Two free H1N1 vaccine clinics will be hosted by Sacramento County this week.
The first clinic is 2-5 p.m. Thursday in the Sam Pannell Community Center gymnasium at 2450 Meadowview Road, Sacramento.
The second is 2-5 p.m. Friday in the Robertson Community Center at 3525 Norwood Ave., Sacramento.
Two free H1N1 vaccine clinics will be hosted by Sacramento County this week.
The first clinic is 2-5 p.m. Thursday in the Sam Pannell Community Center gymnasium at 2450 Meadowview Road, Sacramento.
The second is 2-5 p.m. Friday in the Robertson Community Center at 3525 Norwood Ave., Sacramento.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District plans to staff all its engines with paramedics in an effort to increase services for ratepayers.
Spokesman Capt. Christian Pebbles said even with sick leave, vacation time and other emergency time off for firefighters, only one or two of its 37 engines might not have a paramedic.
Under the current system, about 80 percent of fire engines are Advanced Life Support engine companies, meaning that they are staffed with at least one paramedic. ALS engine companies also have two emergency medical technicians and life-saving medication.
Fifty percent of the district’s 500 firefighters are also paramedics. Pebbles said they will be reassigned under the new program, which takes effect April 1.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District plans to staff all its engines with paramedics in an effort to increase services for ratepayers.
Spokesman Capt. Christian Pebbles said even with sick leave, vacation time and other emergency time off for firefighters, only one or two of its 37 engines might not have a paramedic.
Under the current system, about 80 percent of fire engines are Advanced Life Support engine companies, meaning that they are staffed with at least one paramedic. ALS engine companies also have two emergency medical technicians and life-saving medication.
Fifty percent of the district’s 500 firefighters are also paramedics. Pebbles said they will be reassigned under the new program, which takes effect April 1.
Colin Autry, who is undergoing months of chemo for leukemia in isolation, uses the wireless Internet at Kaiser Permanente’s Roseville hospital as his mother, Pushpa Autry, waits nearby.
Colin Autry, a 17-year-old cancer patient from Elk Grove, likened it to a life of solitary confinement, cocooned in a hospital room and cut off from the usual life of a high school senior – his cell phone and television screen the only connections to friends and the outside world.
“When they told me I was going to be in an isolation room for six to eight months, that scared me pretty good,” said Autry, who began his long hospital stay in October at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center.
But earlier this month, Kaiser ushered in the digital age for patients at its Roseville campus, allowing Autry to regain one important part of a typical teenager’s life: wireless Internet.
While his disease has wrought havoc with his life, Autry can again experience the joys of scrolling through Facebook updates. His fingers clack away for online chats, his time is occupied by the latest gossip at school streamed into his hospital room.
Wireless Internet has become a part of everyday life – it’s in our homes, workplaces, airports and coffee shops. But hospitals are relative newcomers in providing the now-ubiquitous technology.
“What we’re seeing now is an explosion of this,” said Bache Perry, a consultant assigned to Kaiser’s network services.
“Being able to provide this to the patient eases the stress of staying in a hospital for a long period of time,” he said.
Kaiser isn’t the first in the area to beam Wi-Fi signals into patients’ rooms. Sutter hospitals and the UC Davis Medical Center said their wireless services went online a few years ago.
Last fall, Mercy began providing Wi-Fi at its Folsom hospital.
“It has become an expectation to be connected,” said Randy Castillo, the hospital’s vice president of ancillary and support services. “You have Wi–Fi when you go to Starbucks, McDonald’s, airports – but not too many hospitals.”
For years, doctors and nurses had access to wireless signals to access electronic medical records. But because of security issues, hospitals were cautious about opening up their airwaves in patient areas.
Indeed, most hospitals have two wireless networks – one for protected data and the other for public use – as a firewall against any potential security breaches.
Quality issues have also been a concern, said Perry, the Kaiser consultant, because two signals occupying the same airspace could interfere with each other.
Other area hospitals still without Wi-Fi access are hoping to roll out the service soon.
For Autry, who was diagnosed with leukemia in October, it couldn’t come soon enough.
