One of the hardest things new mom Lynn Brenner had to learn was how to leave her baby’s side. But thanks to a new program at NorthBay Medical Center, loving arms were ready to hold baby Wyatt any time of the day or night. ABOVE: Baby Wyatt Brenner gets some loving cuddles from NorthBay Guild…
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NorthBay Guild Volunteer Gets More than He Gives Fifteen years ago, Patrick Popola was going through some very hard times when a his neighbor made a suggestion that really turned things around for him. “My neighbor recommended that I try volunteering at NorthBay Healthcare,” explained the 86-year-old Fairfield resident. He decided to check it out…
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VacaValley Hospital was built with a lot of community support, and its opening ceremonies were planned with community support, as well. A 20-member council was established to help plan the opening ceremonies and to assure various local groups were involved in the grand opening festivities. The VacaValley Advisory Council included such Vacaville residents as David…
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Donna Rubin (above) a member of the Green Valley Country Club, takes a swing during the tennis tournament portion of the 29th annual NorthBay Guild Golf &Tennis Classic, which was July 16. The event, once again at Green Valley Country Club, was another sell-out success according to Jane Schilling, director of volunteer services. A quartet…
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NorthBay Healthcare Foundation recently received a bequest from one of its long-time supporters, and the funds will be used to support NorthBay Alzheimer Services and the Adult Day Center. The bequest came from Oretta Cortland of Vacaville, who for years had generously volunteered her time to the NorthBay Guild. She worked in the gift shop,…
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The 27th Annual Golf & Tennis Classic, a popular fund-raising event organized by members of the NorthBay Guild, is always a sell-out and it benefits the programs of NorthBay Healthcare. This year’s Golf & Tennis Classic will be July 11, 2011 at the Green Valley Country Club. To sign up for the event, contact NorthBay…
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George Daugavietis: Hospice Volunteer Delivers Compassion in the Final Days If a rocking chair had feelings, it would be endlessly frustrated by George Daugavietis. That’s because the 62 year-old will never be inspired to give into it. George could easily be a model for AARP. Thin, fit and tan, with shock of “silver fox” gray…
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Carmen’s Day by the Ocean Carmen Toledano knew a lot about dreams—especially one in particular. The 88-year-old widow followed her husband’s dream and traveled with him to the United States from Spain in the 1960s. Leaving friends and family behind, she uneasily settled in Vacaville where her husband had been born (his family had returned…
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Vacaville’s Epiphany Episcopal Church has been serving free hot meals every Friday night since 2000 and attendance continues to grow, according to Ellen Simonin, a physical therapist at NorthBay Health at Home & Hospice. Each week, organizers expect to serve as many as 325 dinners. Simonin is very involved in her church and is a…
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A traffic ticket that led to community service helped NorthBay Medical Center Financial Counselor Vicquita Velazquez discover her passion for helping others. In 2004, a Sacramento judge sentenced Vicquita to the community service project of her choice. She chose Safequest Solano in Fairfield, a women’s shelter that aids victims of domestic violence and sexual assault….
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Barbara Crandall and Kathy Gee are part of a club no one wants to join. It’s the club for parents who have lost a child. The two met while working at the NorthBay Center for Primary Care in Vacaville. “You’re so lost when you lose a child,” says Barbara, whose son, Jason McCurdy, was killed…
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The nation’s beleaguered economy has caused a seismic shift at Children’s Network, says NorthBay Healthcare’s Director of Accreditation and Licensure, Mary Dickey. As president of the Children’s Network Board of Directors since 2005, Mary has seen the number of needy families skyrocket in recent years, with job losses and home foreclosures. It makes her work…
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“You think you’re giving, but you really get back so much more,” says Janet Walker, RN, a case manager at NorthBay Medical Center, of her volunteer work in Latin America. Janet travels to Managua, Nicaragua, each year on missions with the Community Presbyterian Church in Vacaville. From there they drive to the small town of…
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When it comes to healthcare, it’s all in the family for the Olmstead sisters. Three of the five sisters and one sister-in-law have all worked for NorthBay Healthcare at one time or another, in different fields. There’s Peggy (Olmstead) Acosta, a clinical nurse for NorthBay Medical Center; Mary Olmstead Quinn, a neonatal intensive care unit…
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Solano County has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in California, according to Chad Tarter, MD, a pediatric hospitalist at NorthBay Medical Center. That’s why he has recently started working with the Solano Asthma Coalition (SAC), an organization that is teaming with Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA). CAFA is a California-based network…
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When specialty food manufacturers gathered for a Fancy Food Show in San Francisco in January, they brought tons of product samples for vendors to taste. When the convention ended, truckloads of food were left over. Rather than let the food go to waste, one of the show organizers contacted a Solano County ministerial association and…
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NorthBay Healthcare Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Kathy Richerson says a trip to Kenya in 2007 with the faith-based E3 Partners restored her confidence that as a nurse, even when you’re not involved in direct care, your core nursing skills and knowledge don’t go away. “There’s still so much that you can do as…
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Anesthesiologist finds harmony in symphony You don’t have to be a trained musician to serve the Solano County Symphony. Just ask Dr. Wayne Walker, an avid fan of the arts who has been a member of the symphony’s board of directors for the past decade. During this time, he has performed in a variety of…
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You know you’ve found the right career fit when you can match an avocation with your vocation. “I love to do crafts and come up with creative new activities,” says Sandy Perez, program manager for the NorthBay Adult Day Center. Many of Sandy’s creative ideas eventually become the crafts, activities and games that help stimulate…
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The NorthBay Adult Day Center, located on the VacaValley Hospital campus in Vacaville, offers family members a caring, safe and structured environment for loved ones who are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia. Participants can spend half-, full- or extended days under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers. “Our program here is a social…
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Bill Seiden is a man clearly committed to his community, as he regularly volunteers his time to work on activities stretching from Rio Vista to Fairfield, and from Dixon to Vacaville. It’s a year-round effort that may find him spending days helping to rebuild the popular and well-used Great Wonders playground in Vacaville, to spending…
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Jesse Dominguez, MD, remembers the first day he met plastic surgeon Angelo Capozzi. He’d just started as an anesthesiologist at NorthBay Medical Center in 1995 when Capozzi started ordering him around. He thought he was intimidating and pushy, Dr. Dominguez recalls with a chuckle. It wasn’t until much later he learned that behind a brash…
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Garland Porter, NorthBay Healthcare Foundation He has been called “the man who won’t say no,” and his resume is absolute proof of that moniker. Garland Porter is perhaps one of the most visible members of the Solano County community, serving as he has for many years on an array of boards, commissions and committees. Yet,…
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