Health
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital invites community members to celebrate National Social Work Month on Tuesday, March 19, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the hospital’s conference room.
Guests will have the opportunity to speak with Lake County social workers, network and enjoy speakers.
Refreshments will be provided and the event is free-of-charge.
March is National Social Work Month, which serves as a time for social workers to educate the public about the role that they play in the lives of the public.
Social workers strive to reduce social problems within society, help people in need, and enhance the welfare of individuals, families, organizations and communities.
“I assist every department in the hospital when there is a social work need,” said Nikki Bullock, Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s social worker. “For instance, I may attend a code blue to help support a family when a loved one is dying, or I may be called to help a patient receive news about a terminal diagnosis. I also provide resources to struggling families, report instances of child and elder abuse, and assist people with housing resources.”
“National Social Work Month creates awareness about the value of what social workers do every day,” said Sutter Lakeside Chief Administrative Officer, Siri Nelson. “We want Lake County to understand that at Sutter Lakeside, a social worker is available to assist them in challenging situations that arise when a family member is hospitalized.”
Sutter Lakeside Hospital is located at 5176 Hill Road East, Lakeport.
If you have questions about the event, or if you would like to RSVP, please contact Nikki Bullock, Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s social worker, at 707-262-5033, or send an email to
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For HIV-infected patients whose disease is well-controlled by modern treatment, the risk of death is not significantly higher than in the general population, according to a study published in AIDS, official journal of the International AIDS Society.
AIDS is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
The study suggests that patients with undetectable viral loads and near-normal levels of immune cells on state-of-the art antiretroviral therapy (ART) can expect to have about the same risk of death as people without HIV.
Dr. Alison Rodger of University College London and colleagues assessed mortality rates in a group of patients with "optimally treated" HIV, drawn from two major trials of treatment for HIV infection: the ESPRIT and SMART trials.
The analysis included nearly 3,300 patients who were not injecting drug users and who received continuous ART.
On treatment, all had achieved undetectable HIV levels and had relatively high levels of CD4+ cells, a key population of immune cells.
The patients' average age was 43 years; 80 percent were men. Rates and causes of death in these patients with well-controlled HIV were compared with those in the general population.
During a median follow-up of about three years, 62 of the patients died. The most common causes of death were cardiovascular disease or sudden death, responsible for 31 percent of deaths; and non-HIV-related cancers, 19 percent. Only two deaths (three percent) were considered AIDS-related.
Patients with below-normal CD4+ cell counts were at elevated risk of death. Based on the standardized mortality ratio, the risk of death in this group was 77 percent higher than in the general population.
However, in HIV-infected patients with higher CD4+ cell count, the risk of death was not significantly higher than in the general population. For this group, the risk of death was essentially normal regardless of how low the CD4+ cell count dipped during treatment, as long as it returned to normal.
Over the years, effective ART regimens for HIV infection have become simpler, less toxic, and more effective.
"Due to the success of ART, it is relevant to ask if death rates in optimally treated HIV are higher than the general population," the researchers wrote.
Previous studies have suggested that, with successful treatment, mortality risk approaches that of people without HIV.
However, these studies have had important limitations, including a lack of complete information on patient outcomes. The use of comprehensive follow-up data from the ESPRIT and SMART trials overcomes this limitation.
The new study provides the best evidence yet that, with effective ART that achieving good disease control, the mortality rate for people with HIV is essentially the same as in the general population.
Dr Rodger and colleagues concluded, "Our data support the importance of early diagnosis and treatment to improve clinical outcomes and it is likely that much of the excess mortality associated with HIV would be preventable with timely diagnosis of HIV and initiation of ART."
Further studies will be needed to clarify the implications for HIV treatment, including the best time to start ART based on CD4+ cell counts. The researchers also note that other causes of illness or death emerge as the current generation of treated HIV-infected people continues to age.
"Rodger and colleagues add to the considerable body of evidence on which early treatment initiation guidelines are based," said Veronica Miller, PhD, Director of the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research. "Together with studies indicating equal benefit across risk groups, including injecting drug users, as long as individuals are maintained in care, this study further validates universal testing with immediate linkage and retention in care policies."
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Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have selected the health insurance plan in their state that will serve as the “essential health benefit” package sold by all insurers participating in the new health insurance marketplace and the individual and small-group markets beginning January 2014, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study.
