From The Ukiah Daily Journal

This June, six Family Medicine residents will begin their three-year training with Adventist Health Ukiah Valley (AHUV) as the inaugural class of a program that has generated tremendous community and institutional support over the past five years as it was being built. Says AHUV Family Medicine Residency Program Director Dr. Noemi Doohan, “Years of hard work to bring new doctors to our area have finally paid off, and we’re excited to celebrate this accomplishment.”
​
Rural Health Rocks is an annual fundraising event put on by Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County (FMEMC) in support of the residency program. After three incredibly successful years, Rural Health Rocks is being re-imagined in its fourth year as Music is Medicine, in which the new residents are the celebrities and health and wellness are the focus. The event, being held on Saturday, June 15 at the Mendocino College in Ukiah, will include a farm-to-table dinner by Black Dog Farm catering and dessert by the Mendocino College Culinary Arts program. The dinner’s MC is a crowd favorite, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman. The multi-part concert will feature Alex de Grassi, Jeremy Cohen, Spencer Brewer, and many other local legends. Special guests include the new residents, elected officials, and the 2019 Rural Health Rock Star winners.
With only one concert this year and the addition of a family-style dinner featuring local farms and served al fresco, tickets are expected to go fast. Past concert goers have come away with enthusiasm and hope. “I’m always overcome with a sense of gratitude for the community,” says Kate Magruder, who has attended all three years. “It is an honor to be even a small part of this exciting new opportunity that is going to have such a wide impact.”

In partnership with UC Davis, the AHUV Family Medicine residency program will take on six medical school graduates every year; at the end of three years, 18 new doctors will be living and working in our community. Says FMEMC President Mary Anne Landis, “The residency program will let us ‘grow our own’ primary care doctors for years to come, which is something the community wants and supports.”
Studies show that the majority of residents set up practice in the region where they train, and each new doctor represents a $1 million economic benefit to the community. Family doctors are especially impactful in rural areas: they are the “Swiss Army knife” of doctors, according to Dr. Doohan, and can diagnose and treat the majority of health issues requiring care.

Proceeds from Music is Medicine will help fund wellness and specialty curriculum for the residents (like Lyme awareness and treatment) and the Street Medicine program. It will also support the Nursing, Recording Arts, Visual Arts, and Culinary Arts programs at Mendocino College. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.ruralhealthrocks.com.

On Wednesday April 4, KZYX Mendocino Works interviewed Dr Noemi "Mimi" Doohan, who as Director of Adventist Health's Family Medicine Residency Program is leading Mendocino County’s drive to establish a local residency program to train family practice doctors, and Mary Anne Landis, who heads Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County, a nonprofit that is raising funds for the doctor training program.

The program explored the program’s development to date, the many healthcare and socioeconomic benefits expected to flow from the training program, and the “Rural Health Rocks” fundraising drive that, for the third year running, will put singer songwriter Michael McDonald on stage with a constellation of local musicians on 14 and 15 April in Ukiah.
​
Research shows that resident doctors tend to stay and practice medicine within 50 miles of where they train. The Family Medicine Residency Training program is spurring hopes that doctors who train in Mendocino County will choose to have their careers here, fostering a new ecosystem of healthcare related investment and opportunities.

​Ukiah, CA – For the third year in a row, Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County (FMEMC) will award the title Rural Health Rock Star to four individuals who demonstrate exemplary qualities in serving medical patients. The awards are part of the popular Rural Health Rocks concert, the organization’s annual fundraiser. This year’s winners are:

• Advanced Practice Clinician: Cindy Arbanovella
  Family Nurse Practitioner, Anderson Valley Health Center
  Arbanovella has been a family nurse practitioner at Anderson Valley Health Center for more than ten years. She works with patients across the lifespan at a health center where she says colleagues feel like her “second family.” Arbanovella thrives in the rural community that she both serves and calls home.

 

• Advocate/Leader: Nancy Johnson
  Support Services Manager, Inland Office of the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County

Says Johnson, “As a patient navigator, my role is to make sure anyone diagnosed with cancer has access to the knowledge needed to understand their diagnosis and treatment options, the confidence to make informed decisions, and the support to move forward,” Johnson has a reputation as a caring individual with a special talent for helping people.

• Nurse: Leanna Sweet
  RN, Director of Population Health, Adventist Health Ukiah Valley

Sweet explained that population health includes several hospital services: Outpatient Care Management, the Street Medicine Program, and the Medical Respite program. “I’m passionate about empowering people, walking alongside others in their life journeys, assisting with navigation along the way when needed, but mostly helping others find the courage to go beyond their self-imposed limitations and discover their true potentials,” says Sweet.

• Physician: Dr. Lynne Coen
  Family Physician, Director of Community Medicine Education, Family Medicine Residency Program

After serving in the Peace Corps, Dr. Coen returned to her native Northern California roots in 1993 to practice medicine in Mendocino County. She has actively participated in efforts to improve community health as a founding member of the Mendocino County Public Health Advisory Board (1994-2007) and as medical advisor to the local Headstart Program (1994-2003). She enthusiastically supports the Family Medicine Residency program as a means of providing adequate care for future generations of people in Mendocino County.
 
