After months of meetings, careful planning, detailed checklists and thoughtful coordination, it’s “go time.”

At 1 p.m. on Friday, July 1, sev-eral moving vans — each with a crew of from six to

eight movers — will descend on the Gateway Building and the Pharmacy at NorthBay Medical Center in an orga-nized flurry. They will gather

WaterWonderland

Almost Ready— Page 16

Teamwork

INSIDE

1

…Check My NorthBay, Your Employee Portal, for News in

Real Tim

e…06.22.16

Adult Day CenterPasses State Audit

Are WeReady for

the Big Move?

Mock Hilborn MOB Tests Flow

2

With a real patient and a stand-in team, Orthopedics Physician Assistant Elizabeth Milne tests how the size of the room will hold all potential parties during an exam.

Video nowonline at

NorthBay.org

Hidden inside the soon-to-be Hilborn Health Plaza is a special medical office — a collaboration of or-thopedics, rehabilitation and X-ray services — made entirely of cardboard, Post-its, duct tape and a whole lot of imagination.

It’s the creation of a team of architects, with gen-erous input from key NorthBay staff, physicians and

“No Deficiencies.”That was the finding after

a recent unannounced visit to the NorthBay Adult Day Center by a representative from California’s Department of Social Services, accord-

See AUDIT, Page 20

See Hilborn, Page 18

See MOVE, Page 13

New Hires 2New Managers 3#OurDocTalk 5Our Connections 8Hello, ShareSpace 9

New SurveyWill Debutin July

— Page 11

Two-DaySneakPeek

Planned– Page 17

2

TO REMEMBERDATES

IN THE NEWSPEOPLE

LETTERS

DATES

PEOPLE

NEW FACESWELCOMEWELCOME

LETTERS

Jennifer BulanadiClinical Nurse IIAmbulatory Surgery UnitNorthBay Medical Center

Catherine GuevaraMedical AssistantCenter for Primary Care – Fairfield

Carmen HairapetianClinical Nurse IIEmergency Dept., VacaValley Hospital

Suraya JabaiahClinical Pharmacist IIPharmacy, NorthBay Medical Center

May LlorenClinical Nurse IIIntensive Care Unit, VacaValley Hospital

Jessica MadrigalClinical Nurse II1-West Med-Surg, VacaValley Hospital

Adrea MonroeMedical AssistantCenter for Primary Care – Fairfield

John MoroneyClinical Nurse IIIntensive Care UnitNorthBay Medical Center

Josephine MurchNursing Case ManagerNorthBay Health at Home

Shentelle NavarreClinical Nurse IIIntensive Care UnitNorthBay Medical Center

Elizabeth PetersonMedical AssistantCenter for Primary Care – Fairfield

Andrew PotterEmergency Room TechnicianEmergency Dept.VacaValley Hospital

Mark Daverey ReyesClinical Nurse IIIntensive Care UnitNorthBay Medical Center

Charla RogersPatient Services RepresentativeNorthBay Orthopedics

Julie RossClinical Nurse IIAmbulatory Surgery UnitNorthBay Medical Center

Jenn SaechaoPatient Services RepresentativeNorthBay Rehabilitation

Jenna SawyerClinical Resource LVNCenter for Primary Care – Fairfield

Amy SeigerSpeech PathologistNorthBay Health at Home

Marjorie Anne StockholmMedical Staff CoordinatorMedical Staff OfficeNorthBay Medical Center

Lilith Taylor PryorCertified Nurse AssistantUnit 1600NorthBay Medical Center

Jessica TaylorClinical Nurse IIUnit 1800 Med-SurgNorthBay Medical Center

Davinder ToorCertified Nurse Assistant1-West Med-SurgVacaValley Hospital

Dalene VasconcellesLicensed Vocational NurseNorthBay Orthopedics

Jennifer ViceClinical Nurse IIIntensive Care UnitNorthBay Medical Center

Wan WangDiet AideNutrition ServicesNorthBay Medical Center

Whitney WarbingtonClinical Nurse IIEmergency Dept.NorthBay Medical Center

Jason WardEmergency Room TechnicianEmergency Dept.VacaValley Hospital

Human Resources Service Managers Tina Jackson, Becky Lessler and Bob Armijo will visit both hospitals on Friday, June 24, from 1 to 5 a.m.

They will be available to meet with night shift staff to discuss their employment concerns or questions.

The trio will begin their visit at

HR Night Owl Visits are Friday, June 24VacaValley Hospital, walking through each unit to connect with as many staff members as possible. After VacaValley, they will move on to NorthBay Medical Center.

“Questions range from how to renew licenses and certifications to issues with PTO/ESL/PSL,” says Diane Urbano, HR service manager.

3

Kyle Fowler, R.N., is now the clinical manager for Acute Care Unit 1800. He assumed this role on May 23.

“Kyle brings a breadth of experience to Unit 1800,” said Tracey Marshall, director of Medical Surgical Services.

He is a retired U. S. Army Reserve officer, serving 21 years in both nursing and non-nursing roles. His nursing career started in 1997 after he earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Louisiana College. Since that time he has worked primarily in intensive care and cardiac catheterization lab depart-ments. Kyle was a traveling RN for many years and worked in eight different states.

After joining the NorthBay Healthcare family in 2012, Kyle worked in the ICU. Most recently he was administrative coordinator on the NorthBay Medical Center campus.

“This leadership position has prepared him for a smooth tran-sition to the clinical manager role,” Tracey added. “Unit 1800 is thrilled to have him leading the team.”

Wayne Gietz is the new executive director of primary care services. He joined NorthBay on May 30.

“Wayne brings more than 25 years of extensive ambulatory care leadership in physician practice management and program development to our

organization,” said Stephanie Tarter, R.N., assistant vice president for Health and Wellness, Ambulatory Division. “His experience

includes both urgent care and population health strategies.”

He comes to NorthBay from New York where he was execu-tive director for ambulatory care services for NYC Health and Hospitals Corp., North Brooklyn, Health Network. He has success-fully implemented team-based care and led the ambulatory care and pharmacy services medica-tion management service pro-gram, resulting in a reduction of readmissions for congestive heart failure and earning the ASHP Best Practice Award.