Designed to improve the adequacy of health coverage, the essential health benefit covers 10 broad service categories, including ambulatory patient care, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, and prescription drugs.
The federal government allowed each state to choose a benchmark plan to help meet the Affordable Care Act requirement that the essential health benefit reflect a typical employer health insurance plan.
The report, Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Choosing an Essential Health Benefits Benchmark Plan, by Sabrina Corlette and colleagues at Georgetown University, reviews states’ progress in selecting these benchmark plans between January 1, 2012, and October 15, 2012.
The authors found that 19 of the states that selected plans chose existing small-group plans – typically employer-based plans for businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The remaining five states selected HMO or state employee benefit plans.
For states that did not select a benchmark plan, the federal government will designate the largest small-group plan in the state as the benchmark, meaning that the majority of states will have the most widely purchased small-group plan in the state as the basis of their essential health benefit.
According to the report, selecting existing small-group market plans, which are similar to what many consumers already have, will likely mean a smoother transition into the new marketplaces and an easier adjustment to the new rules.
“Many consumers who purchased health plans on their own do not have insurance that covers all their health needs,” said Commonwealth Fund vice president Sara Collins. “The new essential health benefit is designed to ensure people have comprehensive plans. But the federal government allowed states considerable flexibility in adopting this new standard to fit their local insurance markets.”
In an in-depth investigation into how 10 states arrived at their benchmark plan, the authors found that states conducted analyses of plan enrollment and costs, and engaged consumer and patient groups, insurers, and specialty physicians in their decision-making process. The desire to preserve state benefit mandates not included in the federal essential health benefit package was also a factor in choosing benchmark plans.
“State officials are now turning to implementation of the essential health benefits requirements,” said Corlette, lead author of the report. “Several officials noted that they would likely need to enact state legislation to ensure their departments of insurance will have the authority to enforce these new benefit standards for consumers.”
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will evaluate the benchmark selection process and may choose to revisit it in 2016. If that is the case, the authors recommend that the federal government establish minimum standards that states must use when selecting their benchmark plans. Noting that state officials have unanswered questions about implementation of the essential health benefit, the authors say that HHS should be responsive to and flexible in accommodating states’ needs as the transition progresses.
“We are in the process of a significant shift in how health insurance is packaged and sold across the country, and the essential health benefit is a remarkable change,” said Commonwealth Fund president David Blumenthal. “For the first time, consumers will be guaranteed comprehensive insurance coverage that will enable them to get the health care they need.”
The report is available at http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2013/Essential-Health-Benefits-Benchmark.apsx .
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UKIAH, Calif. – On Monday, March 11, Ukiah Valley Medical Center nursing and medical staff began an intensive training course on diagnosing and treating sepsis, the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States.
“Sepsis is a deadly infection in which bacteria overwhelms the body's natural immune system,” said Registered Nurse Kristen Marin, a nurse educator at UVMC.
“Sepsis can begin as a normal infection in people of all ages, but is particularly dangerous in newborn infants and the elderly,” Marin explained. “When the infection enters the body's bloodstream, it can result in a deadly outcome.”
Sepsis is a serious issue facing all health care professionals; approximately 750,000 people develop sepsis and more than 200,000 people die each year from sepsis in the United States.
The MSC SimSuite Sepsis Mobile Simulation Lab uses lifelike simulated mannequins. UVMC nurses and physicians will interact with the mannequins as they would with real patients to diagnose and treat sepsis based on the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines.
“I am excited that we are implementing this program to help our nurses and physicians develop confidence in applying best practices in sepsis identification and treatment, as well as improving communication skills with patients and staff, to help meet the goal of reducing sepsis-associated mortality,” said Laura L. Wedderburn, M.D., director of the hospitalist program and internal medicine physician at UVMC.
The MSC Sepsis Simulation-based training has been proven to help health care professionals take more appropriate and immediate action in administering evidence-based care to patients, and improve providers’ confidence levels in managing patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
“Though we don’t have a high rate of sepsis, this will help give our community even more confidence in the personal high-quality care you should expect from your community hospital,” said Vice President of Patient Care Heather Van Housen.
“This training has been made available by the generous gift Marie McGarrity made to UVMC to further the education of our staff and benefit the welfare of our community,” said Director of Philanthropy Allyne Brown.
If you are interested in learning about the numerous opportunities for gift giving, please contact UVMC’s philanthropy department at 707-463-5224.
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