Broadband telecommunications
part of San Joaquin Valley’s rural medical care

Patients in smaller towns around the San Joaquin Valley are getting the opportunity to access specialized care without driving two or more hours. Valley Telehealth Partnership began with the “hub” at UC Merced and a plan to implement four eHealth Centers throughout the Valley. By the end of 2008, there were six eHealth Centers—three hospitals and three outpatient clinics—in five different counties: San Joaquin, Merced, Fresno, Kern and Mariposa. Two sites are “providers,” which is where the specialist conducts the “doctor visit” with the patient. The other four sites will be the “end users,” where the patients will go to “visit the doctor.”

News is spreading about this service to patients and doctors alike. Check out these news articles from The Stockton Record and Merced Sun-Star, respectively:
Telemedicine lets patients tune in to specialized care
Telemedicine: The doctor is in, just somewhere else

Transportation Work Group has ‘moved’

At the June meeting of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley Board of Directors, a resolution was accepted that the Transportation Work Group would have a new agency at the helm. Central Valley Councils of Government is taking the wheel with Jesse Brown, executive director of Merced County Association of Governments, assuming the role of work group consultant.

Partnership Valley Coalition seeks input for medical school

Voice your views and recommendations about the proposed UC Merced School of Medicine planning process at one of the Valley Coalition’s Community Listening Tour Meetings. Also available are the Valley Coalition’s Mission Statement and UC Merced Medical School of Medicine Fact Sheet.

For further updates and details, please contact The Rios Co. at 559.485.1320.

Meet the Board: Corwin Harper

Corwin Harper is the senior vice president and area manager for the Central Valley area Kaiser Permanente, which has more than 265,000 members in the San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Prior to that position, he served in a variety of roles with Kaiser Permanente in the Fresno area including senior vice president and area manager.

He has served as vice president of professional services for Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center in Chicago and as chief operating officer and health care administrator for the Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Ft. Gordon, Ga.

Harper is a transplant to the San Joaquin Valley from the mid-western United States and “several years of Army Military service and travels.” He and his wife Terrye and their two children moved in 1996 to Fresno and in 2005 to Stockton, where they still reside.

Governor Schwarzenegger in 2008 appointed Harper to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. He is a member of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, which he represents on the Partnership board.

He has been able to “integrate the key drivers of building a community and brokering relationships,” he says, and has a broad perspective of the San Joaquin Valley economy from a health care viewpoint.

“Helping to create a new dialogue throughout all of the [San Joaquin Valley] counties and trying to find common ground to get alignment,” Harper says, has been his most rewarding Partnership experience.

Harper also is a member of the Medical Group Management Association, National Association of Health Services Executives, Stanislaus Alliance Executive Committee and San Joaquin Business Council. He is on the California State University, Stanislaus, President’s Advisory Board.

He has a master’s degree in health care administration from Baylor University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.

‘Road to Recovery’ for California

Statewide conferences in Fresno (Central Valley), Anaheim (Southern California) and San Jose (Northern California) provided “practical and technical guidance on how local communities, including government entities, private employers and nonprofits, can apply for and access funding available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) to stimulate job creation and the California economy.” California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth co-hosted the events. See California Recovery Task Force Announces Regional Road To Recovery Conferences for full press release.

At each conference, participants received California Road to Recovery Stimulus Resources, which we have provided on the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley Web site.

CSUB receives $78,775 grant to help prepare students for biomedical research

The National Institutes of Health on July 9 awarded California State University, Bakersfield, a $78,775 grant to prepare students for a future in biomedical research. Announcement of the grant was made today by Congressman Jim Costa, and the funds are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

See full article at CSUB Public Affairs and Communications.

Dates to know

July 28

California Energy Commission presents workshop for
State Energy Program Preliminary Guidelines for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
1 to 4 p.m.
San Joaquin Council of Governments
555 E. Weber Avenue
Board Conference Room
Stockton
Information: California Energy Commission Calendar

July 28

Air Quality Chat presented by San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
6 to 8 p.m.
Arvin High School Auditorium
900 Varsity
Arvin
Information: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

July 28

Introduction to Federal Contracting presented by
U.S. Small Business Administration
9 a.m. to noon
The Federal Technology Center
Fresno
Contact: 866.382.7822, Online Registration

July 30

Community Listening Tour meeting
Valley Coalition for the UC Merced Medical School
6 to7:30 p.m.
City of Merced Civic Center
678 W. 18th Street
Merced
Contact: The Rios Company, 559.485.1320, info@theriosco.com

August 4

Entrepreneur Workshop presented by
U.S. Small Business Administration
8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
SBA Office
2719 N. Air Fresno Drive, #200
Fresno
Contact: William Hori, 559.487.5791, william.hori@sba.gov

August 5

Community Listening Tour meeting
Valley Coalition for the UC Merced Medical School
6 to7:30 p.m.
West Hills Community College Lemoore
555 College Ave.
Lemoore
Contact: The Rios Company, 559.485.1320, info@theriosco.com