Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

Health & Wellness Fair in Pittsburg today, to help men in East County

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WHAT:  The first East County Men’s Health & Wellness Fair will offer free screenings, health education, promote re-entry work and link men from the area and their families to medical services. Attendees will be able to get shingles and pneumonia immunizations, Tdap booster shots, glucose testing, blood pressure checks, rapid onsite testing for HIV and hepatitis C, health education on substance abuse and addiction, prostate awareness, benefits of cardiovascular exercises, CPR education and even haircuts. The men’s health fair is being held in conjunction with the 7th annual Juneteenth Celebration in Pittsburg.

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 18

WHERE: Pittsburg City Park, 17th & Railroad Avenue

WHO: The health fair is being sponsored by Contra Costa Health Services in partnership with Souljahs, the American Heart Association, Walgreens and 1st Nor Cal Credit Union. Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation, Los Medanos Community Healthcare District and Supervisor Federal Glover provided funding support for the event.

Contra Costa Health Services holds ribbon cutting for new Assisted Outpatient Treatment program in Concord

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Contra Costa Action Team members cut the ribbon at the new health center in Concord, on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

Contra Costa Action Team staff Contra Costa Action Team staff with Kim Bond, CEO (far left), Laura Miles, Vice President (left center) and Crystal Luna, Program Director (right center), cut the ribbon at the new treatment program in Concord, on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

Mental Health Systems held a ribbon cutting and open house to officially open Contra Costa Health Services’ Assisted Outpatient Treatment program (AOT) located at 2280 Diamond Blvd. #500, Concord on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

MHS’ Contra Costa ACTiOn Team – delivered through an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model – provides AOT to individuals that qualify for AB1421 known as Laura’s Law. The California state law was named after Laura Wilcox, a mental health worker who was killed by a man who had refused psychiatric treatment. It allows for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment. To qualify for the program, the person must have a serious mental illness plus a recent history of psychiatric hospitalizations, jailings or acts, threats or attempts of serious violent behavior towards self or others.

The Contra Costa ACTiOn Team is designed to help consumers that face mental health challenges find the support they need to live safely and productively within the community. The program will offer treatment to individuals who meet all nine criteria described in Laura’s Law when requested from family members, cohabitants, law enforcement, or mental health providers. While AOT can be a court-ordered process for treatment, the overall goal of this program is to make treatment available on a voluntary basis, where court order will be brought in as a last resort.

Participants of the program will collaborate with ACTiOn Team members to develop individualized treatment plans and receive 24-hour access to services. Services for this program may include outreach, engagement and support, group therapy, individual therapy, case management, employment and housing assistance, medication management, wellness coaching, independent living skills and community engagement. The program will eventually have the capacity to deliver care to up to 75 eligible adults for the first year.

“This program provides the evidence-based, highly effective practice of Assertive Community Treatment with intensive supportive services provided by a multi-disciplinary team,” Mental Health Systems Vice President Dr. Laura Otis-Miles said. “It is a valuable resource in Contra Costa County to help our clients and their families break the cycle of repeated hospitalizations, incarcerations, and homelessness.”

The Contra Costa Action Team is designed to help consumers that face mental health challenges find the support they need to live safely and productively within the community. This is the first Mental Health System’s program to come to the Bay Area.

Mental Health Systems (www.mhsinc.org) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1978 to provide innovative and cost-effective behavioral health and drug and alcohol recovery services. Currently, MHS operates more than 80 community-based programs throughout California. Leading the field of nonprofit behavioral health services, our expertise and scope is unparalleled. MHS offers culturally appropriate, client-centered and strengths-based services in its programs for children, transition age youth, adults, older adults and families. While some services are available through private insurance or self-pay, most MHS programs are publicly funded and available to those who cannot afford privately paid services would be otherwise unable to receive them. All services are provided in a client-focused, compassionate manner that underscores MHS founding values of Integrity, Excellence, Hope, Action, Innovation and Dignity.

 

Contra Costa County Home Care Workers Ratify New Contract

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Months of Action Result in Wage Increase That Will Eventually Reach $12.25/hour

Martinez, CA – Home care workers in Contra Costa County, represented by SEIU Local 2015, have ratified a new contract that raises their wage to $12.00 per hour as soon as the State can make the change, and to $12.25 per hour on January 1, 2017. The contract is on the agenda for a vote of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday, March 15th meeting.