Wayne earned his bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administra-tion and a master’s in Organiza-tional Leadership from Bellevue University in Nebraska. He is also a Green Belt in Lean Manage-ment. Call Wayne at ext. 5706.

Taking theReins at

Primary Care

New Manager Leads Acute Care Unit 1800

NorthBay Trio Graduate

LeadershipClass

Three NorthBay Healthcare leaders have graduated from the Vacaville and Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce Leadership Today program, earning accolades from NorthBay CEO and President (center) Gary Passama. Graduates are (left to right) Ed Lowe, executive director of Health at Home, Hospice & Bereavement and the Adult Day Center; Teresa Langley, director of service line development and Oncology, and Sebastian Head, clinical resource manager for Purchasing.

Kyle Fowler

Wayne Gietz

4

Stroke Program Gets Silver Guidelines Award

NorthBayLife Coaches,

Girls on the RunTeam Honored

Mae Diaz, community liaison for NorthBay Healthcare Health at Home and and Laura Oiler, R.N., learning and performance specialist, (photo at right) were thrilled to learn that their Laurel Creek Elementary School team won the prestigious Molly Barker Award for best community service award, of all 32 schools in the Napa and Solano Girls on the Run region. The girls chose to give back to foster kids in need at Child Haven

in Fairfield. They filled bags with toiletries, coloring books, crayons, and wrote hand written inspirational cards. They also created a “kindness box” where students can leave messages and get advice and not feel uneasy about seeking help from an adult in case they were intimidated by bullying. Laura, Mae and second-grade teacher Stacey Wagner (in photo at left) pose with their girls at the 5K.

NorthBay Healthcare’s Stroke Program has received the Ameri-can Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award.

The award recognizes NorthBay’s commitment and success in ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

To receive the Silver Plus Quality Achievement award, hos-pitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achieve-ment indicators for at least 12 consecutive months and during the same period achieve 75 per-cent or higher compliance with

five of eight Get With The Guide-lines-Stroke Quality measures.

NorthBay earned the award by meeting quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period.

“A stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed. This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering

advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely,” said Beth Gladney, R.N., NorthBay’s Stroke Program manager. “North-Bay continues to strive for ex-cellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients. The recogni-tion from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guide-lines-Stroke further reinforces our team’s hard work.”

5

NorthBay Healthcare’s Face-book fans were knee-deep in orthopedic expertise during the June 15 #OurDocTalk live chat, as orthopedic surgeon Andrew Brooks, M.D., answered their questions on knee injuries and the latest in treatment options.

Dr. Brooks responded to more than a dozen ques-tions that ranged from simple inquiries on preventing injuries while

running and the best footwear options, to more complex issues of pain and arthritis treatment.

“Making sure that you have warmed up appropriately and stretched out is important,” Dr. Brooks told the runners who posted questions. “I advise long-distance runners to wear shoes with good support, good cushion and that fit appropriately.”

He noted that he is “not a fan

Dr. Brooks Shares Knee Know-how

Next Doc Talk Topicis Rheumatoid Arthritis

of the minimalistic footwear” trend.

The issue of supplements such as glucosamine to help after knee surgery also came up and Dr.

Brooks didn’t mince his words.“These supplements have

been studied extensively,” he noted. “There was a large study published by the New England Journal of Medicine. We cannot find any evidence to support their use. A well-balanced diet is prob-ably your best bet.”

Dr. Brooks also said he prefers an Ace bandage wrap to neoprene wraps “because you can control the amount of tension you put on the knee” and he reminded a questioner not to forget using ice for an acutely injured knee.

On the issue of pain, his message was consistent: See an orthopedic surgeon to make sure of a proper diagnosis and plan for treatment.

The full chat can be viewed on the NorthBay Facebook page at Facebook.com/NorthBayHealth-care and an edited transcript will be posted soon on NorthBay.org.

Dr. Andrew Brooks fields questions from numerous Facebook fans with knee concerns from his Vacaville office.

Dr. Schoenwetter

Rheumatoid arthritis, its symptoms, causes and treatment will be the focus of NorthBay Health-care’s next #OurDocTalk live chat on Facebook.

Melissa Schoenwetter, D.O., will answer questions on the chronic inflammatory disorder during the half-hour chat, which is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., June 29 on NorthBay’s Facebook page: Facebook.com/NorthBayHealthcare.

#OurDocTalk chats are held generally every other week on the NorthBay Healthcare Facebook page and have featured discussions on heart health, acupuncture, asthma issues and high blood pressure, foot/ankle injury prevention and stroke.

Each chat features a different doctor answering questions on a health issue. Questions can be submitted in advance to Robin.Miller@northbay.org or on Facebook.

6

Nurse Camp 2016Is In Full Swing

Golf Classic Moves to New Course

River Rafting a Hit

After 32 years, it now has a new name, new venue and new date, but it remains the NorthBay Guild’s largest fund raising event of the year.

The NorthBay Guild Golf & Tennis Classic is now just the NorthBay Guild Golf Classic. After 32 years of being held on a Mon-day, this year it will be held on a Friday — July 15 — and it takes place at the Mare Island Golf Club, rather than at Green Valley Country Club in Fairfield, where the popular event had been held for 31 years.

A dinner and awards ceremo-ny at Vino Godfather Mansion will follow the golf tournament, but this year’s dinner will also be open to non-golfers and followed by socializing and dancing to the music of Rhythm Method 4.

Even with the changes it is still clearly a popular event, ac-cording to Jane Hilliard, director

of Volunteer Services. “All 144 golfing slots have been spoken for,” she said.

For the past five years, the Guild has used funds raised at the tournament to support North-Bay’s growing trauma program. Guild members voted to extend their pledge one more year, partly because NorthBay Medi-cal Center is in the middle of a large Emergency Department expansion project. Two Present-ing Sponsors — Medic Ambulance and Touro University — have also stepped up to support the event in a big way.

