Health
The File of Life is an emergency information sheet for each member of your family that is kept on your refrigerator door in a magnetic envelope for easy reach by ambulance, fire or rescue personnel.
Should you be unable to respond, all your medical information will be handy.
Benefits to first responders
Faster help for citizens in emergencies;
Instantly know medical history of patient;
Corrective treatment can begin immediately.
Benefits to hospital emergency staff
On arrival, data is immediately available to medical staff;
No wasted time getting information from confused patient.
Benefits to each individual
Peace of mind knowing they will have prompt, quality care;
Easy access to potentially life-saving information;
Assistance that proper persons will be notified quickly.
Place your File of Life sticker on your front door or window; this will let the emergency people know where to look for information.
Use a pencil to fill out your information in the File of Life. This will make it easier to make changes as your medications or doctors change.
On the File of Life information sheet, put down all your medications, the name(s) of your doctor(s), and family members or friends that should be contacted if something happens to you.
Your doctor, family, friends or social worker can help you fill out your information sheet.
Remember to update your File of Life any time you start a new medication or see a new doctor.
File of Life Packets are available at the main office of the Hidden Valley Lake Association on Hidden Valley Road, at the Middletown Fire Station on Highway 175 and at the House of Bargains located next door to the Middletown Fire Station.
The File of Life Program is only for South Lake County Residents; however, if you live outside the area and wish to learn how to start this program in your area, please contact Babe Vecellio at 707-987-3535 and she will give you the necessary resource information.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Chronic pain caused by disease or injury saps the joy from life, isolating and debilitating those who suffer from it.
Causes may be difficult to discover, and traditional medication-based therapies are frequently ineffective.
That’s why Maggie Willhite, program manager for Live Well at Clearlake Family Health Center, is excited by record numbers of patient visits.
“This means that we’re reaching more and more members of our community with our message of hope: you can do something about chronic pain and illness,” she said.
Over the past few months, patient visits have doubled, with Live Well now often serving over 100 patients each day, more than 1,500 per month.
“The best form of advertising is changed lives,” said Willhite. “Some patients have had dramatic changes, such as one woman who had been doubled over for decades with chronic pain. After working with one of our Functional Health Coaches, she was able to stand upright and walk out of Live Well with significantly less pain and improved range of motion. We have so many similar stories.”
The emphasis at Live Well is on whole-person approaches to these often complex health issues.
Pain from chronic conditions is often invisible to others, isolating patients emotionally and physically. It may be caused by many conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, fibromyalgia, or depression.
“We start with a quality of life assessment with a behavioral health provider to gain an understanding of both the impacts and the causes of the pain,” Willhite said.
Often, the assessment uncovers contributing behaviors such as diet or inactivity. Case managers are available to help with basic needs of daily living and others such as arranging for needed medical supplies, home help, or specialist care.
At Live Well, it’s all about improving quality of life. “Live Well is unique in that our goal is to treat the whole person, their mind, body and spirit,” said Kimberly Tangermann, associate director of the Clearlake Family Health Center. Patient education focuses on topics such as breathing and relaxation, pacing, dealing with pain, anger and stress management, proper hydration and sleep hygiene.
And while pain is serious business, reducing it doesn’t have to be. “The medical providers and health coaches in our program take an encouraging approach and even try to make it fun. We use Nintendo Wii games as well as more traditional exercises to help patients work toward goals of improved activity.”
Spiritual support is available, plus a growing list of support groups. Live Well currently offers a support group for Hepatitis C patients, with others such as weight loss, smoking cessation, nutrition counseling, and hypertension management in the planning stages.
For the staff at Live Well, seeing the changes in people’s lives and watching hope return are the greatest rewards. Some leave behind the canes they needed when they first walked in the door. Others are finally able to sleep at night. A man in his fifties feels empowered to resume his education. A grandmother achieves her heart’s desire to be able to hold her grandchild again.
It doesn’t get better than that.
For more information, call Live Well at 707-995-4545 or stop by Live Well at the Clearlake Family Health Center on Lakeshore Blvd in Clearlake.
Clearlake Family Health Center is a part of St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake. Live Well accepts MediCal, Medicare and other insurances.
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The clinic will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Walk in or call for an appointment: 707-927-6805 or 707-533-7086.
The office is located at 21128 Calistoga Road (Highway 29) in Middletown.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Stephen Lundin has been appointed chief development officer for St. Helena Hospital Region.
He will provide administrative leadership for philanthropy for the Napa Valley, Clearlake and Vallejo campuses, and executive sponsorship for the St. Helena Hospital Foundation in Napa Valley.
Raising more than $6 million annually, the foundation is a critical source of capital for St. Helena Hospital Napa Valley, funding advancements in programs and facilities to benefit the community.
“Our hospitals rely heavily on the generosity of our friends,” said Terry Newmyer, president and chief executive officer of the St. Helena Region of Adventist Health. “Steve's work will focus on securing meaningful gifts that will allow us to truly achieve excellence on behalf of health delivery for our patients.”
After completing a bachelor of arts degree in economics from UC Berkeley in 1974, Lundin returned to begin his fundraising career there in 1976 as director of annual giving, then as director of major giving.
In 1984 he became vice president of sales for Master Systems, a small software company specializing in fund raising applications for nonprofits, where he gained national recognition as a speaker and writer. The company went on to become the largest of its kind in the West.
He became president and chief executive officer of the Alta Bates Foundation in Berkeley in 1992, and was later named the new CEO when Alta Bates merged with Summit Medical Center in 2000. Under his leadership, the Alta Bates Summit Foundation became one of the leading hospital development programs in Northern California, raising over $140 million for the medical center.
Throughout his career, Lundin has used pioneering techniques, and a gift for inspiring people, to set and achieve visionary goals for hospital development.
“What sets Steve apart is his ability to make fundraising truly an outgrowth of mission,” said David Duncan, chairman of St. Helena Hospital Foundation. “He is not only very effective at creating partnerships with donors, but also at reducing the cost of fundraising, ensuring that each gift has the maximum impact.”
“Working with the community and staff at St. Helena is a tremendous opportunity,” said Lundin. “There’s such a spirit of support and involvement, and the scope of the initiatives we will be funding creates an unprecedented opportunity for individuals to make a real difference. It isn’t only doctors who save lives.”
Formerly a member of the UC Berkeley tennis team and still an avid tennis enthusiast, Lundin has run the No. 1 celebrity tennis tournament in the country, which raised $5 during its 19. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 30 years, Mary Jane, and their two children, Jeff and Abbey.
With its many innovative wellness programs and other top quality health care services, including the Martin-O’Neil Cancer Center and Coon Joint Replacement Institute, St. Helena Hospital, situated in the heart of the Napa Valley, is one of the nation’s premier health care destinations. The hospital serves its local communities with comprehensive medical care, including cancer, cardiovascular and behavioral health.
For more information, visit www.sthelenahospitals.org.
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