Health
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- Written by: Morgen Wells
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Nestled in the rural mountains of Lake County sits an unexpected gem: a cocoon of care for expecting mothers and newborn babies.
Despite its seemingly remote location, Sutter Lakeside Hospital offers top perinatal care, as well as access to neonatologists who specialize in complex or high-risk infant diagnoses.
Feeding into the Family Birth Center pipeline is Sutter Lakeside Community Clinic’s three ob-gyns, and a nurse practitioner who specializes in women’s health.
All four providers serve Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s Family Birth Center, and combined deliver about half of all babies born in Lake County.
“Staffing a full panel of ob-gyn providers ensures prenatal access to women as soon as they need it,” said Director of Clinics Leeann Hadgis, RN. “Our close proximity to the hospital also allows providers to check in on their patients, be available for surgery and provide 24/7 coverage to our Family Birth Center.”
A new addition
Longstanding providers include Derrick Barnes, MD, Jeannie Pflum, DO, and Lorena Watson, NP. The clinic and Family Birth Center also recently welcomed Bryan Murphy, MD.
“Dr. Murphy joined our talented team of providers from a rural facility in North Carolina,” said Hadgis. “He’s a great addition, and enjoys practicing in a close knit community.”
“I decided to pursue medicine because I love taking care of people,” said Murphy. “Life is a gift, and Ob-Gyn is a specialty that allows you to deal with all aspects: internal medicine, surgery, bringing life into the world.”
After a decade of experience, Murphy finds fulfillment in rural practice.
“Rural areas are in great need of doctors. I want to be part of meeting that need.”
Drs. Murphy, Barnes and Pflum are all board certified in obstetrics and gynecology; Watson is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner who specializes in women’s care, labor and delivery, and holds additional certifications as a lactation specialist, childbirth educator and Spanish medical translator.
Clinical excellence close to home
While oftentimes the doctor-patient relationship begins in the clinic, some patients’ first experience with their delivering physician is in the Birth Center.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital boasts excellent clinical care; recently the California Health and Human Services Agency recognized SLH for low cesarean section (C-section) birth rates. The most recently available data shows that Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s C-section rate is nearly 4 percent lower than the national goal of 23.9 percent.
“Our bedside nursing staff are trained to encourage labor positions and strategies known to support the reduction of primary C-section,” said Family Birth Center Manager Jackie Rad, RN, MSN. “We are honored by the Health and Human Services recognition, but the best reward is helping mothers deliver healthy babies.”
In the event that a delivery does not go as expected, Sutter Lakeside’s team can instantly connect with a neonatologist at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital. The telemedicine program, funded by philanthropy, debuted last year.
“We can’t emphasize enough the importance of access to high level specialists during the first hours and days of a baby’s life,” said Rad. “A conference with a neonatologist, who specializes in newborns, can help determine which level of a care an infant requires.”
The Birth Center’s facilities match its quality; recently the unit underwent a remodel. Each patient labors and delivers in a private, spacious room equipped with sleeping accommodations for family members, a private bathroom with a shower or shower-tub and room service dining options.
For more information or to schedule a tour, call the Family Birth Center at 707-262-5087.
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- Written by: Jan Cook
Two classes will be held on Friday, March 2, one at 10 a.m. at Redbud Library, 14785 Burns Valley Road in Clearlake, and one at noon at Middletown Library, 21256 Washington St.
On Saturday, March 3, two classes will be held, one at noon at Upper Lake Library, 310 Second St., and one at 2 p.m. at Lakeport Library, 1425 N. High St.
This class is designed for all community members to learn about early detection of breast and cervical cancer, risk factors and screening and prevention.
Class guests will have a chance to find out if they qualify for free breast and cervical cancer screenings.
The California Health Collaborative is a nonprofit organization committed to enhancing the quality of life and health of the people of California, particularly the underserved and underrepresented.
More information about CHC can be found at https://www.healthcollaborative.org.
The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov, http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary.
For more information call the library at 707-263-8817.
Jan Cook is a technician at the Lake County Library.
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- Written by: Editor
Sutter Lakeside accounts for one of only six California Critical Access Hospitals to receive a four star rating.
“We feel immense pride in this recognition,” said Sutter Lakeside Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Dan Peterson. “CMS ratings consider a hospital’s performance on 57 quality metrics in comparison with other facilities throughout the country. This is the first year that Sutter Lakeside has earned four stars.”
The data, which is publicly available on the medicare.gov website, reports on measures including patient experience survey results, timeliness of care, rate of procedure complications and value of care.
Data is collected from both Medicare and non-Medicare patients, according to the Medicare Web site.
Critical Access refers to a CMS designation given to rural hospitals to ensure access to healthcare in remote communities.
A Critical Access Hospital is licensed for 25 beds, and must network with a hospital capable of taking high acuity patients.
Benefits of Critical Access status include the ability to directly employ physicians, cost-based reimbursement from Medicare and access to Flex Program resources.
“While Sutter Lakeside is the only Critical Access Hospital in the Sutter Health system, we consistently deliver excellent clinical care without losing focus of compassion and empathy for our patients and their experiences,” said Peterson. “We feel privileged to serve the needs of Lake County, and continually strive for improvement.”
Sutter Lakeside’s recent accolades also include an honor-roll designation for C-section rates from the California Health and Human Services Department for reducing cesarean births for low-risk first time mothers.
Additionally, Sutter Lakeside’s overall rating jumped 10 percent last year according to patient experience survey results.
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- Written by: Editor
“Such denials, if they are occurring, could amount to illegal discrimination based on sexual orientation under California law, and if so, the companies doing so could be penalized,” he said.
The New York Times has reported that various insurers nationwide have denied policies to gay men after learning they took Truvada to protect against HIV.
The taking of medication to protect against HIV/AIDS, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“These denials may effectively penalize applicants based on sexual orientation. Insurers cannot choose to deny coverage based on discriminatory reasons,” Jones said.
Jones encouraged any California residents who believe they have been denied coverage because of PrEP to contact the California Department of Insurance by calling its toll-free Consumer Hotline at 800-927-HELP (4357) or by filing a request for assistance online at www.insurance.ca.gov.