Why the change in venue?“The Mare Island course is

significantly less expensive,” Jane

explained, “so the less we spend, the more we can donate.” How-ever, since the Mare Island facil-ity doesn’t have tennis courts, the annual tennis tournament had to be forfeited.

Non-golfers can still join in on the fundraising by attending the post-tournament dinner, catered by Outback Steakhouse.

“It promises to be a wonderful Friday night to unwind under the stars, with fabulous views of San Francisco Bay,” Jane said. Tickets are $40 each and proceeds will also support NorthBay Guild.

Or, you can purchase a Fan-tasy Golf scratch-off game for a $20 donation. “Just as with golf, the lowest score wins; the five players with the lowest scratch-off score will win two tickets to the Golf Classic dinner.”

For information, go to North-Bay.org/GolfClassic, or contact Jane at (707) 328-8191.

Employees Invited to Join Fundraising

Festivities on July 15

Today is Day 2 of NorthBay Nurse Camp and all of the action is taking place on the NorthBay VacaValley Hospital campus. This year, 32 students from 12 Solano County high schools are learning about careers in nursing.

This morning the teens learned about casting and restraints and participated in a mock trauma — in the hospital’s emergency department.

This afternoon they will watch a medical helicopter land and meet an actual flight nurse.

Tomorrow and Friday the group moves to NorthBay Medical Center where they will experi-ence the operating room, ICU, Labor and Delivery and the NICU.

The summer raft float down the Sacramento River is one of the

most popular events sponsored by the Special Activities Committee.

This year, 64 employees and family members made the trip, led by Char

Robinson and Ed Lowe. At right is Orthopedic Clinic

Coordinator Shenna Kaufusi with her daughter, Scarlett.

7

Adult Day Center WinsWhen Genentech Gives Back

Genentech’s Melissa Christensen and Al planted tomatoes while Ed Lowe, executive director for the Alzheimer’s Program, was charged with barbecuing a hot dog lunch.

Ilona Tokukura and Jose proudly show off their gardening prowess, after planting onion bulbs, herbs and vegetables.

Hour by hour, there’s always some engaging activity going on at the NorthBay Adult Day Center, but on Wednesday, June 15, it was buzzing more than usual.

Guests from Genentech-Vacaville were there as part of Genentech’s “Give Back Week” activities, when its employees are encouraged to volunteer for causes that matter to them. They fan out into the community to spend time at food banks or animal shelters; for the past few years, NorthBay Adult Day Center has made several volunteers’ “must visit” list.

Four Genentech employees spent several hours at the center, helping participants plant flowers, vegetables, herbs and succulents in large containers. Then they were treated to a barbecue lunch.

Ilona Tokukura of Genentech carefully placed a row of green onion bulbs in a trench that had been dug by program participant Jose. “I’m not really sure what I’m doing,” she laughed, “but Jose is making sure I’m doing it right!”

Melissa Christensen grabbed a hand shovel and dug holes for basil and tomato plants under the watchful direction of program participant Al, whose jolly demeanor kept her laugh-ing. “I just wanted to spend some time with members of our adult community,” Melissa explained.

“I could see they really enjoyed themselves,” noted Sandy Perez, program manager. “You hear about this disease, but it makes it all so much more human when you can spend some time with those who have it, and learn about them.”

8

More and more employees are sharing stories of when they were able to make a connec-tion, either with a patient, another employee or a mem-ber of the community, as part of the Creating Connections storytelling venture, accord-ing to Jennifer Shoemaker, manager of the patient expe-rience program. “Connection Stories” are being shared at management team meetings, in FYI (below) and on the ShareSpace site under “Pa-tient Experience/Connection Stories.” If you would like to share yours, call Jennifer at ext. 5757, or email connections@NorthBay.org, and it may appear in a future edition of FYI.

The email Colleen Knight, program coordinator for NorthBay Healthcare Foundation, received in February asked a simple but plaintive question, that triggered a series of connections and an overwhelming amount of community support.

“Hello, Colleen,” said Kathy Teeter, a lab technician at the NorthBay Center for Primary Care in Fairfield. “I was wondering who to contact regarding a pos-sible fundraising idea, something I believe NorthBay should have to help parents grieving the loss of a newborn.”

Kathy described a device, called a “CuddleCot,” that keeps the body of a stillborn baby cool so that grieving parents can keep their baby with them until they are ready to let go. It is technol-ogy that is available overseas but not yet here in Solano County.

“NorthBay is exceptionally compassionate regarding the care of stillborn/early loss babies and this is something very close to home for me,” Kathy said.

Ironically, Kathy’s email ar-rived just days before the Foun-dation held Open That Bottle Night, a recognition event for the largest donors to the Solano Wine & Food Jubilee, which sup-ports our hospice and bereave-ment programs. Colleen quickly reached out to hospice and bereavement leaders, as well as Katie Lydon, director of Women and Children’s Services, to gauge their interest. It was eagerly embraced. Katie agreed to speak to Open That Bottle Night guests about this difficult subject, and how the CuddleCot might help parents cope with their loss.

“The crowd was completely drawn in and listened to every word,” Colleen recalled. Katie then announced that NorthBay

neonatologists had offered to pay for half of one of the units. One of our extremely supportive board members, Stanley Davis, immediately stood up and offered to complete the purchase, and Patt Shaw, wife of a board mem-ber Al Shaw, committed on the spot to fund a second unit.

“Kathy is to be commended for bringing the CuddleCot to the at-tention of all the amazing people in our community, who truly care about compassionate care, close to home,” she added. “Because of her suggestion, and our generous supporters, our NICU and Labor & Delivery have one more reason to be the best in our community.”

Kathy was touched to learn of the quick response, and began to feel more comfortable sharing her personal story. “NorthBay provided me and my family with such compassionate care when I lost my daughter, Sofia Noelle, a few years ago. The CuddleCot will definitely give families a bit more time with their angels.”

Kathy’s full story appears in the Summer issue of Wellspring, which has a “Creating Connections” theme. Magazines will be delivered to homes in mid-July.

