September 2009

Sierra Health's Partnerships brings you bimonthly news, opportunities, tools and resources.

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Results Accountability workshop update

Thank you to everyone who registered to attend Mark Friedman’s Results Accountability workshops in October at Sierra Health Foundation. We had an overwhelming response and all three workshops filled almost immediately. If you are on our waiting list, you will hear from us by early October. For those of you who will not be attending, you can learn about Results Accountability and order Friedman’s book, Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough, on the Fiscal Policy Studies Institute Web site.

Class IX to begin Health Leadership Program

Congratulations to 32 Northern California health and human service leaders who have been selected for Class IX of Sierra Health Foundation’s Health Leadership Program! Thanks to continued focused recruitment efforts this year, we received 74 applications from candidates in 14 of the 26 counties in our funding region. More than ever, this year’s class reflects the diversity of the region in regard to gender, age, ethnicity, geographic service area, experience and health and social service focus.

Class IX will begin the six-month course in October with a retreat at Sierra Health’s Grizzly Creek Ranch in Plumas County. Before graduation in March 2010, the class will meet four times at Sierra Health for multiple-day intensive sessions. Members also will participate in team action-learning projects, putting their new leadership skills to work.

Since 2001, the Health Leadership Program has enhanced and broadened the skills of public and nonprofit leaders through course curriculum delivered by the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development and the Marshall School of Business.

In addition to highly participatory classroom sessions and team projects, members have the opportunity to develop a valuable, supportive network of Northern California nonprofit leaders within their class and through membership in the alumni group, which includes more than 200 fellows.

For more information about the program and to see a list of class participants, visit Sierra Health’s Web site.
 

Capital Public Radio Forum to address health care reform

On Oct. 14, Capital Public Radio will continue its Second Opinions Community Health Forums series with a discussion on Clearing the Air on Health Care Reform at Sacramento State. The interactive town hall meeting will be moderated by Jeffrey Callison, host of the station’s Insight program. The forum’s goals are to clarify the need for reform, make sense of the major solutions on the table, and explain in understandable terms the likely impact on our region and the nation. A panel of local experts will represent the many voices in this discussion. The forum will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free, but seating is limited. Learn more and reserve seats on the Capital Public Radio Web site. Sierra Health Foundation is pleased to join The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento State and McGeorge School of Law as co-sponsors of this event.

Mayor’s town hall meeting focuses on education reform

There is nothing more important than ensuring the quality of the public schooling we provide to children, according to a white paper presented by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson at a Sept. 3 Education Town Hall meeting. Held at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, the event included an address by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who encouraged California educators to take a lead in education reform.

The mayor’s white paper, Education That Works: Ideas for Sacramento, calls for Sacramento to “be among the nation’s leading cities in pushing education reforms to improve student opportunity and academic achievement.” The paper, which developed from ideas and discussions resulting from the Mayor’s Education Summit in March, was presented as a next step in the city’s education discussion and work. Five issue areas are identified as a starting point in this work: School Accountability, Compelling Portfolio of School Choice, Human Capital, Engaging and Empowering Parents and Leveraging External Resources. Download the white paper on Mayor Johnson’s Web site.

Sierra Health was a co-sponsor of the mayor’s Education Summit. “As a health foundation, we are concerned about the social determinants of health, particularly education,” said Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet Hewitt. “I’ve come to understand and appreciate how important education is to health. Those of us who are well educated, on average, will have much better health outcomes than those of us who are less educated.”
 

Protect yourself against the H1N1 flu virus

There is a lot of talk about the 2009 H1N1 (Swine) flu virus, and for good reason. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in June the World Health Organization signaled that a pandemic of this new influenza was under way. While most people who have become ill have recovered without requiring medical treatment, hospitalization and deaths from this virus have occurred. A vaccine is scheduled to be available next month.

The CDC recommends taking the following steps to protect your health:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.

The CDC also recommends these important actions:

• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social-distancing measures.
• Be prepared in case you get sick and need to stay home for a week or so; a supply of over-the-counter medicines, alcohol-based hand rubs, tissues and other related items could be useful and help avoid the need to make trips out in public while you are sick and contagious.

Get more important information about the 2009 H1N1 (Swine) flu virus on the CDC Web site and the California Department of Public Health Web site. Download a CDC flu prevention poster.