After three years, construction on NorthBay Medical Center’s new North Wing was deemed officially complete when the California Office of Statewide Health & Development (OSHPD) completed final inspections on July 17. Immediately after that, move-in plans ramped up.ABOVE: NorthBay Medical Center’s new North Wing is home to 22 patient rooms, a large and brightly decorated…
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Entries Tagged as Healthcare News
Welcome New Physicians
NorthBay Healthcare recently welcomed a new obstetrician/gynecologist to the Center for Women’s Health. Stella Huang, D.O., earned her medical degree at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo and holds a master’s degree in epidemiology from Stanford University School of Medicine. In her new role at NorthBay she is the Inpatient Women’s Health Services…
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On the Road Again
Physicians Team Up to Get Officer Back on his Bike Tony Blencowe, 46, was doing the job he loves when he felt a pinch in his neck. The California Highway Patrol officer was on his motorcycle taking a quick glance over his left shoulder when he felt something snap. It was a motion he’d made…
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Your Best Choice
Everyone wants to be healthy, but no one enjoys mulling over health plans and insurance models. PPO? HMO? It’s an alphabet headache! Yet the decisions you make will impact you and your family for years to come. When you choose a health plan, it’s just the first step on your path to good health. Make…
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Care Team Embraces 101-year-old
ABOVE: The care team for Gerald Simoni (center) includes his girlfriend, Jean Eldridge and NorthBay Center for Primary Care staff (left to right) Tammy Ingham, M.A., Victoria Satterwhite, M.A., and Ali Hassani, M.D.Mary Jameson remembers the first time Gerald Simoni called her. “He was 98 years old and he was taking a vitamin a day,…
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Care ’til 8 Provides After-hour Expertise
It’s never fun for kids or adults to develop a high fever or to wrench a back muscle, but why does it always seem to happen on a Friday? Or late in the afternoon? If your physician isn’t available, does this mean a trip to an emergency room? NorthBay Healthcare has another solution: Care ’til…
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Healthcare Conundrum? Ask Kelly
Want to pick the perfect physician for you and your family? Kelly Rhoads-Poston is ready to help. Prior to joining NorthBay Healthcare 20 years ago as a marketing representative and health plan specialist, she worked in the insurance industry. She understands the complicated health insurance landscape and goes out of her way to help others…
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Mayo Clinic Model Works at NorthBay
Inspiration Streamlines Spine Program NorthBay Healthcare’s collaboration with Mayo Clinic has paved the way for patient-friendly improvements in the NorthBay Spine Program. In November 2018 Edie Zusman, M.D., director of the NorthBay Center for Neuroscience, and Christopher Rumery, M.D., a specialist in pain management, visited the Mayo Clinic’s Phoenix location, leaving with copious notes and…
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Nurse Camp Celebrates 15 years
More than 30 students (right) from throughout Solano County who were selected to participate in the 2019 NorthBay Nurse Camp were able to take part in hands-on activities during their four-day session, exploring Surgery, Labor & Delivery, the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department and the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. It was a lively, friendly group of…
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OLE Health: A Powerful Safety Net
Since opening its second Fairfield health center in November in NorthBay Health Plaza — located across the street from NorthBay Medical Center — OLE Health has reached a growing population of those most vulnerable when it comes to finding health care. Many local residents now have access to convenient, seamless and comprehensive health services they didn’t before its opening….
