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Health-care groups pitch plans for new trauma centersJanuary 13, 2011 By Barry EberlingJanuary 13th, 2011 DAILY REPUBLIC SUISUN CITY -- Kaiser Permanente has joined NorthBay Healthcare in stating its desire to open a trauma center in Vacaville. That raises the possibility that a county that has no trauma center could in coming years have two. Patients who suffer severe injuries in accidents or because of violence -- injuries beyond the scope of local emergency rooms -- are presently taken to John Muir Medical Center in Contra Costa County or the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento County. Robot adds diagnostic option in treating Solano stroke victimsOctober 7, 2010 By Sarah de Crescenzo / Daily RepublicFAIRFIELD -- Time is brain, the saying goes among stroke neurologists. Unfortunately, a lack of those specialized medical personnel in Solano County regularly sends patients suffering acute strokes -- for whom even a short delay can mean permanent brain damage -- out of county for diagnosis and treatment. An unexpected visitor, however, will soon be greeting stroke victims at their bedside when they enter NorthBay Healthcare emergency departments in Fairfield and Vacaville -- a robot. RP-7, as the gunmetal-hued, mobile, wireless machine is called, is the keystone in a partnership between NorthBay and Mercy Neurological Institute of Greater Sacramento that remotely links neurological specialists in Sacramento with NorthBay's emergency department physicians. The robot wheeled across the linoleum Thursday and parked itself next to a hospital bed set up in the lobby of NorthBay Medical Center for a demonstration of the consultations that will soon be taking place in the hospital's emergency department. Mercy's Dr. Alan Shatzel, his face clearly visible on the screen mounted at the top of the robot, conducted a simulation of the tests he would do to diagnose and treat a stroke victim with mock-patient Fairfield Councilwoman Catherine Moy in collaboration with Dr. Seth Kaufman, a NorthBay physician. Kathy Richerson, vice president and chief nursing officer for NorthBay, said the partnership would benefit patients in two ways. The access to off-site neurological knowledge will reduce the need to transfer acute stroke patients to other hospitals for diagnosis and treatment, she said. The tele-medicine, as the program is categorized, will also allow treatment to begin more rapidly. In practice drills using the robots, NorthBay's service line director for the heart and vascular center, Diana Sullivan, said the time between a patient entering the hospital doors and receiving medicine to burst the clot trapping blood from flowing freely in their brain had been reduced to less than an hour. "Without fast, effective treatment there can be severe consequences," Sullivan said. According to the American Heart Association, stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States, and the third-largest cause of death. Kaufman said the introduction of the robot into the emergency department has been welcomed by staff. "The key is he's providing a service we don't have here or in the county at all," he said. "We need to have him in our department to make these decisions." To decide the right course of action, the specialists in Sacramento are equipped with a video camera, microphone, joystick and specialized software at their computer workstation. The RP-7 is maneuvered remotely, allowing it to roam untethered through the hospital, putting offsite physicians face-to-face, or face-to-screen, at least, with patients, their families and hospital staff. Each year, approximately 350 patients suffering from acute stroke are seen in the two NorthBay emergency departments in Solano County, estimated NorthBay Heathcare Group President Deborah Sugiyama. Kaufman said that the introduction of the new technology into the emergency department will not delay the diagnosis process. "The treatment is so time dependent that it can't slow us down," he said. "Except for the brief exams I'll do, it's like he's sitting in the room with (the patient)." Reach Sarah de Crescenzo at 427-6935 or sarahdc@dailyrepublic.net. One-stop health center for women opensNovember 5, 2009 Reprinted with Permission of the Daily Republic | www.DailyRepublic.netBy Amy Maginnis-Honey | Daily Republic FAIRFIELD - From pink fuzzy slippers to help in dealing with life's more delicate subjects, like incontinence, the Center for Women's Health will have it covered. The center, slated to open in January, is part of the NorthBay Healthcare system. It's located in the Gateway building, adjacent to the NorthBay Medical Center at 1101 B. Gale Wilson Blvd. NorthBay restricts child access to hospitalsOctober 26, 2009 Reprinted with Permission of the Daily Republic | www.DailyRepublic.netBy Barry Eberling/DAILY REPUBLIC FAIRFIELD -- NorthBay HealthCare is no longer allowing children under 16 to visit patients at its Fairfield and Vacaville hospitals. The restriction is because of the H1N1 flu virus. Children are at higher risk than adults to get this type of flu and can remain infectious longer, even after symptoms are gone. The new policy is designed to protect children, patients and hospital staff, NorthBay officials said. Seniors honored, informed at Vacaville TributeOctober 7, 2009 FAIRFIELD - When one of Carol Harless' students was afraid she couldn't go to science camp because she didn't have the money, Harless said as long as the student tried, Harless would help.Peggy Bassford Byrd was sent to the schools and helped children start up savings accounts when she worked as a teller, and now baby-sits her great-grandchildren. Jeff Jewell not only devoted his professional life to helping veterans 'but spent countless hours of off-duty time helping veterans and their families,' said friend and fellow vet Lou Derfuss. Prepping for the flu season, times twoOctober 2, 2009 By Barry EberlingFAIRFIELD - Solano County is entering a flu season with even more unknowns than usual because both the seasonal flu and the new H1N1 flu are circulating. Up to 40 percent of Americans could get the H1N1 flu, also known as the swine flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a new type of flu virus for humans identified in April that has spread around the world. Heart procedure comes closer to homeSeptember 29, 2009 Reprinted with Permission of the Daily Republic | www.DailyRepublic.netBy Barry Eberling/DAILY REPUBLIC FAIRFIELD -- Dr. Gurinder Dhillon and a four-person team inserted a catheter into the coronary artery of a sedated 77-year-old Vacaville woman on Tuesday and used it to inflate a tiny balloon within the artery. The expanding balloon pressed against a tiny mesh coil, which in turn crushed plaque into the artery wall. An 80 percent blockage got cleared up. The result: The woman should get relief from shortness of breath and chest pains. |