“I went from a normal life to being locked up in a hospital room,” he said. “It isn’t something you acclimate to immediately. I’m missing my senior year of high school.
“I really count on my friends to keep me updated,” he said.
With his laptop, he’s been able to get virtual visits from his grandmother who lives in Raleigh, N.C., through a video camera and Skype. Soon, he hopes to spend time – via the Internet – with his sheepdog Klondike, who is being cared for by his sister in Washington state.
“I feel trapped sometimes,” he said.
“It was so hard coming in,” said his mother, Pushpa, a Kaiser therapist. “Oh my God, solitary confinement – how are we going to do this?”
She got her son a Kindle electronic reader for Christmas – on which he’s reading the latest book from Stephen Colbert.
“I wish he spent more time on that” – less time on the Internet, she said – “but he’s the one who’s going through chemo.”
Colin Autry, who is undergoing months of chemo for leukemia in isolation, uses the wireless Internet at Kaiser Permanente’s Roseville hospital as his mother, Pushpa Autry, waits nearby.
Colin Autry, a 17-year-old cancer patient from Elk Grove, likened it to a life of solitary confinement, cocooned in a hospital room and cut off from the usual life of a high school senior – his cell phone and television screen the only connections to friends and the outside world.
“When they told me I was going to be in an isolation room for six to eight months, that scared me pretty good,” said Autry, who began his long hospital stay in October at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center.
But earlier this month, Kaiser ushered in the digital age for patients at its Roseville campus, allowing Autry to regain one important part of a typical teenager’s life: wireless Internet.
While his disease has wrought havoc with his life, Autry can again experience the joys of scrolling through Facebook updates. His fingers clack away for online chats, his time is occupied by the latest gossip at school streamed into his hospital room.
Wireless Internet has become a part of everyday life – it’s in our homes, workplaces, airports and coffee shops. But hospitals are relative newcomers in providing the now-ubiquitous technology.
“What we’re seeing now is an explosion of this,” said Bache Perry, a consultant assigned to Kaiser’s network services.
“Being able to provide this to the patient eases the stress of staying in a hospital for a long period of time,” he said.
Kaiser isn’t the first in the area to beam Wi-Fi signals into patients’ rooms. Sutter hospitals and the UC Davis Medical Center said their wireless services went online a few years ago.
Last fall, Mercy began providing Wi-Fi at its Folsom hospital.
“It has become an expectation to be connected,” said Randy Castillo, the hospital’s vice president of ancillary and support services. “You have Wi–Fi when you go to Starbucks, McDonald’s, airports – but not too many hospitals.”
For years, doctors and nurses had access to wireless signals to access electronic medical records. But because of security issues, hospitals were cautious about opening up their airwaves in patient areas.
Indeed, most hospitals have two wireless networks – one for protected data and the other for public use – as a firewall against any potential security breaches.
Quality issues have also been a concern, said Perry, the Kaiser consultant, because two signals occupying the same airspace could interfere with each other.
Other area hospitals still without Wi-Fi access are hoping to roll out the service soon.
For Autry, who was diagnosed with leukemia in October, it couldn’t come soon enough.
“I went from a normal life to being locked up in a hospital room,” he said. “It isn’t something you acclimate to immediately. I’m missing my senior year of high school.
“I really count on my friends to keep me updated,” he said.
With his laptop, he’s been able to get virtual visits from his grandmother who lives in Raleigh, N.C., through a video camera and Skype. Soon, he hopes to spend time – via the Internet – with his sheepdog Klondike, who is being cared for by his sister in Washington state.
“I feel trapped sometimes,” he said.
“It was so hard coming in,” said his mother, Pushpa, a Kaiser therapist. “Oh my God, solitary confinement – how are we going to do this?”
She got her son a Kindle electronic reader for Christmas – on which he’s reading the latest book from Stephen Colbert.
“I wish he spent more time on that” – less time on the Internet, she said – “but he’s the one who’s going through chemo.”
WASHINGTON – Congress was expected to consider health care legislation on two tracks, tackling smaller issues that are likely to have strong support while trying to craft a comprehensive package that’s likely to provoke partisan disagreements.