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Community Health Education Classes
Nominate a Special Nurse. Visit NorthBay.org/DAISY Healthier Living • A six-week class offered several times during the year, taught in conjunction with Solano Public Health and the Area Agency on Aging. Classes are free but space is limited. Call (707) 646-5469. Caregivers’ Support Group • For anyone involved in caring for a loved one with…
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NorthBay Urgent Care: A Proven Success
NorthBay Urgent Care began as a vision intended to offer great patient access in a retail setting, and after its first full year of service, has been deemed a proven success, according to Wayne Gietz, vice president of NorthBay Healthcare’s Ambulatory Division. Instant Visits, an Instant Hit Instant Visits is a new service offered through…
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Welcome New Physicians
NorthBay Healthcare has welcomed two radiation oncologists to the NorthBay Cancer Center team. Stephen J.M. Banks, M.D. and David John Tate, M.D. have worked together for many years and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience. Both are board-certified by the American Board of Radiology. Dr. Banks grew up in Connecticut and earned his medical…
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Community Health Education Classes
Nominate a Special Nurse. Visit NorthBay.org/DAISY Healthier Living • A six-week class offered several times during the year, taught in conjunction with Solano Public Health and the Area Agency on Aging. Classes are free but space is limited. Call (707) 646-5469. Caregivers’ Support Group • For anyone involved in caring for a loved one with…
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Welcome New Physician
Neil P. Pathare, M.D., has joined NorthBay Healthcare’s team of orthopedic specialists. Dr. Pathare earned his medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and specializes in advanced arthroscopic and minimally invasive surgery, ligament reconstruction and cartilage restoration procedures as well as fracture care, tendon repair and joint replacement. During his fellowship training,…
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Get Your Ticket to a Joyous Jubilee
32nd annual Solano Wine & Food Jubilee Saturday May 18, 6:30 p.m. Harbison Event Center at the Nut Tree in Vacaville A benefit for NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement The 2019 Jubilee will offer ticketholders a “wine country casual” experience, as they stroll about the Harbison Event Center, sampling some of the area’s best foods and…
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Wing on the Rise
With major construction projects wrapping up and a big anniversary to celebrate, 2019 is shaping up to be a big year for facilities at NorthBay Healthcare. A project to expand NorthBay Medical Center’s Emergency Department is in its fourth and final phase, as an additional 10 beds were added in December, bringing the number to…
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NorthBay & OLE Health: a Good Team!
Since NorthBay Healthcare and OLE Health launched a rare partnership in November 2018, there’s been help for a steady stream of some of Solano County’s most vulnerable patients. “It’s been phenomenal to see the rapid growth and overall community satisfaction. I attribute the overwhelming success of this partnership to the fact that it addresses the…
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Dr. Yang is ROAR Medical Director
NorthBay Healthcare Pediatrician Judy Yang, D.O., knows that when a doctor speaks, parents listen. That’s why she’s committed to using her powers of persuasion to get parents — and eventually their children — reading. And as Solano County’s first-ever medical director for the local Reach Out and Read (ROAR) program, she has the platform to do just that….
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Welcome New Physician
Darshan Patel, M.D., an internal medicine physician, has joined the team at the NorthBay Center for Primary Care in Green Valley, 4520 Business Center Drive, in Fairfield. Dr. Patel earned his medical degree at Smt. B.K., Shaw Medical Institute & Research Center, Gujarat University in India and completed his residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in…
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Help for Warriors Burdened by Grief
“Man up!” That command may stiffen the spines of soldiers hauling heavy packs on grueling training hikes, but it’s not so helpful for veterans hauling the heavy weight of grief. “The military trains you to keep moving, to just deal with it,” said Mike Goodwin, a U.S. Air Force veteran and NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement…
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NorthBay Hospice’s Commitment Says ‘We Honor Veterans’
NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement joined the “We Honor Veterans” program in 2016 and is now recognized with its highest honor as a “Level Four” partner. The program is a collaboration between NorthBay, the Department of Veteran Affairs and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. The program’s mission is to help NorthBay Hospice better serve…
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Hundreds at NorthBay Honored to Serve
And They Continue Caring for Others in New Civilian Roles Nearly 200 of NorthBay Healthcare’s 2,600 employees are classified as veterans, and they can be found in every nook and corner of the organization, operating CT scanners and taking X-rays, caring for patients in Labor & Delivery, working in security and sanitizing patient rooms. They…
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Controlling Chaos: An Acquired Skill