The third annual Rural Health Rocks concert featuring Michael McDonald and friends will be held on April 14 and 15 at the Mendocino College Center Theatre. During the April 14 concert, FMEMC members will present the Rural Health Rock Star Awards in recognition of exemplary commitment and leadership in caring for the health of people in our rural communities. Honorees will receive a custom, locally carved bowl designed and made by Dr. Larry Hartley and Redwood Empire Woodturners Neil Elmer, Nick Pearson, Dave Peck, Larry Hartley.
 
Community members in Lake and Mendocino Counties submitted more than 100 nominations and the selection committee — comprised of community members, doctors and FMEMC board members — chose the winners. Selection criteria included their level of professional skill, emotional support of patients, community service, diversity and years of experience, innovation, special qualities exemplified during this year, and the number of nominations they received.
 
FMEMC is a community-based, non-profit organization that serves as an independent advisory board to the family medicine residency (doctor training) program starting at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley in 2019. FMEMC also improves local health care through its support of the street medicine program and local nursing.
 
Previous Rural Health Rocks concerts in 2016 and 2017 raised more than $130,000. From those proceeds, FMEMC donated almost $40,000 toward advanced training scholarships for Mendocino College Nursing program graduates, and more than $100,000 toward the development of the upcoming residency program. To see all the honorees for the last three years visit the Honorees page.
 
For more information about FMEMC, visit www.fmemc.org or find it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fmemc. To learn more about Rural Health Rocks, visit www.ruralhealthrocks.org.
 
PHOTO CAPTION: The 2018 Rural Health Rocks Rockstar Honorees. From left to right: Leanna Sweet, Nancy Johnson, Lynne Coen, Cindy Arbanovella.

For the third year in a row, Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County (FMEMC) will be awarding the title Rural Health Rock Star to four individuals who demonstrate exemplary qualities in serving medical patients. To broaden the nomination process this year, ballot boxes were distributed to 2 dozen locations throughout the county and an on-line nomination link was added to the FMEMC website, resulting in over 100 nominations.

Winners will be announced in the next two weeks. The awards will be presented at the 3rd Annual Rural Health Rocks Benefit Concert on April 14th at Mendocino College.
​
​Congratulations to all nominees!


Category:  Health Care Advocate Leader

• Chloe Guazzone – CEO, Anderson Valley Health Center 
• Monique Christenen - Howard Memorial Hospital
• Ilona Horton – Practice Manager, North Coast Family Health Center 
• Nancy Johnson – Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County
• Erika Malsom- Clinical Coordinator, Hospitality Clinic, Fort Bragg
• Sarah O’Donnell - Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County
• Sandy Ponts - North Coast Family Health Center
• Ukiah Valley Street Medicine Team

 

Category:   Advanced Practice Clinician

• Cindy Abranovella – Family Nurse Practitioner, Anderson Valley Health Center
• Heather Bowen – Physical Therapist, Howard Memorial Hospital
• Barbara Brittell – Physician Assistant, Urgent Care Redwood Coast Medical Services
• Tracy Burris – Nurse Practitioner, Adventist Health Ukiah Valley
• Sue Klarquist – Mendocino Coast Clinic, NP
• Scott Claypool - – Family Nurse Practitioner, Mendocino Community Health Clinic 
• Tom Feiertag - Physician Assistant, Mendocino Community Health Clinic 
• Suzanne Hewitt – Nurse Practitioner, Mendocino Coast District Hospital
• Paul Hupp - Physician Assistant, Mendocino Community Health Clinic
• Leon Keonck - Physician Assistant, Redwood Coast Medical Services
• Fran Laughton - Family Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Coordinator, Mendocino College Nursing Program
• Lisa McCurley – ARNP, Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Frank McGarvey – Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Mendocino Community Health Clinic
• Kathy Truelson - Nurse Practitioner, Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Kei Velazquez - Nurse Practitioner, Mendocino Coast District Hospital

 
 
Category: Physician

• Mark Apfel, MD – Anderson Valley Health Center
• Jack Bellah, MD - Mendocino Coast District Hospital
• Jeffrey Berenson MD - Mendocino
• Zoe Berna MD -  Mendocino Coast District Hospital  
• Robert Booher MD – Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Theron Chan MD – Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Lynn Coen MD - Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Tom Csanadi MD - Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Maher Danhash MD – Mendocino Coast District Hospital  
• Wade Gray MD – Mendocino Coast Clinics
• Iyad Hanna MD – Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Ida Harris MD – Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Linda James MD – Mendocino Coast District Hospital  
• James Katzel MD – Casper
• Jason Kirkman MD – Medical Director, North Coast Family Health Center
• Doug Lister MD – North Coast Family Health Center 
• Mills Matheson MD – Baechtol Creek Medical Clinic
• John Rochat MD - Mendocino Coast District Hospital
• Robin Serrahn MD - Mendocino Coast District Hospital
• Steve Wirth MD - Mendocino Community Health Clinic 
• Michael Young MD – Adventist Health Ukiah Valley

 
 
Category: Nurse

• Holly Benett - Howard Memorial Hospital
• Heather Brown Douglas RN - Mendocino Coast District Hospital
• Chris Sumner – Registered Nurse, Mendocino Coast District Hospital
• Charmiane Caster RN - Mendocino Coast Clinics
• Claudia Ceja LVN – Ukiah Valley Rural Health Clinic
• Trish McKeon RN - Howard Memorial Hospital
• Alexandra Muniz – Adventist Health ENT/Ophthalmology Clinics
• Leanna Sweet RN – Director Population Health, Adventist Health Ukiah Valley