ConnectingThrough the

GrievingProcess

The CuddleCot gives parents the gift of time and now it’s available at NorthBay, thanks to generous supporters and an idea from Kathy Teeter (left) who with Heather Troutt, clinical manager of Women & Children’s Services, demonstrates its features.

9

A whole new look and feel for NorthBay Healthcare’s Share-Space will debut July 6, providing a more user-friendly experience that promotes collaboration and more support for content cre-ation, said Dean Pawley, North-Bay’s ShareSpace Application Developer.

Dean started work in January with Patty Franks, executive assistant for IT, with an assessment of material on ShareSpace, the Intranet and the Shared (S) drive.

“The goal,” he said, “is to eventually provide one location for all those materials. But that will take time. We decided to start with an upgrade to ShareSpace 2.0.”

All information on the current ShareSpace site will be accessible on July 6 when the new platform is launched, said Dean. The design and navigation have been simplified. Also more simple is the way departments can add information.

“Uploading and managing content will be just as easy as sending a Word document, Excel spreadsheet or any Microsoft document, including outlook e-mail, to me,” said Dean.

It’s a big change from the first rollout. In 2015, more than 40 departments selected an individual or individuals to go through two days of training to become content managers.

“It became clear that while some folks embraced the op-portunity, it was overwhelming for others,” noted Dean. “I was brought in to bring some unifor-mity to system. If department content managers are comfort-able with making changes and additions, they’ll still have the ability to do that. But if they’re

not, they can contact me or Patty and we can make the changes for them,” said Dean.

An email to department managers went out recently asking for information to beef up or create departments’ landing pages.

“It’s a place where you can tell NorthBay who you are and what you do as well as sharing important content with the organization,” explained Patty. “If there is any content, such as newsletters or reports that you want to share with NorthBay, this will be the place to have it.”

Dean said that only 3 percent of departments have their own pages up at this point, which means going forward he’ll take the opportunity to work with most departments to create content.

“We are also building inside pages connected to department sites,” explained Patty. “Inside pages are secure to the de-partment members itself. Only members of your department can access your inside depart-ment page. We envision inside pages to be a collaborative area to store department policies, ‘K’ drive contents, and department events.”

Dean is also focused on cre-

ating easy-to-access spaces for cross-department content and communication, including policies and forms.

When the change is made on July 6, some items that were previously found on the Intranet will only be available on ShareSpace 2.0. Users of the Intranet site will find hyperlinks that send them directly to ShareSpace.

The links will remain as long as the Intranet remains — prob-ably through the end of 2016.

“It will be a slow process of re-training people where to look for content,” he said.

Eventually, instructional PDFs will be available, as will ShareSpace user classes through Human Resources. How do you find ShareSpace? It should be your default when you open an Internet browser. If not, contact the IT Help Desk (ext. 3098) and they’ll help you.

Questions about ShareSpace? Call Dean at Ext. 3210 or shoot an email to ShareSpace@North-Bay.org.

“Our overall goal is to have equal or greater content than the Intranet and ShareSpace combined on a platform that will be easy to use for everyone,” said Dean.

ShareSpace 2.0 Will Go Live July 6

Dean Pawley (left) and Patty Franks of IT have teamed up to give NorthBay Healthcare ShareSpace 2.0.

10

Guild Awards Annual ScholarshipsFourteen scholarships were

presented during the annual NorthBay Guild Scholarship lunch, June 16, at the Green Valley Administration Center in Fairfield.

Ten NorthBay employees each won $1,000 scholarships to further their medical education. Two teen hospital volunteers each won $750 scholarships from the Elizabeth D. Balmer Scholarship fund and two Vacaville High School students each won $500 Martha S. Orr Scholarships. Both Balmer and Orr were founding members of the NorthBay Guild. Their families oversee the scholarships.

Employee ScholarsNorthBay employees who

received scholarships are:Michaella Caponio of Vacaville

is a certified nurse assistant on 1-West at VacaValley Hospital. She is working on her nursing degree at American River College in Sacramento and will then participate in the RN to BSN bridge program at Sacramento State.

Patricia Gray of Suisun City, is a weekend resource specialist for Utilization Review at VacaValley Hospital. She is working on her nursing

degree at Solano Community College. Her goal is to earn her BSN and become a surgical nurse.

Adam Jensen, R.N., of Vacaville, is a surgical nurse at NorthBay Medical Center. He is working on his BSN at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Lorraine Martinez of Vacaville is a unit clerk/nurse assistant in the NICU. She will enter the

nursing program at Solano Community College in August.

Mary Alexis Eleanor Parmer of Concord is an EKG technician in Cardiology. She is receiving her second Guild scholarship and will graduate in December with a nursing degree from Ohlone College in Fremont.

Jenica Ramos of Fairfield is a patient services representative in the call center of the Center for Primary Care in Fairfield. She will begin her nursing education at Solano Community College in August.

Roxana Salmeron of Vacaville is a certified phlebotomy tech in the clinical lab at NorthBay Medical Center. She has earned her associate degree from Solano Community College and is now in the RN to BSN program at the University of Texas, Arlington.

Julia Schraer of Vacaville is a resource David Balmer presented scholarships in memory of his late wife Elizabeth to Jasmine Wong (left) and Karina Rodriguez. Both young ladies volunteered more than 100 hours as teen volunteers.

NorthBay employees receiving scholarships included Jenica Ramos (holding certificates, from left), Tara Scharifzadeh, and Rosemarie Segovia Thompson. Also pictured, Donna Anderson, Guild scholarship chair (far left) and Brett Johnson, president of NorthBay Healthcare Foundation.

See SCHOLARSHIPS Page 11

11

Great Place to Work Survey is Coming in July

Scholarships...(From Page 10)

specialist in case management at NorthBay Medical Center. She will enter the nursing program at Solano Community College in August.

Tara Sharifzadeh of Vacaville is a financial accounts representative in the finance department. She is in her final year of a graduate degree in Health Infomatics from UC Davis.

