YES on A this November...for the health of our kids!

I've been spending a great deal of my spare time (!!!) supporting the YES on A campaign, and hope you'll join me making sure we protect children's health in Santa Clara County.

But don't take my word for it - here's the most recent in a long string of VIP and media endorsements...from the local paper in "my town", The Los Gatos Weekly:

Editorial: Measure A gets universal support for Healthy Kids

It's safe to say that none among looks forward to any additional tax burden, no matter how small it might be. But it's also pretty safe to say that few among us want to see children in our community going without health care.

That's why Measure A on the Nov. 2 ballot is getting such universal support. The proposed $29 per year parcel tax will generate $13-14 million per year for 10 years to fund the "Healthy Kids" program in Santa Clara County.

According to supporters, "Measure A will fully fund the Healthy Kids program and ensure that all eligible county children have access to health insurance, including preventative health care services and early detection and treatment for such terrible illnesses as asthma or diabetes."

Whether we like it or not, county taxpayers are going to pay to provide health care for the more than 15,000 uninsured children in Santa Clara County, whether through emergency room services or through this plan for preventative care.

Families should not have to wait until their children are sick, thereby requiring emergency room services to deal with their illnesses. The "Healthy Kids" program would provide for immunizations and regular check-ups to keep children healthy and in school, and to help to prevent childhood obesity.

It's more cost effective to keep children healthy than to deal with their health issues after the fact, and certainly better for the children and their families. It's for that reason that Measure A has garnered the support of the League of Women Voters, The Health Trust, the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the San Jose Mercury News and many more organizations.

Area hospitals are certainly in favor of the measure. El Camino Hospital, Kaiser and Valley Medical Center, along with the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, are all supporting Measure A.

Two important points brought out by supporters of the measure are that "children enrolled in Healthy Kids reported a 50 percent decline in missed school days due to illness" and, "Once enrolled in Healthy Kids, children with a usual source of care almost doubled and children with unmet medical need dropped by more than half." Simply put, children in the program were healthier.

The County Board of Supervisors has placed Measure A on the November ballot, and it's a coalition of health, business, community and labor leaders who are joining together in universal support of the plan. The program, first launched in 2001 as the Children's Health Care Initiative, needs this funding to continue.

Voters need to consider what supporters of the county parcel tax emphasize: "Without Measure A, thousands of children in Santa Clara County will lose health coverage."

It seems like $29 per year is a small price to pay to make sure that doesn't happen.

Kids' health is key to their education...

...but don't take MY word for it!

Hey, let's be honest...you very likely already know that without access to a doctor and basic health care, children will suffer in the classroom. We've got data to prove it.

We also have yesterday's letter to the editor of the San Jose Mercury News, penned by my pal and brilliant CEO of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. Here's what he wrote:

Measure A would help kids' learning
source: Mercury News

As president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, I am proud to support Santa Clara County's Measure A -- Children's Health Protection Act -- on Nov. 2. After several years working on education initiatives that promote student achievement, college and career goals and in general providing children and families a better life, I feel it is important to continue supporting quality of life needs for these families.

Families who have benefitted from the current program that provides medical, dental and vision care call it a lifesaver. It has kept children healthy and in school, with the goal of academic success and some day college and a bright future.

Children enrolled in Healthy Kids report a 50 percent decline in school absence because of illness, which is great news for all students. Children's Health Initiative school outreach has helped raise $6 million to $7 million for local school districts annually. Thus Measure A is not only a necessary act to improve the quality of health for our future Silicon Valley professionals, but it is also a program that will help further other organizations' missions, including the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.

Muhammed Chaudhry

President and CEO Silicon Valley Education Foundation

A Little Sunshine in VMC Rehab

The Rehabilitation Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Recognized nationally as a center for excellence, the VMC Rehab Center treats patients with severe head, spinal cord and stroke related injuries, regardless of ability to pay. Since its founding, over 15,000 patients have been served.

Each one of those patients represents an amazing story of struggle and hope. Here is one, as told by Connie Pugh, Nurse Manager, SCVMC Rehab (2Center)

“A Little Sunshine in VMC Rehab”

For the last six months, a group of nurses from 2Rehab (a Rehab unit within VMC) have been brainstorming ways to improve the patient experience. In May, 2010 one of the new programs launched was the Sunshine Club.

