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RRHC
has an HIV support group facilitated by Bob Butler,
LCSW. If you are interested in
joining, you can contact him at 869-2961.
Individual
counseling is also available through RRHC.
Call 869-2961 for more information.
On
Friday June 17, 5:30 to 7:30pm
at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa, hear the latest information about HIV and
nutrition and a presentation on dealing with lipodystrophy. Snacks and mingling at 5:30.
Presentation and Q & A begin 6:30. Everyone
welcome.
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New
Staff at RRHC
Bob Butler, LCSW, is the new director
of the Mental Health Department (replacing Bill
Thompson, who is moving out of state). He provides ongoing psychotherapy and
offers short-term behavioral health intervention in the clinic. Bob has lived in West Sonoma
County since 1988. In addition to clinical work, he has
developed and managed programs for chronically mentally ill, runaway teens,
homeless families, frail elderly, physically disabled and substance abusers. He opened the county's first residential
AIDS program through Family Service Agency in 1989. Bob also has served as Executive Director
for Boys and Girls Club of Rohnert Park, Administrative Director of
Rehabilitation for North
Coast Rehabilitation
Center, Director of
Adult Day Services for Friends House, and Department Analyst for Sonoma
County Alcohol and Other Drug Services.
Susan Skolek, Psy.D. is joining our Mental Health
Department. She has lived in West Sonoma
County since 1977. She
has worked for Sonoma
County as a substance
abuse specialist and for Teaching Non-violence. She opened and managed a drug and alcohol
out-patient clinic working under a rural health grant for Mendocino County
in partnership with Redwood
Coast Medical
Center from 1997 to
2004. She has had a private practice
doing clinical work with families, individuals, children and groups at
Russian River Counselors since 1997.
Walter Krampf, M.D., M.P.H., has
joined our medical staff. Wally has
served with the Peace Corps in Colombia,
Swaziland, and Cameroon. Most recently he worked in San Francisco for the
Department of Public Health in a community clinic providing medical care for
adults and for persons with HIV/AIDS.
He speaks Spanish fluently. He
is credentialed as a specialist by the American
Academy of HIV Medicine and joined
the Russian River Health
Center permanently in
April, 2005.
Richard St. Cyr, M.D. is joining
the Russian River medical staff as a graduate of
the Sutter Santa Rosa Family Medicine program in 2004. He received his M.D.
from St. Louis University
and a B.A. in English from Columbia
University. His major
medical interests are pediatrics and adult medicine. He speaks Spanish fairly
well and has spent time in Peru
and Costa Rica.
Richard grew up in the Boston
area but has lived in the Bay area since 1992. He also enjoys a second career
as a fine art photographer.
Consumer Advisory Committee
Did you
know that Russian
River Health
Center has an HIV
Consumer Advisory Panel? This group
was established in 1996 and has been meeting ever since. This active group of consumers works with
us to ensure that our patients’ issues are addressed and our community is
being well served.
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Our Access
Coordinator, Ascension Labra, is available four days a week to assist you in
signing up for Medi-Cal or CMSP. Call
her to make an appointment at 869-2849, ext. 239.
Remember that Lolly Stafford, RN, is our HIV case manager and is
here to help you. You can contact her
at 869-0040.
Why did the guru refuse
novocaine?
He wanted to transcend dental
medication!
Russian River Health Center
PO Box 226
Guerneville, CA 95446
(707) 869-2849
Occidental Area Health Center
PO Box 100
Occidental, CA 95465
(707) 874-2444
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The group meets four times a year and
is open to any interested clients. If
you would like to participate, you can call our HIV Program Coordinator, Kim
Lawton, at 869-2849 ext. 235. If you
would like to talk to one of the consumers on the panel, you can contact Jim
at 887-1792 or Dan at 865-0728.
AIDS Leadership
Academy
The Sonoma County AIDS
Leadership Academy
is an eight month program offered free of charge to County residents with
HIV/AIDS. The goal of the Academy is
to help people living with HIV/AIDS gain the confidence, experience and
skills they need to become active in their community at a variety of
levels. The Academy faculty consists
of local activists, AIDS service providers and other folks living with
HIV. The course focuses on learning
the skills, developing the confidence and making the personal and professional
connections that are essential for long-term success. Students work on practical group projects
which directly benefit people with HIV in Sonoma County.
The next
series of classes will start in September, 2005. The deadline for applications is Friday,
August 5. If you are interested in
becoming an Academy student, please contact Stewart Scofield, Volunteer
Coordinator, at Food for Thought, telephone 887-1647 or e-mail FFTVolunteer@aol.com.
Spotlight on HIV Organizations: NAPWA
The
National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) was founded in 1983. Over the years, NAPWA has been a strong and
consistent national leader for people with HIV and AIDS, ensuring that your
voices are always at the table when decisions affecting your lives are being
made. NAPWA’s programs respond to the
changing needs of the epidemic by developing positive leadership in people
living with HIV and AIDS, advocating for the needs of those living with HIV
or at risk of becoming infected and working with the AIDS movement throughout
the world. This year their national
conference, “Staying Alive”, will be held in Hollywood, August 19-21. For more information about this wonderful
organization, visit their website at www.napwa.org.
MedUpdate: Blood Draws
Patients are
always welcome to make an appointment with their provider for a blood
draw. This gives you more time with
the provider to discuss issues that might get short-changed in the busy
"post-lab" visit. It also
gives your provider a chance to add labs that might be needed depending on
new symptoms or complaints. If having
two visits close together is a hardship because of time or co-pays, you are
also welcome to have a visit only for a lab draw followed by your provider visit
in two weeks. If you are scheduling a visit only for a lab draw or if there
are "Will Call" lab slips waiting for you, we will make you a 10
minute nursing appointment. You can
make the appointment ahead of time or it can be scheduled when you come in. This helps us improve patient flow.
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