President Barack Obama has tried to create momentum for the broader package this week, but there was little evidence on Capitol Hill that his 7 1/2-hour bipartisan summit on Thursday had accomplished much.
“I don’t think the summit changed anything,” said Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., one of 54 members of the House of Representatives Blue Dog Coalition of moderate-to-conservative Democrats. “We still have a problem. The summit was a recitation of talking points on both sides, and there was no new information.”
What the moderates liked – as do many Republicans – is a series of popular changes. The first came earlier this week when the House overwhelmingly approved stripping health insurance companies of their antitrust exemption. The next could permit children to remain on their parents’ insurance policies through their mid- to late 20s.
The major Democratic focus, though, will be on the larger package. The Senate and House passed different versions of health care legislation late last year, but it’s languished as the two houses have been unable to compromise.
Democratic leaders Friday said they were newly optimistic.
“I think we’re ready now for the big game. We’re ready for the finale,” said House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. “What the summit did is give us a little more spine,” added Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said that Obama’s health care plan, released Monday, addresses several key House Democratic concerns. Among them: changing the Senate plan to tax high-end policies, although that wouldn’t take effect until 2018 and would apply only to premiums of more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families.
Passing any legislation, though, will be difficult; not only because of centrist hesitation, but because it’s unlikely that Senate Democrats can muster the 60 votes that are needed to cut off debate.
Senate leaders are considering using a process called reconciliation to pass the health legislation because that would require only 51 votes and Democrats control 59 seats. But that would limit the scope of what could be passed.
Ten attorneys from McDonough, Holland & Allen are moving to global law firm DLA Piper, taking with them the firm’s managed health care practice.
Both McDonough management and several of the departing attorneys confirmed the mass move Friday and called it amicable.
“Make no bones about it, I hate to see people I’ve worked this long with leave. They’re friends, partners and fine lawyers,” said Ed Quinn, a managing shareholder at the McDonough firm, Sacramento’s second-largest with more than 100 lawyers among its 180 employees.
Quinn was notified of the planned departures last weekend and announced it to staff on Monday, he said.
Quinn would not confirm the names of all 10 attorneys, saying some had not yet formally tendered their resignations, but two – Stephen Goff and Marcia Augsburger – have nearly 40 years’ experience at the firm between them.
Goff is the lead litigation attorney in McDonough’s health care practice group.
According to the firm’s Web site, Goff’s work includes handling contract and “quasi-contract disputes” between health care providers and payers.
Goff was unavailable for comment Friday.
Augsburger, with 20 years at McDonough, represents a variety of health plan services and medical startup companies. Augsburger said Friday she came to her decision separately.
She will move to DLA Piper’s San Francisco office.
“I’d been at the firm 20 years and felt like I needed to have a larger platform for my clients,” she said. “I felt like a new environment would be a good fit.”
DLA Piper is an international business law firm with eight California offices, including Sacramento.
The 10 McDonough attorneys and approximately seven staffers will stay on at the firm through the end of March.
Quinn said the moves will have no “short-term implications for the firm” and McDonough will continue to represent health care clients, though the managed care practice group will likely not be replaced.
“We don’t have plans to replicate that practice, but we will plan to represent health care clients,” Quinn said.
Ten attorneys from McDonough, Holland & Allen are moving to global law firm DLA Piper, taking with them the firm’s managed health care practice.
Both McDonough management and several of the departing attorneys confirmed the mass move Friday and called it amicable.
“Make no bones about it, I hate to see people I’ve worked this long with leave. They’re friends, partners and fine lawyers,” said Ed Quinn, a managing shareholder at the McDonough firm, Sacramento’s second-largest with more than 100 lawyers among its 180 employees.
Quinn was notified of the planned departures last weekend and announced it to staff on Monday, he said.
Quinn would not confirm the names of all 10 attorneys, saying some had not yet formally tendered their resignations, but two – Stephen Goff and Marcia Augsburger – have nearly 40 years’ experience at the firm between them.
Goff is the lead litigation attorney in McDonough’s health care practice group.
According to the firm’s Web site, Goff’s work includes handling contract and “quasi-contract disputes” between health care providers and payers.
Goff was unavailable for comment Friday.