The Sunshine Club was developed to provide a bright and energizing breakfast experience for the 2Rehab patients to help them start their day in a positive way. The Club involves setting up the Rehab Day Room with small tables covered with brightly colored tablecloths, fresh flowers, uplifting music and serving the patients coffee, tea and juice before breakfast. Breakfast then arrives and the staff is there to assist the group of patients with their meal. Conversation is encouraged between patients, families and staff.

On the first day of the Sunshine Club, the staff had the Day Room bright, shiny and ready to go. The problem was the patients didn’t want to get up. They had previously been eating their morning meal in their rooms alone. With a little encouragement, the patients got up and joined the group in the Day Room.

One patient, “Mr V,” just did not want to attend on that first day. I went in to speak to Mr. V and said to him “Mr. V, people just are not made to eat alone in a dark room - we would really like to have you join us in the Day Room.

Mr. V replied back “but I like my dark room and I want to eat alone.” I said to Mr. V, “We want to add some hope and brightness to your morning here in rehab,” and Mr. V replied “but I don’t want hope and brightness, I want to be in the dark.”

At that point I explained to Mr. V that the Sunshine Club was new and we would really like to have him come the first day and then if he did not like it we would not ask him again. He reluctantly agreed to come, although he muttered complaints on the way in to the day room and throughout breakfast.

Later in the day, Mr. V wheeled himself to my office and said he wanted to “fess up about something.” He said the Sunshine Club was a real nice thing we did for patients, including serving coffee, the music and the flowers. Why he really objected to go, he said, was because he had been a youth counselor at one time and seeing young head injury patients in rehab made him very sad.

I then asked Mr. V, “You were a youth counselor?” He replied yes. I said, “Then Mr. V, I really need you to help me with the Sunshine Club. I need you to bring brightness and hope to our young patients – in fact, you can be Mr. Sunshine and come help me each day.”

Mr. V replied to me, “Well if you really need me to help I guess I could do that.”
Bright and early the next morning, and every morning after until discharge, Mr. V helped with the Sunshine Club. He had a special way of getting patients to talk and laugh and have a good time, particularly the young patients.

On Mr. V’s day of discharge, I didn’t see him come into the Sunshine Club at the usual time. A little later he wheeled himself in and said “Everyone, I have an announcement to make: I’m going home today.” The group of patients all clapped for him. He then said, “You all know me as Mr. Sunshine, well today I’m leaving and want to pass the torch to someone else. I’ve chosen ‘Mr. E’ to be the next Mr. Sunshine.”

Mr. E looked up and said “I don’t know, man, what do I have to do?” Mr. V said “Well you have to show up early to help Carlo and Connie get the Day Room Ready and help serve coffee and you have to bring sunshine to all the patients.” Mr. E said he would think about it.

The next morning when I arrived at 0630, Mr. E was already up and in the Day Room. He said with a smile “What do I need to do to help?”

Our new Mr. Sunshine had arrived.

Measure A: A MOST important vote...

Ten years ago, Santa Clara County became the first county in the nation to provide health coverage for all children.

Today, that coverage is about to end...but we can save it by voting YES on Measure A this November.

From today's Mercury News comes a very logical editorial, which in part says this:

There's a reason Measure A has no major campaign opposition and is supported by Silicon Valley industry. Business leaders and health experts alike understand that the current method of providing medical care for indigent and uninsured children costs them, as taxpayers, dearly. A hidden tax comes due when poor families have no choice but to take sick kids to hospital emergency rooms. That's by far the most expensive care, and taxpayers end up paying the bill.

To learn more about this all-important issue, which truly does affect us all, visit http://www.avoteforkids.infoand please, PLEASE share this with others...we have to get the word out now about Measure A!

How is the "New VMC" coming along?

I just learned about a job that might be as fun and exciting as mine: Aerial photography! Enjoy the series of photos taken by the 111th Aerial Photography Squadron of the construction zone at VMC - your 2008 Measure A dollars hard at work!

To view the series, click here...

Finally, proof that palliative care works...