Julian Gallegos was a fairly new nurse in the U.S. Air Force when he was sent to Germany’s Ramstein Air Base to help care for service members being flown in from the war zone in Iraq. He met incoming flights and cared for patients — whose injuries ranged from minor to critical —as they were…
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Air Force Helped Her Discover Her Specialty
Sometimes you need to create your own opportunities, and for Deborah Murray, M.D., those opportunities—through the U.S. Air Force —led to a highly satisfying medical career. She followed in her father’s and stepfather’s footsteps and joined the Air Force as a medical technician. After eight years, she wanted more, so she left the Air Force…
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Life Lessons on a C-130
There’s nothing like delivering care to wounded warriors in the back of a flying, vibrating C-130 to push a doctor out of his hospital comfort zone. But according to NorthBay Healthcare cardiac anesthesiologist Adam Tibble, M.D., his four years in the Air Force as a physician with Critical Care Air Transport resulted in some of…
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Trauma Skills Honed in the Shadow of War
Above: William Fulton, D.O., shows an image from his Army days. Surgeon William Fulton, D.O., learned many powerful lessons during Operation Iraqi Freedom, especially during a brief stint at the Army’s busiest trauma center in Landstuhl, Germany, working alongside world- renowned trauma surgeons, including Dr. E. Gene Moore, “The Godfather of Trauma Surgery.” He treated…
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Former Flight Surgeon Still Soaring
Physician Keeps Solano Work Force Grounded Above: Yolanta Petrofsky, M.D., has mastered flexibility, thanks to a world-wide range of experiences from her days in the U.S. Air Force. A quick look at the resume of Yolanta Petrofsky, M.D., and you’ll quickly confirm that there’s not much she can’t do. While in the Air Force, the…
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Military Mission Brings Family Closer Together and Leads to Travis
In 1989, Dan Hartley was a newly married father-to-be working as a nurse in a Seattle hospital, but he wanted to be closer to family in Arizona. So he joined the Air Force and landed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. He became a second lieutenant and a perioperative nurse. When he left…
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The Mission Transcends the Job
Physician Assistant Joel Ambrosio says his two years as a hospital corpsman (medic) in the U.S. Navy instilled in him the drive to give his all and offer his best for the mission, every encounter, every time. That has translated to his job now, as a physician assistant at the NorthBay Center for Primary Care…
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Pediatrician Learned to Lead, Military Offered Opportunities
Pediatrician Bruce Hewett, M.D., did not intend to have a lifetime career in the military. “I just kept kicking the can down the street,” said the retired colonel. “They kept making me bigger and better offers.” He was the middle of six siblings to go to college and wanted a way to spare his parents…
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Veteran in Paradise
Physician Enjoys Offering Care to Fellow Vets Twice a month, Douglas Freeman, M.D., slips on one of his patriotic ties and makes the drive to Paradise Valley Estates, a retirement community in Fairfield that is home to some very special patients—many veterans and spouses of veterans. Above: Douglas Freeman, M.D., enjoys chatting with patient Bruce…
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Our Special Honorary Commanders
In 2016, Two NorthBay senior managers became Honorary Commanders at Travis Air Force Base. Aimee Brewer, president of NorthBay Medical Group, was sworn in to serve with Col. Mark Coakwell, left in photo, commander of the 60th Aerospace Medicine Squadron. Meanwhile, Konard Jones, president and CEO, became honorary commander of the 60th Diagnostics and Therapeutics…
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Collaboration: Priceless
Partnership with NorthBay, David Grant Saves Lives You don’t need an economist to put a dollar figure on the value of partnership between NorthBay Healthcare and David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center. It only takes one of the many patients who are alive today because of that collaboration to tell you it’s priceless. Above:…
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Welcome New Physician
Keith Allen, M.D., cardiothoracic surgeon, has joined the NorthBay Heart & Vascular Center. Dr. Allen earned his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and comes to NorthBay from a hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he served as division chair of cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery. He is certified by the American Board…
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Our Specialty Services From Arthritis to Wounds
Attacking Arthritis Patients with complex arthritis and autoimmune diseases need special treatment and care to maintain a quality of life. That’s what they receive from Melissa Schoenwetter, D.O., who leads NorthBay Healthcare’s Rheumatology program. After serving 11 years with the U.S. Air Force, she established her practice with NorthBay Healthcare at her VacaValley Health Plaza…
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Hospital President Begins Video Blog
NorthBay Healthcare Group President Aimee Brewer has a unique perspective on the NorthBay Healthcare system, and she’s ready to share it with the world, via a video blog starting this September. “Did You Know” is a first-of-its-kind video venture for a healthcare system president. It will feature interviews with physicians, nurses, staff and patients. It…