Home care workers currently make just $11.50 an hour and have not had a raise in more than seven years. The contract maintains their health care benefit, which the County had pushed to limit.

SEIU Local 2015 Provisional Officer Arnulfo De La Cruz was glad to reach a contract, but believes it should not have taken so long to achieve. “Home care providers, their clients and allies rallied for months at Board of Supervisors meetings,” he said. “This contract impacts those who care for our county’s most vulnerable population and should have been resolved sooner, but we are certainly glad that it is finally done.”

Union members voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying the agreement.

“We won our contract because we got organized and got members involved,” said home care worker John Roe, who was part of bargaining team. “Now we’re going to organize for $15.”

Home care worker Melody Lacy, also a member of the bargaining team, said “We got this victory because we have a union that is 100% focused on us as long-term care providers winning better wages and benefits.”

IHSS workers care for our low-income seniors and disabled neighbors, a tough but critical job that allows their clients to live at home with independence and dignity while being more cost effective than institutionalization. This work should be recognized and paid a livable wage.

Follow the conversation: @SEIU2015

Fundraiser to Help Global Health Fellowship Continue its Work Abroad to Save Lives

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A unique program that sends doctors from Contra Costa County to train physicians around the world is holding an event, on Monday, March 14 in Pleasant Hill, to raise money to continue its work in countries with limited medical resources.

The Contra Costa Global Health Fellowship is one of only six family medicine global health fellowships in the country, according to Dr. Neil Jayasekera, the fellowship’s founder and co-director. The fellowship, an initiative of the Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency Program that works in collaboration with UC San Francisco, was started in 2011.

Fellows train family physicians in other countries to build capacity for them to provide care in their communities. Global health fellows have trained local doctors in Kenya, South Sudan, India and Mexico. Most recently, fellows have been the African nation of Malawi to train medical students there. Malawi has one of the lowest physician-to-patient ratios in the world, as well as some of the poorest health outcomes.

“We are helping train the next generation of physicians in Africa. We’re providing the mentorship and the skills that will allow them to diagnose and treat disease, alleviate suffering, and save their patients’ lives,” said Dr. Jayasekera, who works in the emergency department at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center. “Our philosophy is teach one, help many.”

Dr. Mena Ramos, a current global health fellow, recently returned from a training expedition to Malawi. The experience was extremely rewarding, she said.

“After 3 years of residency training, the global health fellowship allowed me to share the skills I learned while at Contra Costa with providers in East Africa, and in turn, learn from their experiences providing care in a resource constrained setting,” Dr. Ramos said. “There is nothing more empowering than walking away knowing that you have shared a skill that will be useful to patients and communities beyond your own.”

Dr. Jayasekera added that the program also produces local benefits. Global health fellows are the most committed to working with the underserved and are very likely to stay here in our community and work with most underserved and vulnerable patients, Dr. Jayasekera said. For example, he noted, two recent fellows are currently the lead physicians at two prominent homeless clinics in the Bay Area.

The March 14 event is being hosted by the Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation (CCRHF), a nonprofit agency that supports Contra Costa Health Services. Global health fellows will share their stories about the places they’ve been and the people they’ve helped.

Proceeds from the event will help pay for the fellows’ travel expenses and the purchase of critical medical equipment, such as portable ultrasound devices.  The Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency program is a recognized leader in point-of-care ultrasound training for family physicians.

While most people think of ultrasound in connection with prenatal care, its use has become standard in many areas of medicine. Ultrasound is especially well-suited for physicians who work in under-resourced settings locally and abroad. Global Health fellows devote a lot of time teaching doctors and medical students in other countries how to use ultrasound devices in their healthcare practices.

“Ultrasound is like radiology in your pocket,” said Dr. Erin Stratta, a current global health fellow who has worked in Peru. “It can be used every single day with just about every patient that you see. It’s the future of clinical practice and I think it is going to change the face of medicine.”

Those who are unable to attend can still donate to the cause by on the Regional Health Foundation’s website at ccrhf.org.

For more information about the Contra Costa Global Health Fellowship, visit cchealth.org/residency/ghf.

Event Details

WHAT: Fundraiser for Contra Costa Global Health Fellowship. Admission is $35. There will be complimentary wine (donated by Sky Terrace Vineyards) and appetizers (provided by caterer Lovable Feast).

