When our communities in northern Solano County desperately needed a hospital in the 1950s, civic leaders took action. Volunteers hit the street, going door to door to collect donations, holding penny drives, luncheons and fancy galas. They were here for us when we needed their leadership and vision to create Intercommunity Memorial Hospital, which opened its doors 60 years ago — in December 1959.

A different set of community leaders rallied in the 1980s when it became clear Vacaville needed its own hospital. Another community-fueled drive raised the money needed to establish the 50-bed NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in 1987.

That’s the way it has been since the beginning. The community has been there for us when we needed it. And in turn, our two-hospital, primary- and specialty-care health system is there for our community when the need arises.

That’s why it wasn’t enough to have a maternity ward. We established Solano County’s first neonatal intensive care unit in 1987, the same year we established NorthBay Cancer Center.

Our growth through the decades focused on bringing these advanced medical services close to home, creating what no other health system had locally:

• NorthBay Heart & Vascular Center in 2009;
• The Center for Women’s Health in 2010;
• NorthBay Trauma Center in 2011;
• A certified Chest Pain Center for heart attack patients in 2012; and
• NorthBay Center for Neuroscience in 2013.

We became a Baby Friendly hospital in 2014, a Magnet organization for nursing excellence in 2015, a proud member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network in 2016, and in 2018, we opened NorthBay Urgent Care in the Nut Tree Health Plaza.

What you read in this issue of Wellspring tells the story of how we serve those around us when they need compassionate care, close to home — from the woman who wanted to start a family, but couldn’t conceive until she had brain surgery, to a quadriplegic who needed the expert care and compassion of our Wound Care program.

Bottom line: We’re here for you if you need us, and when you need us. We have you covered from birth through life’s many challenges. And as the area’s only locally owned, locally managed health system, we have no intentions of going anywhere else.

We are, indeed, here for you.

B. Konard Jones
President and Chief Executive Officer