Above: Steven Gwiazdowski, M.D., cradles one of his young charges in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at NorthBay Medical Center. Neonatologist Steven Gwiazdowski, M.D., had his heart set on becoming a pilot, but that was before a physical determined that nearsightedness was an issue. “In those days, it all but disqualified candidates from flight school,”…
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When it comes to matters of the heart, patients of NorthBay Heart & Vascular Center are served by a team steeped in military know-how, from one of NorthBay Healthcare’s long-time cardiologists and a nurse practitioner, who both served in the Air Force, to two lieutenant colonels currently assigned to David Grant Medical Center at Travis…
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Heart Failure Academy: Your Partner for Life Nurse practitioners Dana Gill, left, and Sherry Ramirez explain the intricacies of heart health, as part of NorthBay’s Heart Failure Academy, to Ernest Maligaya. No one plans to have a heart attack, but if you have one in Solano County, you’re in close proximity to a comprehensive, high-tech,…
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LifeVest Saves Patient Dr. Laybon Jones listens to Dale Bordelon’s heart. Dale Bordelon has defied death. Twice. On two separate occasions last summer, the Vallejo resident suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Each life-threatening event came without warning, he says. “It turned me off like a switch.” But Dale is alive today because each time his…
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Team Helps Heart Failure Patients Stay Out of the Hospital Amy Bragg, R.N., left, and Allison Short, R.N., keep track of high-risk patients, making sure they get the services they need to remain healthy enough to stay out of the hospital. It was 1996 and Amy Bragg’s toddler Timothy was gravely ill, battling a parasite…
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Vacaville Restaurateur Has a Team to Thank for His Life… Kathy and Joe Murdaca The way Joe Murdaca figures it, he was clinically dead for about 48 seconds. It was Oct. 10, 2013, and he was driving back from his restaurant, Pietro’s No. 1, in downtown Vacaville. He was just back from a vacation and…
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Lucia Contreras is the center of attention for her NorthBay team, which includes, from left to right, Medical Assistant Shon Jones, Primary Healthcare Coordinator Tiffany Montoya, R.N.; Certified Diabetes Educator Susan Rosten, N.P.; and Dr. Kulbir Bajwa. For nearly 10 years, Lucia Contreras and her trusty pacemaker ticked along like clockwork, keeping the Vaca-ville woman…
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Tim Woodson of Fairfield was Christmas shopping at the mall on Dec. 22, 2012, when he began to feel nauseous and his upper body started to cramp. He put away his wallet and went home, thinking he just needed to stretch out because of his rigorous session at the gym that morning. His pulse was…
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Something wasn’t right. Morry Wasserman, 91, knew it the minute he woke up Aug. 22, 2012, and noticed his wife Betty had slipped out of bed to use the bathroom. She called through the door that she was fine, but moments later she stumbled into their bedroom, a sight he’ll never forget. “She looked 15…
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Martin Santos is no stranger to the medical malady. At 19, a strep-throat infection led to a disease that caused his kidneys to begin shutting down. At 36, he needed a new kidney, a gift of life that came from his wife, Esther. At 55, despite unrelenting adherence to a strict diet and plenty of…
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