WHEN: 6 p.m. to 8.pm. on Monday, March 14

WHERE: Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill

WHO: Hosted by the Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Contra Costa Health Services

HOW: Register for the event or donate to the cause at ccrhf.org

John Muir Medical Center, Concord Nurse Named 2015 Press Ganey National Nurse of the Year

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Linda Minnich with award at the 2015 Press Ganey National Client Conference in January.

Linda Minnich with award at the 2015 Press Ganey National Client Conference in January. photo courtesy of Press Ganey

Concord, Calif. — Linda Minnich, RN, BSN, CPAN, who works as a staff nurse in the Perioperative Services Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) at John Muir Medical Center, Concord, was recently named by Press Ganey as its 2015 National Nurse of the Year. Press Ganey is a leading national provider of patient experience measurement and performance analytics.

The award, which was presented at a ceremony in Orlando, annually recognizes the contributions of an outstanding direct-care nurse who has demonstrated a commitment to care innovation, transformation and collaboration to support an exceptional patient experience. According to Press Ganey, Linda was honored for her superior leadership and active role in developing and implementing pain management strategies that have improved the patient experience across John Muir Health.

“Linda has touched the lives of our patients for more than 35 years and is a very worthy recipient of this award,” said Donna Brackley, senior vice president for Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at John Muir Medical Center, Concord. “Through her work on pain management, she has fostered outstanding collaboration among surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and other members of our care team, which ultimately benefits our patients.”

Linda’s interest in pain management began back in 2012 when she and two other staff nurses, Heather Crowder and Tammy Montoya, attended the Pain Resource Nurse training program at the City of Hope in Los Angeles. Since that time, they have been driving forces in championing pain management in the care of post-surgical patients at John Muir Health.

“I appreciate the individual recognition from Press Ganey, but this is really a team award that represents the great work of my very talented colleagues,” said Minnich. “We recognized that in order to enhance the patient experience, our health system had to keep up with and implement best practices in pain management therapies.

“Our orthopedic patients now experience less post-operative pain and improved functional outcomes. In addition, many of our complex chronic pain patients experience fewer side effects, such as nausea and risks associated with opioid pain control,” added Minnich.

Linda currently serves as the co-chairperson of John Muir Health’s Quality Improvement Pain Team. She and her team have been instrumental in working with anesthesiologists at John Muir Health to implement a series of treatment modalities, including femoral nerve blocks in joint replacement and hip fracture patients and the use of ketamine infusions to treat pain in surgical patients with chronic pain. The work of this team related to the implementation of a nerve block program was identified as a Leading Practice by VHA, a health care alliance of more than 2,400 non-profit organizations, and “blue printed” to assist other facilities in achieving the same levels of success.

“We’ve made great improvements in the area of pain management and patient experience for our surgical patients, and greatly appreciate Linda’s leadership of this effort,” said Brackley. “This recognition is emblematic of the high-quality and compassionate care provided by our nurses, physicians and staff at John Muir Health.”

Both of John Muir Health’s medical centers are Magnet® recognized by The American Nurses Credentialing Center® (ANCC), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association, for quality and excellence in nursing.  Magnet® recognition is the highest level of recognition that the ANCC can grant to a health care organization.

About Press Ganey

According to their website, for nearly 30 years, Press Ganey’s mission has been to support health care providers in understanding and improving the entire patient experience. As a strategic business partner to more than 20,000 health care organizations, they lead the industry in helping clients transform the patient experience and create continuous, sustainable improvement. For more information visit www.pressganey.com.

About John Muir Health

John Muir Health is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit health care organization east of San Francisco serving patients in Contra Costa, eastern Alameda and southern Solano Counties. It includes a network of more than 1,000 primary care and specialty physicians, nearly 6,000 employees, medical centers in Concord and Walnut Creek, including Contra Costa County’s only trauma center, and a Behavioral Health Center. John Muir Health also has partnerships with San Ramon Regional Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center and Stanford Children’s Health to expand its capabilities, increase access to services and better serve patients. The health system offers a full-range of medical services, including primary care, outpatient and imaging services, and is widely recognized as a leader in many specialties – neurosciences, orthopedic, cancer, cardiovascular, trauma, emergency, pediatrics and high-risk obstetrics care.