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Preparing the Next Generation to Be Our First Responders
NorthBay Healthcare is connecting with local schools and community programs, through a new Healthcare Academy program, with the goal of inspiring the emergency responders of tomorrow. NorthBay Trauma Center and the Fairfield Police Activities League (PAL) team up on the fourth Monday of each month at the PAL “Career Café” program to conduct presentations, provide…
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Fourth Star for Veterans Program
NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement has earned its fourth star in the We Honor Veterans program, making it the only level-four organization based in Solano County. The national program has helped NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement improve its ability to serve veterans and their families, and to ensure veterans have access to quality end-of-life care, according to…
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Know Your After-Hours Medical Choices
Physician Assistant Rita Keileh examines a cut on Jodi Danley’s fingers during a NorthBay Urgent Care visit. It’s good to have choices, unless those choices leave you confused. That’s why anyone needing medical care after hours needs to understand their options and choose wisely. EMERGENCY MEDICINE: This is what you need when it comes to…
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Urgent Care Center Opens at Nut Tree
Solano County’s first retail-based urgent care clinic opened in the Nut Tree Plaza in January, to a packed house of VIPs—NorthBay Healthcare leaders, board members, civic leaders and lawmakers—just hours before the first patient walked through the front door. An affordable and convenient alternative to the hospital emergency room, NorthBay Urgent Care occupies 4,000 square…
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Surgeon Shares Patient’s Desire to Raise Awareness
Petra Pohl didn’t realize when she launched her drive to raise colorectal cancer awareness that her NorthBay Healthcare surgeon, Courtney Chambers, M.D., had also made it his focus. It was a disease that hit close to home for Dr. Chambers, whose wife’s mother died at age 42 from metastatic colon cancer. “An estimated 50,000 people…
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NorthBay Medical Center Addition Right on Schedule
The three-story addition to NorthBay Medical Center is right on schedule to open in the summer of 2019. The roof was completed in December and 80 percent of the windows have been installed, explained Eric VanPelt, project manager. Work is underway on all three floors of the building. On the first and second floors, wall…
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Longtime Leader Stepping Down
Longtime civic leader G. Ben Huber’s three decades of visionary stewardship of North- Bay Healthcare and other civic organizations came to a close in mid-February when he resigned his post on the Board of Directors. Relocating with his wife, Margaret, to Idaho to be closer to family in full-time retirement, Huber was feted at a…
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Welcome New Physician
Pooja Patricia de Sa, M.D., comes to NorthBay from Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento where she has worked for the past two years as a pulmonary and critical care physician. She is a graduate of Terna Medical College in Mumbai, India and served her residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science…
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In the Event of a Crisis, NorthBay is Ever Ready
In 2016, it was a collision between a train and two buses that sent 120 people to local hospitals.In 2015, it was an explosion on the Suisun City waterfront, and the year before an Ebola outbreak.In each case it was a test, only a test—part of a drill involving hospitals and first responders throughout the…
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NICU Earns Press Ganey’s Guardian of Excellence Award
NorthBay Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was named a 2017 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner by Press Ganey. The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have consistently achieved the 95th percentile or above of performance in the category of the Patient Experience. “This award represents an important recognition from…
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Foundation Receives Generous Gift
NorthBay Healthcare Foundation learned late last year that long-time Fairfield resident Bessie Day had willed a gift of $200,000 to NorthBay Healthcare. Bessie Day loved her job serving the residents of Fairfield first as secretary to then-City Manager B. Gale Wilson, and then as Fairfield’s City Clerk until her retirement in 1999. In those roles,…
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#HealthTipTuesday: ‘Engage-Mint’ Reminder
You’ve liked us on Facebook, now NorthBay wants to take our relationship to a whole new level. We want you to be engaged. Don’t just follow our #HealthTipTuesday posts—share them. Comment on them! By doing so, you just might win a $50 gift card. #HealthTipTuesday was launched in September to showcase some of NorthBay Healthcare’s…
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Welcome New Physicians
The NorthBay Center for Primary Care welcomes two new family practitioners to its practice: Marikit Bituin Parker, M.D., earned her medical degree from Silliman University Medical School in the Philippines. She completed post-graduate training in family medicine at the University of Michigan—Mid Michigan Medical Center in Midland. She practices at the Vacaville Center for Primary…
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