Rosemarie Segovia Thompson of American Canyon is a licensed vocational nurse at NorthBay Health at Home and Hospice. She will enter the LVN to RN class at Pacific Union College in Napa this fall.

Teen VolunteersThe Elizabeth D. Balmer Scholarships

were presented by her husband, Dave Balmer, who recently turned 100, along with his daughter, Joanne Balmer, and son, Thomas Balmer.

The Balmer Scholarship was awarded to two teen volunteers, Karina Rodriguez and Jasmine Wong.

Karina graduated from Rodriquez High School and will pursue her BSN at Dominican University of California.

Jasmine graduated from Rodriquez High

School and will pursue her BSN at UCLA. Vaca High GraduatesThe Martha S. Orr Scholarship is presented to graduates

of Vacaville High School. The late Martha Orr was both a Guild volunteer and a member of the NorthBay Healthcare corporate board of directors.

Two graduates won this award. Camryn Davis Bland will pursue her BSN at Sacramento State while Miranda Nicole Psaila will major in Kinesiology (the study of muscles) at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Martha Orr Scholarship winners Miranda Nicole Psaila (left) and Camryn Davis Bland were greeted by Donna Anderson, Guild scholarship chair.

Great Places to Work Survey Next MonthEmployees will be asked to participate in

the latest phase of NorthBay’s journey to be recognized as one of Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work next month.

During two weeks in July, the Trust Index Survey of the Great Places to Work Institute will be conducted. Employees can participate online or use hard-copy surveys if they prefer paper.

The survey period begins Monday, July 11, and continues until midnight Sunday, July 24.

“We have a primary goal,” explained Ken McCol-lum, vice president of human resources, “to learn what makes NorthBay a great place to work now, and what we can do to make it an even better place to further your career.”

He added, “Our secondary objective, of course, is to make the list of the magazine’s 100 top employers in America.”

Participation in the survey is key to garnering

meaningful data on how to improve work-ing conditions. The hope is to have more than 70 percent of NorthBay’s workforce respond.

“Managers do not want to know how anyone specifically answers the questions,”

Ken said. “We will only know collective results because the survey responses go directly to the Great Places to Work Institute and NorthBay managers will not know who answered how.”

Confidentiality is crucial, he said, so that employees to participate without concern for any repercussions should they offer constructive criticism.

“The last time we conducted the survey, we did very well, coming within a few points of the average score of companies that made the Fortune 100 Best Companies list,” Ken noted. “We hope this survey’s results put us over the top.”

Watch for email blasts, posters and more stories in FYI as the survey period nears.

12

Legacy GardenEvent Postponed

The Legacy Garden dedication ceremony has been postponed until further notice.

Those who purchased memorial bricks for the Legacy Garden, located just outside NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement, will be advised when a new date is set.

For more information, please contact Colleen Knight, program coordinator for NorthBay Health-care Foundation, at 646-3131.

Following Employee Appreciation Meals in May, the Nutrition Services Department has announced winners in the raffles:

Monica Belo, quality assurance training coordinator, won a Fitbit Flex wireless wristband.

Angie Parsons, Human Resources support specialist, won two Discovery Kingdom Holiday in the Park tickets.

Frank Chavez, stationary engineer, won a set of four movie tickets.

Pete Grindle, maintenance tech day porter, won a set of four movie tickets.

Sunny Weist, respiratory care practitioner, won a wine bucket/wine gift.

Toni Harvey, administration support specialist for the cardiac catheterization lab, won a movie gift basket.

Claudia Rominger, clinical pharmacist, won a $20 Bella Terra gift tile.

Teaming Up with 100 Women

AppreciationMeal Raffle

Winners Announced

NorthBay Healthcare Foundation frequently receives funds donated by generous organizations and philanthropists, who wish to support our programs and mission. Recently, some NorthBay employees and Foundation board members, as members of the “100 Women Who Care about Solano County” organization, turned the tables and voted to support CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Solano County, a local non-profit that provides volunteer advocates for abused or neglected children.

Members of the “100 Women” organization agree to meet once a quarter and pledge $100 each per meeting ($400 a year) to support a local charity, explained Niki Petersen, director of Respi-ratory Therapy, and one of the group’s founding members. The goal — like NorthBay Healthcare Foundation’s — is to keep the focus local and to have an impact that can be seen right here in our community.

At each quarterly meeting, three non-profits are invited to

present a five-minute descrip-tion of their organization. The members then vote on the charity they wish to support. Once the winner is announced, each member writes a check for $100 directly to the char-ity. The checks are collected and forwarded to the charity in one gift bag.

“It’s difficult to make a very large impact as individuals, but we can give back to the community in an impactful way when we join together like this,” Niki said. “We’ve only been doing this for about a year, and we’ve done some amazing things with the funds we’ve raised.”

The group met on June 16 at Green Valley Administration Center to hear pitches from three local non-profits — CASA of Solano County, Soroptimists International of Vacaville and Matrix Parent Network. CASA of Solano County got their vote, but members agreed it was difficult to choose.

For more information, go to www.100womensolano.org.

NorthBay Healthcare’s Niki Petersen and Laura Oiler (left) members of “100 Women,” met at GVAC last week and voted to support CASA, represented by Candy Pierce and Chris Sweeney.

13

Sometime in the near future individuals who received paper pay stubs will receive in the mail at their homes copies of pay stubs extending back to May of 2013.

The copies you will receive will add the word “Corporation” after “NorthBay Healthcare” so there is no possible uncertainty as to the name of your employer. The copies you will receive will also add “Pay Period Start” date so there is no uncertainty as to the period covered by each paycheck.

Recipients of electronic pay stubs have already received updated pay stubs in the electronic portal which state the name “NorthBay Healthcare Corporation.” This name replaces “NorthBay Healthcare System,” which is the name under which NorthBay has done business for many years.

The electronic pay stubs have always shown the start dates of pay periods. The pay stubs in the electronic portal are available back for more than three years.

