 Sutter Lakeside Hospital held a special dedication ceremony for its new mobile health services unit on Thursday, November 19, 2009. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.
LAKEPORT – Community leaders came together on Thursday to celebrate the culmination of several years of work to improve accessibility to local health care.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital's Mobile Health Services Unit was introduced to the community at the afternoon ceremony, held at the hospital's Lakeport campus.
The unit, which cost nearly $300,000, will provide a variety of screening services and annually serve an estimated 1,000 patients who have challenges traveling to health care providers.
Tammi Silva, director of the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Foundation as well as the hospital's public relations director, said the project's completion exemplified the community's dedication and perseverance.
She said the unit was introduced not as a business venture, but in answer to a community need, with an estimated 6,000 people of all ages countywide who have no access to basic health care.
The community responded to the effort, which included a 2007 fundraising event featuring actor Jamie Farr, who portrayed Corporal Max Klinger in the TV show “MASH,” which Silva said was in keeping with the mobile medical unit spirit.
She said the campaign never waned, even as the hospital faced financial struggles and fewer government funding sources.  Henry “Andy” Anderson, accompanied by James Huston, takes the first handicap accessible ride up the wheelchair-lift into the new SLH mobile unit. Anderson was a major donor to the mobile unit project. Photo by Angie Lagle.
Silva added, “The community was the most important ingredient – it was the generosity of individuals, businesses and agencies, your unwavering commitment to make a difference that will change lives.”
In addition to community sources, Silva said Sutter Health gave a $100,000 matching grant to the effort, adding to the more than $60 million it has invested in Lake County to date.
“You believed. We believed. People believed in all of us. Where there was a need, we found a way,” she said.
The event included introduction of the program team, including Dr. Bruce Deas, Dr. Diane Pege, Cherie Hensley, Soraya Ringer, Jack Buell, James Huston, Lisa Pendleton, Ehren Hawkins and mobile unit driver Jose Beltran.  One of the mobile unit's exam rooms. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.
Dr. Elyse Donald, the mobile unit's program leader, volunteered her own time to working on the project, including traveling to inspect the bus at American Custom Coach in Redlands, where Charlie Mello and his staff built the unit.
In a story Donald wrote about the project, she said the mobile unit will be focused on the more remote parts of the county, including Spring Valley and Cobb Mountain.
The unit will be able to visit schools, senior centers and churches, and may eventually also serve migrant workers in the Kelseyville area, Donald wrote.
In addition to the ribbon cutting, Brad Onorato of Congressman Mike Thompson's office presented to Sutter Lakeside's Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson proclamation from Thompson.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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. Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .  The ribbon cutting ceremony party included, from left to right, Dana Kearney, Bill Knoll, John Tomkins, Michael Lunas, Charlie Mello, Siri Nelson, Dr. Martin Brotman, Henry “Andy” Anderson,Dr. Elyse Donald (in back), Dr. Mark Buehnerkemper (in back), Tammi Silva, Bill Kearney, Pat Lambert, Gena Bartholf, Kenny Parlet, Tom Lincoln, Beth Havrilla and Leslie Firth. Photo by Angie Lagle.  A proclamation from Congressman Mike Thompson was presented by Brad Oronato to Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson. The flag in the background was flown over the state capital in honor of the mobile health services unit. Photo by Angie Lagle.
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