Vol. XLVIII, No. 6
June 2024
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THE NOE VALLEY VOICE Home Telehealth Workers Find a Way to Connect
New Chapter for Store That Once Was Folio
Join Them at Live Meetups Of the NoeHealthTech Hub
Former Co-Owner to Open a Bookshop in Same Spot
By Matthew S. Bajko
By Kit Cameron
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or years, Rebecca Messing Haigler and Dr. Kathleen Jordan have lived a block away from each other near 24th and Castro streets. They also work in the health-tech sector and are part of the revolution in healthcare delivery known as telehealth. Yet their paths didn’t cross until they attended the HLTH 2023 conference in Las Vegas last October for professionals in their field. “When Rebecca and I met in Vegas, it made me laugh as it seemed ridiculous that we flew there to meet and connect, when we could have done so in our own neighborhood,” recalled Jordan, who has worked from home since 2021 as the chief medical officer at Midi Health. Specialists in menopause and perimenopause launched Midi Health to provide virtual care to patients from across the country. As such, Jordan’s work environment had become vastly different from when she worked at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, first as its medical director of infection control and eventually as its vice president and chief medical officer. She was looking for an outlet to have the kind of personal interactions she had been missing because she no longer worked at a bustling hospital. So was Haigler, who, also from a
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my house.” They wanted to offer an opportunity for people in the field to network and share ideas. Thus, they created the NoeHealthTech Hub. In naming the group, they were somewhat inspired by
oe Valley is about to have a bookstore once again. At least that is the plan of Katerina Argyres, longtime bookseller and former co-owner of Folio Books, which closed earlier this year. Argyres intends to get the new book emporium up and running at 3957 24th St., in the same yellow-fronted shop where Folio Books lived. The store, with a soft-opening date projected for late summer, has yet to be named, but it already has a robust staff in the form of many of the old Folio workers. Andrew McIntyre, Isaiah Scandrette, and Kit Fitzgerald are all on board, “volunteering their time [for now] and helping me out,” said Argyres. “I am surrounded by amazing staff who asked me to continue: ‘Hey, Katerina, if you do it, we’ll all come back.’” In May, Argyres was focused on raising money to get the new business in operation. She and her fellow book lovers launched a GoFundMe campaign, appealing to the community to help support “a sustainable and functional neighborhood bookstore,” said Argyres. “I hope it feels like people are coming back home. It was our home for many years. We are excited to bring
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Over the Rainbow with joy is Polly Amber Ross, one of a bevy of queens, kings, and quings who performed at the 2023 Drag Show at Bethany Church. To find out about this year’s fundraiser, as well as several other Pride events in Noe Valley in June, dance over to page 13. Photo by Art Bodner
home office, operates her Noe Strategic Advisors healthcare consulting firm, which she launched two years ago. “With our former companies, we used to do happy hours with people at the office. Now, we are all working at home,” said Haigler. Jordan joked, “I needed to get out of
Bench at Noe Courts Honors Local Dogs Peppertree Founder Buys a Plaque for Riva and Friends By Matthew S. Bajko
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eturning in mid-May to her nearby home for the summer, Ann Scalf finally got to see the bronze plaque the city installed in January on a bench at Noe Courts Park, the green oasis along Douglass Street between 24th and Elizabeth streets. Joining her to check out the site was 14-year-old Riva, a white-furred mutt found at a truck stop in Modesto, whom Scalf adopted 11 years ago. The plaque, on wood seating next to the entrance of the tennis court, honors the dogs Scalf has cared for over the years, as well as other canines in the neighborhood. It reads, “In Cherished Memory of Mitsouko, Sydney, Pockets, Riva & Echo and All Noe Valley Dogs Who Have Played Here.” “I just wanted to leave my mark in CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
Self-Identified Mutt Riva, 14, contemplates her long happy life while sitting near a plaque that her guardian, Ann Scalf, kindly bestowed upon a bench at Noe Courts. The memorial, says Scalf, honors both her own and all the dogs who’ve played in the park. Photo by Art Bodner