We appreciate that these matters are likely of no surprise to you for, among other reasons, NorthBay distributes a schedule of pay periods and paydays at the beginning of each year and also maintains the schedule on the employee portal, which employees can access at any time. Please note that there has been no change in any state or federal tax reporting or the amount you have earned or been paid.

Should you have any questions, please call Judy Wilkins at 646-3166 or Claudia Cope at 646-3165 in the Payroll Department.

Pay Stub Alert!!!

Respiratory Fit Testing Set for Summer

Annual Respiratory Fit Testing for all employees who enter isolation rooms is scheduled for July and August.

This includes inpatient nurses, CNAs, physicians, housekeepers, some nutrition staff, case managers, respiratory therapists, radiology techs, and other ancillary employees.

Please ask your manager if you are required to be fit tested, as this is a condition of employment, according to Sandra Ohlson, R.N., Employee Health coordinator.

The test takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Each employee is given a mask that the evaluator thinks might fit, then a hood is placed over their head. A saccharin solution is sprayed into the hood and the employee won’t taste it if the mask fits right.

If you have questions about the test, please contact Employee Health at 646-4699.

2016 Fit Testing

Clinic ScheduleAll clinics are

7:30 to 11:30 a.m. and

12:30 to 4 p.m.

VacaValley Health Plaza1010 Nut Tree Road, VacavilleRoom 240

July 1, 8, 14, 22, 29Aug. 5, 11, 25

NorthBay Health Plaza1101 B. Gale Wilson Blvd., FairfieldRoom 203

July 6, 13, 15, 20, 27Aug. 3, 10, 17, 23, 26, 31

Penn Tab Building1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Fairfield

July 11, 18, 25Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

up crates, boxes, medicines and records, as well as a host of personal work belongings. It’s all destined for Medical Oncol-ogy, Infusion and the Pharmacy’s new home on the third floor of the Wellness Center. These items join photocopiers, infusion poles, blanket warmers, file cabinets, desks and chairs already there.

“By about 4 or 5 p.m. on that Friday afternoon, movers will have everything in place in Vacaville,” said Frederica Gordon,

facilities development coordinator responsible for coordinating departmental moves into the new Wellness Center.

“Employees in Medical Oncology can begin unpacking and setting up their work areas, ready for business on July 5.”

This controlled chaos repeats for several departments every Friday through the month of July. When all the major moving is done by August 2, approximately

See MOVE Page 15

Move ... (From Page 1)

14

What’s Where in the New Wellness Center?First Floor

Third Floor

* Maps are oriented as if you are facing the building’s entrance.

*The first-floor map does not include HealthSpring’s pools (which would be to the right) nor the linear accelerator, which would be on the left.

Second Floor

15

Move ...(From Page 13)

100 employees and all their work equipment from Cardiac Rehab, PT/OT, Integrative Medicine, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Radiation Oncology and Solano Diagnostics Imaging will have been relocated to the 55,000-square foot space.

For this first wave, special arrangements have been made to move some items from the NorthBay Medical Center Pharmacy to a brand new facility at the Wellness Center, Frederica noted. A separate moving van and crew have been assigned to relocate medications and records, using dry ice to keep refrigerated items chilled. The van will be followed by Hy Ton, Pharmacy manager, who will then assure that all items have been safety delivered to their shelves and refrigerators.

Frederica’s playbook these days is on an 11 by 17-inch spreadsheet that outlines which departments move and on what dates, who her departmental contacts are, and what they’re moving; it’s marked up with notes and highlighted comments. Her desk phone, cell phone and Outlook mail box are constantly ringing and chiming with calls, text and email alerts. And yet, Frederica is able to exude an aura of calm in a sea of calculated chaos.

Maybe that’s because she’s spent her entire career in facilities management for a commercial real estate firm, the last six at NorthBay. This move will be a great success, she predicted, just as it was for the Green Valley Medical Office Building and the Hilborn Administration Building.

Frederica has relied on her spreadsheet and close working relationships with departmental contacts — Bea Castro for the Cancer Center, Hy Ton with the Pharmacy, Karen Lowe with Cardiac Rehab, Doug Hinton with PT/OT, and Brad Vasconcelles and Stephanie Tarter for Diabetes & Endocrinology — to keep her fully informed regarding how many new desks, chairs, telephones, filing cabinets and all manner of office equipment she needed to order and have delivered in advance of the moves. The task requires an eagle eye for every detail and ironing out logistical wrinkles.

Also on the team is Adrian Riggs, who is coordinating the move for Solano Diagnostics Imaging. Mammography, X-ray, bone density and ultrasound equipment needs to be taken out of service, de-installed, moved and re-installed. In the process, some equipment will need additional physicist evaluation and state and federal credentialing before it can be operational in the new location, Adrian noted. In the meantime, he has arranged for back-up service to be provided for X-ray at 421 Nut Tree Road, and for bone density, mammography,

The Wellness Center will be home to Solano County’s first fixed PET/CT Scanner when it is ready for service.

and ultrasound at 1101 B Gale Wilson Boulevard, Suite 100. All imaging equipment should be operational by July 11.

To prepare for July moves, Frederica has assigned each employee or space within their work group a number that also coincides with a number at the new workspace. Employees put their number on colored stickers — orange for pharmacy, blue for medical oncology, purple for endocrinology, for example — and attach them to everything that needs to be transported. Movers use these colored stickers to deliver items to the correct location.

When it’s all done, Frederica looks forward to two things. First? “To see the happy, smiling faces of all staff members and how excited they are to be in this beautiful new building,” she said.

And? “I usually just take a day or two off here or there throughout the year, but this time I may just take two full weeks off, and have a very relaxing vacation.”

She should be rested and ready to do it all again, for the upcoming Master Space Planning project and the newest building located at 2500 Hilborn Road.

“It never stops and I love it.”

16

NorthBay HealthSpring Fitness is about to make a big splash on the aquatics scene in Vacaville.

Although the doors to Solano County’s only medical fitness center don’t open until July, plans to create a truly comprehensive and innovative swim program began in early spring.

