebles reported Thursday that the complex is still expected to be fully contained on Saturday.
That's when the last and largest of the complex's fires, the Mill Fire, also will be contained. It's burned 3,043 acres and was at 93-percent containment Thursday.
Overall, the complex had burned approximately 8,652 acres, according to Peebles. There are 810 fire personnel, 22 crews, 29 engines, three dozers, 10 water tenders and three helicopters assigned to the complex.
Peebles said the Southern California Incident Management Team No. 3 – which is headquartered at Upper Lake High School – will remain in unified command with Cal Fire to manage the Soda Complex through Friday at 8 a.m.
Peebles said firefighters have made excellent progress on the fire, improving, holding and performing mop up procedures on containment lines throughout the fire perimeter. He said fire suppression repair work has begun and is being coordinated with district resource advisors.
At the same time, multiple aircraft continue to support firefighters on the ground with water drops, and the area of the complex's contained fires – the Monkey Rock, the Big and the Back – will continue to be patrolled by air, Peebles reported.
Specific figures on the Vinegar Fire on the Mendocino National Forest, which is now managed as part of the Lime Complex, were not available Thursday.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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HOPLAND GRADE – Two people escaped serious injury Thursday afternoon when the vehicle they were riding in went off the roadway and flipped over.
A gold SUV was reported as having gone off the Hopland Grade at 3:53 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officials at the scene reported that the vehicle had flipped over more than once, but that the two occupants had survived and walked away with minor injuries.
The driver may have had a problem due to a medical condition, the CHP reported.
The roadway was closed for at least an hour and a half while emergency personnel assisted the crash victims and removed the totaled vehicle from the scene.
No further information, including names of the vehicle's occupants, was available late Thursday.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson