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CSRHA honored five outstanding individuals for their remarkable health achievements in rural California at the Annual Rural Champion Awards Luncheon, which was held on the final day of the 9th Annual Rural Health Conference in November. The luncheon took place during the special Leadership Development Day of the annual conference where several CSRHA members took to the stage to announce the winners and share their unique experiences with these leaders.
 Three individuals were took home the award for Rural Champion in Community Leadership at the luncheon: David Yarbrough, CEO of Biggs-Gridley Memorial Hospital, Herrmann Spetzler, Executive Director of Open Door Community Health Centers, and Peter Van Houten, M.D., Medical Director/CEO of Sierra Family Medical Clinic, Inc. The award is presented annually by the Rural Health Association to individuals who have made a significant contribution to advancing rural health at the local or regional level. These three advocates share a passion for their community clinics and for persevering through the toughest of circumstances to bring quality health care to rural communities. (Pictured above, award winners Herrmann Spetzler, Asm. Lois Wolk, David Yarbrough, & Peter Van Houten)
The Rural Champion in Legislative Service awards were presented to former California Assemblymember Patty Berg and California State Senator Lois Wolk. The award recognizes a public official, their staff, or a state advocate who exemplifies exceptional leadership and dedication to rural health in California. Both Berg and Wolk, from rural communities themselves, have dedicated a great deal of time and effort to support the needs of rural communities throughout the state.
Among the many CSRHA members in attendance of the special luncheon, there were a few surprise guests in the room! Several staff members of Sierra Family Medical Clinic made a special trip to accompany their very own champion, Peter Van Houten to receive his award. The audience was delighted to take part in the honoring of 2009’s awardees and enjoyed inspirational stories from the presenters and award recipients.
The 2009 Rural Champion Award Recipients are as follows:
To view a brief video clip of the awards ceremony click here.
David Yarbrough:
It was through David’s assistance, leadership and guidance that Biggs Gridley Memorial Hospital was able to pull out of their financial situation and make the transformation to a stand-alone facility. Biggs-Gridley memorial Hospital (BGMH) is a critical access hospital in Northern California. BGMH had previously merged with a larger healthcare organization in 2001 and in summer of 2008, it was announced that BGMH would be closed. The community and BGMH Foundation Board of Directors were greatly disappointed with this decision, as the nearest healthcare was over 30 minutes away and lives were at stake due to the closure. The communities of Biggs, Gridley, Live Oak and Richvale decided to fight for their hospital. The Foundation Board of Directors contracted with Yarbrough to assist with the transition to a stand-alone facility. David spent countless hours working with management, attorneys, staff and community members to complete the transition by May 1, 2009. David agreed to stay as Chief Executive Officer of the now debt-free stand-alone facility. His expertise, knowledge and commitment to rural health care are exemplary and it is through his efforts and dedication that approximately 30,000 people in the service area of BGMH are afforded quality health care in the community.
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Peter Van Houten:
Dr. Peter Van Houten of Sierra Family Medical Clinic in rural Nevada County is one of the leading proponents of Fully Integrated Primary Care, Behavioral Health, and Dentistry in the state. Dr. Van Houten’s medical, dental and behavioral health care model provides fully integrated services designed to achieve optimum patient health outcomes with the impact of improved overall health for the community he serves. The California Endowment funded a research project conducted by Dr. Van Houten to assess the effectiveness of the integrated model. Strikingly, when a standard referral was made to Behavioral Health, 40% of patients would make their appointment. The “warm hand-off” method resulted in 80% showing up for their follow-up appointment.
Since 2007 Dr. Van Houten and his staff have been the mentors for community clinics throughout California with hands on training at selected clinics and in well attended seminars. Sierra Family was one of only five clinics selected by The Tides Foundation as mentors in Integrated Behavioral Health, and Sierra Family was the only small, rural, single site clinic with the special insight into issues addressed by small, rural community clinics.
Dr. Van Houten developed his approach to Integrated Behavioral Health when in 2000 the County of Nevada Behavioral Health Department was forced by budget constraints to limit drastically the types and amounts of service they would be able to deliver to the underserved population of the area. He and his staff understood that community members needed treatment for all aspects of health and recognized that behavioral health services were often missing from the practice of traditional primary care, an issue his project directly addressed.
Dr. Van Houten encountered many challenges while attempting to change the clinic culture and urge other primary care providers to learn to recognize behavioral health problems. It also was necessary to train the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) to provide short-term behavioral health solutions rather than long-term, open-ended treatment. Through patience, persistence, and example, Dr. Van Houten inspired the staff and showed the potential of this new model to improve patient outcomes and, amazingly, increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Under the auspices of the County of Nevada, Dr. Van Houten soon will be training local Physicians in the recognition and treatment of Behavioral Health problems with the goal that some will integrate Behavioral Health into their private practices.
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Herrmann Spetzler:
Herrmann Spetzler has been Chief Executive Officer of the Humboldt Open Door Clinic since 1977. Under his stewardship Open Door has expanded the original store-front clinic to include nine locations providing more than 130,000 medical, dental and mental health visits to over 36,000 patients per year. Most recently his accomplishments include the creation of the Telemedicine and eHealth center, a regional hub for increased access to specialist care throughout Northwestern Rural California using the latest telemedicine technologies.
Herrmann Spetzler is a 30-year resident of Humboldt County. He began his career as a research engineer at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Throughout his professional life, Herrmann has dedicated himself to planning, empowering, and creating innovative strategies for increased access to primary healthcare in rural environments. He is the founder of the Northern California Rural Roundtable, California State Rural Health Association and a co-founder and past President of the California Primary Care Association. He has served on numerous boards, commissions and healthcare advisory panels that have resulted in better access to primary care for residents of rural America. He is a past president of Humboldt Child Care Council, California Association of Free- Standing Birth Centers, and the Clinic Mutual Insurance Company. Mr. Spetzler is currently President of the CNNC; a network of community clinics stretching from the Oregon border to the San Francisco Bay area, the President of the North Coast Clinics Network, and advisory board member of CHIS (California Health Interview Survey) at UCLA's Center For Health Policy Research.
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Lois Wolk:
Senator Wolk is a committed and effective supporter of rural health initiatives in California. Serving on the Senate Health Committee and as Chair of the Revenue and Taxation Committee, she has made many contributions to improving the health and well being of rural Californians. Lois Wolk has written numerous letters of support for organizations looking for funding including the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office under the Internet Crimes Against Children Research Grants program and Fairfield’s application for CA Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers Programs for grant funding. She has authored legislation signed into law by the Governor to help provide safe, affordable, and reliable transportation for agricultural workers in California’s rural counties, supported CommuniCare Health Centers for Yolo County to compete for grant funding to continue health care services for the most underserved in the county, helped to facilitate the Stockton Promise Summit which vowes to continue “healthy start and healthy development of children in Stockton and surrounding rural areas.”
In addition to these contributions, Wolk has supported the Breastfeeding Coalition of San Joaquin County who recognizes businesses that are mother-baby friendly. She serves as the Family Resource & Referral Center’s honorary chairperson for the 22nd Annual Auction on Behalf of Children Awards, which recognize those who care about children in San Joaquin County. Wolk’s dedication to the improvement of California’s rural healthcare and accessibility is highly respected and appreciated. Her long tenure in public service and ability to translate real citizen’s issues into tangible solutions are an asset to our state and efforts to elevate health in rural California.”
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Patty Berg:
Patty Berg served for 6 years in the California State 1st Assembly District, which includes Del Norte County, Humboldt County, Mendocino County, Lake County, and Trinity County as well as parts of Sonoma County. Patty Berg personifies CSRHA’s mission of improving the health of rural Californians through linking individuals and organizations together to facilitate information sharing, collaboration and advocacy. The award was presented to her based on her past work as Assemblymember. Berg has made significant advancements in protecting and expanding access to care in rural California as well as defending the interests of small rural health clinics. Her work focused on the aged population and implementation of health technology to address their specific needs. Legislation was also carried by her on this issue. Berg also focused on funding for essential basic rural health care clinics for thousands of Californians. She also chairs the Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, which oversees the budget for the safety net for the state’s most vulnerable populations. Berg authored several major bills targeting the expansion of and access to rural health including increasing resources, including AB1199/chapter 930 into law in 2004, AB 2059/chapter 348 into law in 2006, and AB 315/chapter 264 into law in 2007.
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