Augsburger, with 20 years at McDonough, represents a variety of health plan services and medical startup companies. Augsburger said Friday she came to her decision separately.
She will move to DLA Piper’s San Francisco office.
“I’d been at the firm 20 years and felt like I needed to have a larger platform for my clients,” she said. “I felt like a new environment would be a good fit.”
DLA Piper is an international business law firm with eight California offices, including Sacramento.
The 10 McDonough attorneys and approximately seven staffers will stay on at the firm through the end of March.
Quinn said the moves will have no “short-term implications for the firm” and McDonough will continue to represent health care clients, though the managed care practice group will likely not be replaced.
“We don’t have plans to replicate that practice, but we will plan to represent health care clients,” Quinn said.
KR Rossi works to get his tattoo parlor in order in Roseville for a Monday opening. Rossi said at Thursday’s hearing that he showed his commitment to tattooing by covering his skull with tribal tattoos.
In Sacramento County, you’re more likely to come across a tattoo parlor than a Starbucks, bar or grocery.
“Awhile ago, frozen yogurt shops were the fastest growing businesses,” said William Hill, who owns Wild Bill Tattoo in Roseville. “Now tattoo shops have started popping up all over the place. It’s so over-saturated now.”
In Sacramento County, 255 body art shops have sprung up. By comparison, Santa Clara County has 60 and San Mateo County has 30.
“I’ve got friends who come into town, and they say, ‘There are more tattoo parlors here than any city I’ve been to,’ ” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.
Tattoo parlors are substantially more prevalent than McDonald’s (60 sites), nail salons (95) and Starbucks (84).
Owners said a lack of regulation has contributed to the spike. Anyone who can purchase a tattooing machine – costing as little as $30 – can put up a sign. The only requirement to become a Sacramento County tattoo artist is to pay a one-time $47 registration fee.
But that may be changing.
On Thursday, the county invited 70 local artists to discuss a proposed body art ordinance that county supervisors will consider in May.
It would require artists to attend blood-borne pathogen training to prevent the spread of hepatitis and HIV and adhere to cleanliness standards. Thursday’s crowd welcomed the proposal, saying the industry craves regulation.
“Thank you for finally stepping up to the plate,” said Mike Hare, owner of Exotic Body.
The growing popularity of tattoos among Americans is undeniable. In 1996, about 4.5 percent of young adults had tattoos. By 2006, the Pew Research Center reported 36 percent of people ages 18 to 25 and 40 percent of those 26 to 40 had at least one tattoo.
Wild Bill’s Hill said TV shows such as “LA Ink” and “Miami Ink” glamorize the industry, making body art less taboo, especially for women.
“Twenty years ago I wouldn’t tattoo a female’s arms,” he said. “But now I tattoo twice as many women as men.”
There’s also a promise of fast cash. One local tattoo artist, KR Rossi, said he used to earn $8,000 a week tattooing in Yuba City. Now it’s less, but he still earns about $2,500 a week.
Hill has run a successful shop for 36 years and has a fleet of fancy cars as evidence. He said shops have mushroomed nearby, hoping to catch his overflow.
“There’s four or five down the street,” he said. “In the ’70s there were three shops in the whole Sacramento area.”
Other entrepreneurs find the industry profitable. Since January, Rocky Crang has been selling tattoo equipment out of his Toyota Scion through West Sacramento-based RelyAid Tattoo supply company.
Crang said he has more than 200 clients and sells only to businesses with storefronts. Another group of suppliers sells equipment to home tattoo artists, derisively referred to as “scratchers.”
The sudden swell of body art businesses has polarized the tattoo community.
Old-school tattoo artists consider themselves just that – artists – and shun those who are in the business for money.
Rossi said he showed his commitment by tattooing his face. His skull is covered with tribal tattoos. He adheres to an unwritten code of conduct that a tattoo artist should not charge less than $100 per hour or copy another artist’s design.
Sacramento County’s proposed ordinance focuses on cleanliness. For each customer, needles must be new. Rossi said unclean parlors that transmit diseases reflect poorly on artists like him.
The county’s oversight now offers few options. County records show that when officials respond to unsafe parlor complaints, officials can only tell tattoo artists to be sure to register.