Dr. Gary Lee (that’s him at the keyboard) came up to me a couple days ago and asked me this:

“Chris, if you had a terminal disease, and you knew there was a drug that would not only make you feel a lot better but also give you three more months with your family and friends, how much would you pay for it?”

The obvious answer is “Everything I’ve got!” Gary’s next sentence was less obvious:
“There already is a treatment like that. We give it away to our patients, and now we can prove it works.”

Gary then shared with me the study in the New England Journal of Medicine that demonstrates the value of palliative care. That’s what Dr. Lee does at VMC, along with Dr. Shoshana Helman and their team. Palliative care, as just reported in the NY Times, “… typically begins with a long conversation about what the patient with a terminal diagnosis wants out of his remaining life. It includes the options any oncologist addresses: surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and their side effects. But it also includes how much suffering a patient wishes to bear, effects on the family, and legal, insurance and religious issues. Teams focus on controlling pain, nausea, swelling, shortness of breath and other side effects; they also address patients’ worries and make sure they have help with making meals, dressing and bathing when not hospitalized.”

So, palliative care isn’t actually a drug or procedure, but rather a better way of thinking about how a patient’s end of life will be for them and those they love. Yes—better, as proven by the study; Patients with lung cancer who received palliative care lived more happily, and actually lived longer.

Doctors Helman and Lee were obviously thrilled at the study’s results, but they weren’t surprised. They’ve been demonstrating it at Valley Medical Center for years, and the VMC Foundation has assisted with grants to expand their palliative care program. Gary and Shoshana are already leading experts in this relatively new field…and now, we’ve got a scientific study to support what they do.

The next step is to ensure palliative care remains in the health care overhaul happening at the federal level. The cries of “death panels” absolutely need to be silenced, and science seems to be the best way to do that.

…not that scientific proof ever throws ideologues off their game. Spread the word about palliative care, because it’s a proven way to improve life and stop thinking of patients as a bunch of symptoms. We’re proud at VMC that our team thinks of patients’ whole lives.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, there’s a reason I posted the photo of Dr. Lee rocking out in our band, Idol Hands. It’s a perfect example of how our MD’s are creative, well-rounded idealists, not just academics in white coats. In fact, it was while setting up for this performance last week that Gary told me about the study. Then we went on to rock the party.

My job? I think I’ll keep it.

How is a winery like a hospital?

If you’re not a wine lover, this post may not be for you…but you never know until you read it...

Last weekend I stopped in to my favorite winery, Burrell School Vineyards (that's them, in the old red school house). My wife and I have been members of their wine club for years, and I appreciate their “futures” tastings.

For you non-wine-nerds, “futures” are young wines that aren’t quite ready to drink or even release, that the winery will sell you at a discount for you to pick up months later…and cool wineries like Burrell School will let you taste from the barrel to get an idea how the wine is shaping up.

I was with just one other couple, and the wine maker/owner Dave Moulton, who answered a question the other couple had of him: Why do some wineries produce better wines than others?

“If a winery gets too big, it’s hard to take an individual approach to every barrel, every bottle”, Dave explained. “Here? It’s just me. No one else.” Pointing to the racks of barrels behind him, Dave said “I know every patient here.”

“Dave, did you say ‘patient’? Are you comparing your winery to a hospital?” I asked.

“In a manner of speaking, yes”, he said. “I monitor the health of each barrel, make sure the ‘patients’ are comfortable, quiet, and at the right temperature. I monitor their vital signs all day, every day.”

He went on. “Just like a hostpital, we are meticulous about cleanliness and infection control, and if infection does happen, and we catch it right away, we can cure it. And, none of my patients gets discharged until they are healthy enough, and if I’ve done my job, each bottle will stay healthy for years, even decades to come.”

Sounds like Valley Medical Center to me! That’s why it should be no surprise that, for the fourth year running, Burrell School is the wine sponsor of the VMC Foundation’s annual Gala. If you are attending “Luxury by the Lake”, you will be enjoying the result of Dave’s (and of his wife Ann, and their great team) efforts.

If you’re not yet attending our gala on October 2, there may be just a few tickets left available…for more info, call Judy at the VMC Foundation: 408-885-5205.

And, if you’re up on Summit Road in Los Gatos this weekend, stop by Burrell School and taste for yourself. If you love wine, you’ll be glad you did.