In The News
IN THE
NEWS Health Careers Scholarships & Mentors: Health Plan of San Joaquin For the 2020/21 academic year, HPSJ awarded $77,000 in scholarships, including 17 $3,000 awards and 26 $1,000 awards, for 43 local students to attend various schools. These schools include Modesto Junior College, San Joaquin Delta College, University of the Pacific, CSU Stanislaus, CSU Chico, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz. Students were selected based on academic performance, interest in a career in health care, community service, and a commitment to return and serve our community. Beyond these important financial resources, certain awardees also have the benefit of a personal mentor from our professional HPSJ staff. Further, they are invited to attend quarterly networking check-ins. All 12 Decision Medicine student applicants from San Joaquin County Medical Society were awarded a scholarship of either $3,000 (HPSJ Health Careers Awardees) or $1,000 (HPSJ Extended Program Honorees). Local Convening on Post-Hospital Services Health Plan of San Joaquin organized and hosted the first Central Valley local convening to raise awareness of post-hospital resources and identify the options currently available for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Among the approximately 70 organizations attending this online convening, 10 representatives, one from each type of specialty provider, presented a snapshot of their services in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. HPSJ Commission Chairman, Greg Diederich, presented on behalf of San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency. With San
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SAN JOAQUIN PHYSICIAN
Providing staff, physicians, and patients with relevant & up to date information
Joaquin and Stanislaus being Two-Plan counties, HPSJ and HealthNet both presented, and we co-branded the event. HPSJ has now gathered the profile information from participants in the Local Convening on Post-Hospital Services. The Long-Term Care Resource Booklet 2020 has now been sent digitally to each attendee and is posted on the plan website, www.hpsj.com/long-term-transition-webinar/. The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) opened the door to this convening opportunity and has stated it is especially interested in local convening sessions in the Central Valley where the need and opportunities are greatest because of the COVID-19 surge on skilled nursing facilities. New Electrophysiology Lab program at Dameron Hospital Dameron Hospital’s new Electrophysiology (EP) Program offers comprehensive diagnostic and treatment options for all cardiac arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation (AFib), ventricular arrhythmias and other conditions requiring complex ablations in San Joaquin County under the leadership of Rashaad Chothia, MD, a board certified cardiologist, electrophysiologist and Dameron’s EP Program medical director. According to Dr. Chothia, each heartbeat is triggered by an electrical impulse in the upper right chamber of the heart. People with AFib have faulty signals that fire so rapidly that the upper chambers fibrillate instead of beating smoothly. These rapidly discharging triggers are called hot spots. To restore normal rhythm, these hot spots must be isolated. “We’re able to offer patients excellent options in treating their heart arrhythmias at Dameron’s EP lab,” says Dr.
WINTER 2020