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SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Eight hospital campuses within Sutter Health’s not-for-profit network achieved recognition today as among the best hospitals in California for 2018-2019 by U.S. News & World Report. The annual rankings rate top hospitals in the state and in major metropolitan regions, as well as top hospitals according to their performance across 25 adult specialties, procedures and conditions.

Sutter Health hospital campuses ranked among the top 50 in the state include:

• Alta Bates Summit Medical Center– Oakland campus (high-performing in three procedures/conditions)
• California Pacific Medical Center (high-performing in one specialty and four procedures/conditions)
• Eden Medical Center (high-performing in three procedures/conditions)
• Memorial Medical Center (high-performing in three procedures/conditions)
• Mills-Peninsula Medical Center (high-performing in three procedures/conditions)
• Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento (high-performing in one specialty and nine procedures/conditions)
• Sutter Roseville Medical Center (high-performing in three procedures/conditions)
• Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital (high-performing in one specialty and two procedures/conditions)

Read more...  about Sutter Health Hospitals Honored By U.S. News & World Report

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.–Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz, part of the Sutter Health network, announced today it has earned a Perinatal Care Certification from The Joint Commission as well as designation as a Baby-Friendly hospital – two recognitions from prestigious industry groups underscoring the hospital’s outstanding care for families and newborn babies. Read more...  about Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz Earns Two Awards for Excellent Care of Mothers and Newborns

Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Clinics Continue to Be Closed Due to Fire Threat

Sacramento, Calif. — Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Sutter Care at Home offices in Lakeport continue to be closed to patients due to the Mendocino Complex fires.

The hospital and clinics have been under an evacuation order since Saturday, July 28, 2018.

A team of personnel are working onsite at the hospital to make sure it is secure, functional and able to open when it is appropriate. Although some local roads near the hospital may be opening, it is not yet certain when the hospital or the clinics will re-open.

“We are looking forward to once again serving patients with compassion and excellence when the hospital reopens,’’ said Dan Peterson, chief administrative officer at Sutter Lakeside Hospital. “When the hospital is cleared to open, we will notify patients and the communities we support.’’ Read more...  about Sutter Lakeside Hospital Evacuation Update

LAKEPORT, Calif.–Sutter Lakeside Hospital continues to be threatened by the Mendocino Complex fire. The fire, which includes the River and Ranch Fires, began Saturday, July 28, and to this date is still raging

As the fires continue, the air quality is poor. When pollution is bad, it can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat, cause shortness of breath, aggravate asthma and other respiratory conditions.

Air quality has been rated unsafe to unhealthy for sensitive groups who live near the fires, and it is also rated unhealthy for those who live in the Sacramento area. Poor air quality and smoky air also have been reported in the East Bay, including Walnut Creek and the Tri-Valley area.

Read more...  about Recommendations on Coping with Poor Air Quality Due to Wildfires

PALO ALTO, Calif.–Three recent high school graduates are the latest recipients of college scholarships awarded by Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) physicians. The annual scholarships, created to help meet the need for future physicians, are awarded to deserving local students who are committed to becoming medical doctors.

The students, who are chosen through a competitive process, receive $25,000 or $12,000 scholarships that are paid over several years to help cover the costs of undergraduate studies and medical school.

Since 1993, PAMF physicians have funded and awarded more than 50 scholarships to outstanding local high school students who attend a four-year college and plan to pursue careers as doctors. In addition, PAMF’s philanthropy department has awarded eight scholarships over the years thanks to generous community donors. Read more...  about PAMF Physicians Award Scholarships to Aspiring Future Doctors

Dr. Joanna Cooper, a Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation (SEBMF) neurologist has received the Jefferson Award from KPIX-5 San Francisco for her work co-founding Maya’s Music Therapy, a music therapy nonprofit that improves the quality of life developmentally disabled participants.

Watch to learn more about this inspirational program on @CBSSanFrancisco.

Maya’s Music Therapy Fund honors Dr. Cooper’s severely disabled daughter, Maya who died at age 14 from a rare neurologic disorder.