Danielle Loughran, assistant general manager of HealthSpring, got her start as a junior lifeguard when she was just 14 years old. Since then, she has taught thousands of children how to swim, and even created her own swimming curriculum, during her years of teaching and directing programs at Bay Area YMCAs.

“I’ve seen some of the kids I’ve taught grow up to become lifeguards and now they’re teaching other children how to swim,” says Danielle. “It’s very rewarding.”

She’s assembled an aquatics team of instructors, who will

oversee the three pools and whirlpool that make up the HealthSpring natatorium, which dominates the first floor of the three-story, 56,000-square-foot fitness center.

The team’s No. 1 goal? To make Solano County’s youth safe around the water.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is a leading cause of injury death for children ages 1 to 14, and kills more children in that age range than anything else except birth defects.

Danielle and her team — Lau-ren Krebs and John Zdankus — intend to teach first and second levels of water safety to all children who enter the Health-Spring’s aquatic program.

Soon, Danielle hopes to offer

a pre-competitive swim team for children who already can swim in all racing styles.

Of course there will be lessons for adults too — both private and semi-private — as well as water aerobics classes to tone muscles and increase endurance without straining joints.

A warm-water therapy pool is available to help ease aches and pains and speed up recovery from injuries or surgery.

A Junior Olympic-size pool will be dedicated to lap swimmers, and Danielle is hoping to offer a Master Swim Program, which en-tails coached sessions aimed to enhance the swimming skills of both novice and elite swimmers.

Prior to accepting the job at HealthSpring, Danielle served as senior program director at the YMCA of Silicon Valley Central Branch, where she directed and coordinated all aspects of the

A Water WonderlandHealthSpring’s Top

Goal is to Teach Safety

Danielle Loughran, assistant general manager of HealthSpring Fitness, will be right at home managing the facility’s aquatic center, as her background is in managing the YMCA’s swim program in the Silicon Valley.

See WATER, Page 17

17

aquatic department.In addition to teaching

thousands of children how to swim and hundreds of instructors how to teach, she’s also taught babies as young as 6 months and their parents how to have fun and be safe in the water.

“Once a young child can open their eyes underwater, it creates a level of confidence, because they can see where they’re going,” she explains. “We start by getting them comfortable in the water. For some, it takes longer than others.”

Lessons will last 40 minutes, and will typically consist of eight classes.

“We want the natatorium to be a family-friendly place where parents and children can come together to learn and play,” says Danielle

For rates and dates, visit HealthSpring Fitness at www.healthspringfitness.org.

‘Sneak Peek’ Adds Second Preview Day

Water ...(From Page 16)

The water activity pool and lap pool can both be seen with the bridge overhead.

YMCA in downtown San Jose. A competitive soccer player in San Jose, he recently graduated from California State University, Chico, with a degree in kinesiology, with minors in health and wellness and exercise physiology. He has accepted the position as Health-Spring’s aquatic coordinator and will also serve as a personal trainer.

started teaching and coaching in 2000. Although she no longer swims for a team, she competes in triathlons and open water races, and is enthusiastic about joining the aquatics department at HealthSpring as the aquatic program lead.4John Zdankus became a

swimming instructor and life-guard at 18, teaching at the

4Danielle Loughran, assis-tant general manager of North-Bay HealthSpring Fitness, has been teaching swim lessons and running aquatic programs at Bay Area YMCAs since 2002. She got her start in 2001 as a lifeguard and swim instructor for the city of Santa Clara. She has taught thousands of children how to swim, and hundreds of instruc-tors how to teach. In her role as assistant general manager, she will not only supervise the aquat-ics department at HealthSpring Fitness, she will also oversee the Kids Club, housekeeping and the front desk.4Lauren Krebs joined her

first swim club when she was 8. Her love affair with aquatics has not waned. After swimming competitively for 10 years, she

Meet The Team:Interest in getting a sneak

peek inside NorthBay Health-Spring Fitness, Solano County’s first-ever medical fitness center, has been so phenomenal a sec-ond preview day, exclusively for employees, has been added.

NorthBay Healthcare employ-ees and their family members are now invited to tour HealthSpring Fitness from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29.

More than 1,300 employees, charter members, community VIPs and others have RSVP’d their interest in seeing the facility this Friday, June 24.

“That was such a remarkable response, we began to consider how to add additional time to ac-commodate that many people,” explained Sarah Jewel, director of business development. “So we figured it might be better to give our employees their own, exclu-

sive preview day.”Weather may be a factor with

temperatures approaching the century mark. So to minimize waiting times to take a tour of the facility, it was decided an employ-ee-only opportunity might keep such long lines from forming.

HealthSpring Fitness officially opens to the public on July 1.

During both sneak peek pre-views, guests can get an early look at the 56,000-square-foot fa-cility and ask questions of EXOS-MediFit employees. Visitors can see the first-floor natatorium with three pools and a whirlpool spa; two floors packed with all manner of exercise equipment; massage therapy, and fully equipped locker rooms; and a third-floor walking track.

Charter members must sign up by June 30. For membership information, call (707) 301-4075.

18

yes, even patients! The mock office was created

over a two-day period in June to test Lean concepts and work flow as the three teams come together under one roof for the first time at NorthBay, in a 13,500-square-foot building at 2500 Hilborn Road.

Projected to open in the spring of 2017, it will join two other NorthBay buildings on campus, the Hilborn Center for Primary

Care and the Hilborn Administra-tion Center, which is also home to Occupational and Employee Health.

Joelyn Gropp, assistant vice president of Real Estate and Fa-cilities Development, coordinated the two-day workshop, bring-ing some two dozen employees together with a team from the architectural firm NBBJ.

Tours were made of the current facilities and Lean

workshops kicked off the discussions, facilitated by director of Performance Excellence Trish Hackemack and Lean Practitioner Letitia Goodjoint.

“We’re trying to apply Lean methodologies to create a better work environment for our staff and a better patient care experience,” explained Trish.

A few of the Lean improve-ments and ideas include:

Use of sliding, frosted glass doors, instead of typical doors that swing open. Sliders vastly improve flow for patients in wheelchairs or on scooters.

