Do the words “community hospital” conjure the image of a place where complex brain and spinal surgery happen on a regular basis? Or where life-saving orthopedic care is available 24/7/365? Where cutting-edge equipment and medical know-how allow cancer patients get their treatments close to home? Or where the parents of fragile newborns can keep an eye on them using their cell phones and a video monitoring system?

Chances are that unless you’ve had a stroke, a heart attack, a brain tumor or a traumatic accident, you don’t realize these services exist in your local, community hospital. But they do.

That’s because over the past decade NorthBay Healthcare has been systematically redefining the concept of a “community hospital.”

Our primary and specialty services have grown from ground zero to 130-plus providers. We are now a proud member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, one of only two in California. We have been designated as a Level II Trauma Center, a Magnet center for nursing excellence and a Baby-Friendly Facility. Have we mentioned that we’re a Chest Pain Center? And a Stroke Center? The list goes on and on.

In this special issue we share with you some of the many advancements that are now being offered in your own backyard. That, after all, is in perfect alignment with our mission statement: Compassionate Care, Advanced Medicine, Close to Home.