With health crisis looming, Humboldt starts regional effort

<p>SONOMA COUNTY – For Dr. Alan Glaseroff, California’s health care and citizens are approaching a cliff.</p><p>“I think we have five to 10 years as a state to solve our health care problems or we’re facing economic disaster,” he said Wednesday, the day before he was scheduled to address the Sonoma Health Access Coalition’s “Summer of Learning.”</p><p>The Humboldt County physician was brought in to speak about better ways to treat chronic illness among the under- and uninsured.</p><p> “I came here to talk about taking a regional approach to health-care systems,” said Dr. Glaseroff, who serves on the executive committee of the Community Health Alliance, and is the chief medical officer of the Humboldt Independent Practice Association. </p><p>What his organization accomplished in Humboldt County, he said, was to organize formerly competing health care organizations to promote an aggressive plan to reduce the incidence of chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. </p><p>“The first element is to promote patient self-management,” Dr. Glaseroff said. “And we did this through classes where people can learn to manage their own problems. The second element is tracking patients across a common IT network. And we did this through a chronic illness registry. The third is to educate clinicians in the most up-to-date health care practices. And the fourth is to pursue a total redesign of how health care is delivered.” </p><p>Since 2003, health care providers have compiled 75 percent of Humboldt County’s diabetic patients on a single electronic registry, Dr. Glaseroff said. “And we have improved their clinical results to the point where we serve as a benchmark for any community in the country. We don’t wait for patients to wander in and avail themselves of our services. We find them and proactively get them the treatment they need. It helps the patients and it ends up saving money as well.” </p><p>The Sonoma Health Access Coalition created the “Summer of Learning” to hear about innovations like those in Humboldt. </p><p>“The very purpose of the Sonoma County Access Coalition is to catalyze the development of a health care delivery system that emphasizes primary care, prevention and other needed ambulatory services,” said coalition spokeswoman Lori Houston.</p><p> Ms. Houston said Sutter Medical Center and Memorial “are in the midst of negotiations. But health care in this county shouldn’t depend on the decisions made by two hospitals. A lot goes on in health care before people even get to the hospital, and that’s the whole point of SHAC.” </p><p>While the coalition has been around since 2000 in different forms, Ms. Houston said that it really gained momentum after the recent announcement by Sutter Health that it plans to close Sutter Medical Santa Rosa. And the Summer of Learning series, which might continue into the fall due to its popularity, was designed to engender interest and support within the community. </p><p>“It’s kind of nuts and bolts stuff,” Ms. Houston said of the topics of discussion. “It’s not thrilling by any means. But these issues affect every single person in Sonoma County.” </p><p>For more information about the Sonoma Health Access Coalition, or to see when the next Summer of Learning Session will be held, visit its Web site at sohac.blogspot.com.</p>