“She was nonverbal, but she could really come alive with music,” Dr. Cooper recalled.

When Dr. Cooper and Maya’s father founded the nonprofit in 1989, they started with a handful of children. Today, the nonprofit is 29 years old and serves more than a hundred children and adults. Read more...  about Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation Neurologist Receives Public Service Award from KPIX-5 TV

PALO ALTO, Calif.– For the third consecutive year, HMR Weight Management Services (HMR) has been ranked as a No. 1 Best Fast Weight-Loss Diet  in an annual 2018 ranking by U.S. News & World Report.

The simple and high-intensity lifestyle intervention program is offered by Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation at two locations, 301 Old San Francisco Road in Sunnyvale, and 795 El Camino Real in Palo Alto. 

The magazine evaluated 40 of the most popular diets and weight-loss programs on a range of levels from heart healthiness to their likelihood of helping people lose weight.

“Successful weight loss is not only about losing pounds quickly, it’s about creating changes around eating and physical activity that you can sustain over the long term,” said Carol Addy, M.D. MMSc, Chief Medical Officer at HMR. “By keeping the plan simple, people can lose weight quickly while building the skills they need for long-term weight management.”

Read more...  about HMR Program Ranked a No. 1 “Best Fast Weight-Loss Diet” for Third Year

Dr. Harold Luft, Ph.D., director, PAMF Research Institute

PALO ALTO, Calif.- Harold S. Luft, Ph.D., director of Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute (PAMFRI), has been awarded the Centennial Medal from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the school’s highest honor recognizing outstanding alumni whose contributions to knowledge, to their disciplines, to their colleagues, and to society have made a fundamental and lasting impact.

Dr. “Hal” Luft, who is also a senior scientist at PAMF’s Research Institute and the Caldwell B. Esselstyn Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Health Economics at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, received the honor for his influential work as a health care economist.

Dr. Luft was presented with the award on May 23 at a ceremony at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) in Cambridge, Mass. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in Harvard’s Department of Economics, completing his Ph.D. thesis in 1973 on the impact of poverty on health, and health on poverty, in America.

“Harold Luft’s dedication to advancing interdisciplinary, empirical research has improved health care for the benefit of millions of Americans,” said Emma Dench, GSAS interim dean. “We are proud to award him the 2018 Centennial Medal.”

Read more...  about PAMF Research Institute’s Dr. Harold Luft Receives 2018 Centennial Medal from Harvard University

SACRAMENTO – Two intensive-care units at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento received the prestigious Beacon Award for Excellence, given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) to laud hospital units that employ evidence-based practices to improve patient and family outcomes.

The Beacon Award for Excellence provides gold, silver and bronze levels of recognition to hospital units that exemplify excellence in professional practice, patient care and outcomes. Sutter Medical Center’s Cardiovascular Surgery ICU received the gold award, and the Med ICU the silver. Recognition continues for three years. Read more...  about Sutter ICUs Receive Beacon Awards for Critical-Care Excellence

New Procedure Advances Lung Cancer Diagnosis  and Treatment
                          

Ganesh Krishna, M.D.

Mountain View, Calif. – Ganesh Krishna, M.D., director of interventional pulmonology at PAMF, part of the not-for-profit Sutter Health network, successfully performed an innovative robotic bronchoscopy procedure to view the inside of the lungs and obtain a tissue sample from a patient with an abnormal CT scan of the chest.

This procedure, the first of its kind performed in the United States, took place on March 30 at El Camino Hospital, as part of a clinical trial of Auris Health’s Monarch Platform.

“Since the robotic bronchoscope has the ability to travel deeper into the lung and precisely guide a biopsy instrument to even the most difficult nodules, the technology offers the potential to diagnose lung cancer at an earlier stage,” said Dr. Krishna, who is also medical director of the Interventional Pulmonology Program at El Camino Hospital and fellowship director of the Interventional Pulmonary Fellowship Program in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Read more...  about PAMF Pulmonologist Performs First Robotic Bronchoscopy on a Patient in the U.S.