Placement of X-ray adjacent to an orthopedic casting room will make the trip fast and easy for patients.

Cubbies in the rehabilitation gym area will mean that patients won’t have to carry their belong-ings from station to station.

A hospitality station in the lobby is bound to be a patient-pleaser.

Day 2 of the workshop focused on building the prototype, and

Hilborn ... (From Page 1)

Carefully arranged cardboard boxes help NorthBay Healthcare’s team from Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and X-ray visualize how the layout of their new shared medical office building might look.

Doug Hin-ton (left

to right), Adrian

Riggs and Letitia

Goodjoint move a

partition at the fu-

ture home of the

Hilborn Health Plaza. See HILBORN Page 19

19

then simulating patient visits to see how the flow worked. Several patients were invited to tour the space and share observations.

A gurney, a patient exam table and a wheelchair were all brought in to see how they’d fit in the spaces marked.

The team debated how best to use existing light from the windows to create an inviting environment. At one point, team members lifted cardboard walls that framed patient exam sta-tions and moved them to the other side of the building, open-ing up window space for rehabili-tation therapy.

“It’s a lot simpler to do this now, before we build real walls,” said Joelyn with a chuckle. “We have a great opportunity in this new location to locate orthope-dics and rehab next to each other so they can provide integrated care. The patients will be able to get appointments that are back-to-back, they won’t have to make as many trips; everything will be in one home and will be much more convenient.”

Patients will also be able to enjoy “pre-hab,” noted Justine Zilliken, director of Specialty Services. Patients can meet with their rehabilitation partners

during their pre-operative visit with their orthopedic surgeon so they’ll understand the plan for their care through the process.

Orthopedics and X-ray ser-vices will relocate from the NorthBay Health Plaza, while Re-habilitation Services comes from its current location at In-Shape Fairfield Rancho Solano.

Rehabilitation Manager Doug Hinton says he will move some of his equipment and get some new equipment for the space, which is larger than what his team is cur-rently allotted.

Executive sponsor for the project, Aimee Brewer, president of Ambulatory Services, sees the value of bringing the services together.

“This is the perfect location to provide comprehensive, innova-tive and integrated orthopedic care to our patients,” she said. “All the services they’ll need will be right here, at an easy-to-reach location right off the free-way with plenty of parking.”

“And starting with a shell gives us the chance to design the space the way we want it,” added Joelyn.

Hilborn MOB Put to Test ... (From Page 18)

Doug Hinton, (at left) manager for Rehabilitation Services, directs a mock patient, played by NBBJ Architect’s Terri Oelrich, through the paces. Patient Services Rep. Julianne More signs Terri up for her next appointment.

20

TO REMEMBERDATES

IN THE NEWSPEOPLE

LETTERS

DATES

PEOPLE

NEW FACESWELCOMEWELCOME

LETTERS

‘Good’ Bacteria Can Be Our Friend

06.22-24.16 NorthBay Nurse Camp07.05.16 Retirement Plan Meetings — GVAC Rm 16007.06.16 Retirement Plan Meetings — VVHP Suite 29007.07.16 Retirement Plan Meetings — Penn Tab Lobby07.09.16 NorthBay at SF Giants vs Diamondbacks Baseball07.15.16 Guild Golf Classic — Mare Island Gold Club08.06.16 NICU Reunion — GVAC08.13.16 NorthBay at Oakland As Baseball (Fireworks show)09.11.16 R2D2 Bike Ride

By Kathleen Shafer, MA, RD

Did you know that your body contains more bacteria than there are humans on the planet?

Most of those bacteria are good bacteria that we couldn’t live without. These microscopic helpers crowd out the dangerous bacteria and perform many useful functions, especially in our digestive tract, where bacteria help us to digest our food.

Fermentation is the breakdown of food by beneficial bacteria and is one of the oldest ways of preserving food.

These fermented foods have been enjoyed in their traditional cultures and most can be found in our grocery stores:4 Sauerkraut (from Germany,

fermented cabbage);4 Kimchi (from Korea,

fermented vegetables);

4 Miso (from Japan, fermented beans, grains);4 Tempeh (from

Indonesia, fermented beans and sometimes grains); 4 Cheese (from

multiple countries, fermented milk);4 Yogurt: (from multiple

countries, fermented milk);4 Kombucha: (from multiple

Asian countries, fermented tea).Shop carefully when looking to

purchase fermented foods. Fermentation is considered

an inexact and unpredictable science that involves the growth of living organisms. Because of that, many food companies have created modern versions of the foods above that are more consistent but without the health benefits that come with natural fermentation.

When shopping for yogurt, look for unsweetened, and check the ingredient list to see if there are live cultures. Traditionally made cheeses, especially raw-milk cheese, are good choices

and it should go with-out saying that any-thing that calls itself “processed cheese food” is not going to contribute any live cultures or beneficial bacteria to the party.

Commercial pick-led vegetables are

often made now with vinegar in-stead of natural fermentation, so if you see vinegar on the ingredi-ent list, it is likely not fermented.

Keep your eye out for more true fermented foods in your local grocery store, especially in the refrigerated section.

Try something new. Research increasingly shows that eating such foods can support our good gut bacteria and help us to maintain our good health. Be happy, be healthy. The author is a member of the NorthBay Healthcare Wellness Committee and writes a monthly column for FYI. She has been a dietitian for more than 20 years. E-mail your ideas to her at KShafer@NorthBay.org.

ing to Ed Lowe, executive direc-tor, Health at Home, Hospice & Bereavement, Palliative Care and Alzheimer Program and Adult Day Center.

The reviewer was thorough. In addition to reporting that the center was clean, in good repair and at a comfortable temperature, she also verified such things as toxins being in locked cabinets, hot water temperatures were within required ranges, entrances and exits were clear of clutter, that alarms worked perfectly and that center staff performed disaster drills on a regular basis.

“This was the first annual review of our new space,” noted Sandy Perez, manager, Alzheim-er’s Services. “The reviewer said we had a wonderful facility and that we’re doing a great job.”

Audit ... (From Page 1)