Health
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Sutter West Bay Hospitals and Sutter West Bay Medical Foundation have named a new chairman of the board and new members.
Sutter Health West Bay Region includes California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Novato Community Hospital, Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation and Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport.
Frederick L. Johnson, M.D. joins as a new board member from the Lake County area. Dr. Johnson is the Director of Anesthesia Services and Chief of Staff at Sutter Lakeside Hospital. He also serves as president of Lake County Anesthesia PC.
Upon completion of his bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, MD., Johnson worked for six years in multiple hospital settings prior to matriculating into the State University of New York Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. where he earned his medical degree. His medical internship and first year of anesthesia residency were performed at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.
When his wife, Dr. Helen V. Johnson, also an anesthesiologist, was recruited to a faculty position at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, he transferred to Vanderbilt where he completed the final two years of residency training.
His interest in pediatric anesthesiology prompted him to accept a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1996, he and his wife were recruited to Sutter Lakeside Hospital. His family resides in Kelseyville.
Dr. Diane Pege, Director of Medical Affairs at Sutter Lakeside Hospital states, “Dr. Johnson will be a valuable addition to the West Bay Region Board. He has a thorough understanding of the challenges that we face as a small community hospital and he’ll be able to represent us well at a regional level. I’m beyond pleased by his appointment.”
Anthony G. Wagner of San Francisco was named chairman of the board. Also joining the board as new members are Susan H. Day, M.D., Emil Roy Eisenhardt, and Katherine Hsiao, M.D.
To learn more about Sutter Lakeside, please visit www.sutterlakeside.org/ .
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Adventist Health and Blue Shield announced a new telehealth initiative to help individuals and families in rural northern California communities to access specialty care in their area.
Many patients in these regions currently drive long distances to seek specialty care due to a lack of local specialists.
With this program, Blue Shield members can be diagnosed and treated by specialists from across the state through interactive video technology available at a local Adventist telehealth site.
The telehealth collaboration will reduce travel time and expense for patients while increasing their access to high-quality care.
The program is targeted to Blue Shield individual and family plan customers, including those who purchased coverage through Covered California.
Available specialties include cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology (diabetes), pulmonology, rheumatology (arthritis), orthopedics, infectious disease, nephrology, gastroenterology, general surgery and spine surgery.
The specialists are Adventist Health physicians and are contracted in the Blue Shield network. A patient can be referred by their local primary physician or can self-refer, make an appointment through a centralized care coordination call center, and go to their local Adventist Health telehealth location for their office visit.
Participating Adventist Health telehealth sites are located in the following cities in Paradise, Clearlake, Ukiah, Willits, Fort Bragg, St. Helena, Napa, Sonora and Dinuba.
The member’s cost for a telehealth visit is the same as their plan’s co-pay/co-insurance amount for specialist visits with an in-network provider.
“Adventist Health’s telehealth program will help ensure that patients get the care they need by providing access to specialists who are currently unavailable in many rural markets,” said Steven Herber, MD, interim ceo, St. Helena Hospital Region. “This program makes getting specialty care more convenient. Because telemedicine enables patients to get evaluated and treated sooner, it should enhance the patient experience and improve their health outcomes.”
Each telehealth site is equipped with specialized interactive video technology which allows the patient to see, hear and interact with their specialist.
A clinical coordinator in the office assists the patient and utilizes diagnostic equipment including an electronic stethoscope, vital signs monitor, and high definition camera to send accurate data, images and audio to the specialist during the visit.
The visits are private and confidential, with the patient’s information encrypted and transmitted through a highly secure connection on the Adventist Health secure data network.
Blue Shield individual and family plan members interested in scheduling a telehealth visit should call 1-866-832-8218.
Visit www.blueshieldca.com/telehealth for more information.
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