In the Public Eye

jtaylor's picture
Haiku of fatherhood
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 2:51pm

The frozen burgers rage against the propane grille. Our faces grow oily in afternoon sun there at the smog line, at my son’s home on the pathway to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park.

In the Public Eye

All along the "MedWatch" tower
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - 2:03pm

There's lots of good reasons for creating www.medwatchtoday.com  Two-thirds of Internet users get their health information on line, according to a recent study. The top five sources are physician websites (61%) -- and there aren't too many of those fully functional -- medical Web engines (44%), search engines (33%), family/friends (31%) and hospital/university Web sites (13%).

Future MDs, RNs? The Shadow knows
Saturday, March 3, 2007 - 5:38pm

Forget shortages of docs and nurses for a minute, because the Shadow knows the answer. Actually, the Shadows are probably part of the answer.

I'm talking about young people like the students at the Sunnyside High School Doctors Academy. Forty-one of them were placed at Community Medical Centers, the county health department and other area facilities during "National Groundhog Job Shadow Day.'

Pressing health issue? What's yours?
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 8:45am

If all the Valley's hospitals could rally around one issue, what should it be? The air tastes like burnt trash. Obesity begets diabetes which begets impotence, blindness, amputations. Limited access to health care creates a cascade of problems.


I'd like to hear your views and rationales.


Every three years, California nonprofit hospitals are required by state law (through SB 697) to undertake a community needs assessment as part of maintaining their nonprofit status.  Some years Fresno-area hospitals do it individually, sometimes they collaborate.

3,000 bills translate into what?
Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 11:11am

What's in a number? Friday (Feb. 23) is the last day for California lawmakers to introduce legislation for the current session.  At the start of the week, the California Hospital Association estimated nearly 780 bills had been introduced, with the expectation that the total number at week's end would reach 3,000.

Sound off -- and you do!
Saturday, February 17, 2007 - 3:52pm

Why don't hospitals crack down on patients -- and employees -- who smoke outside their facilities and especially outside the designated smoking areas?  That question has surfaced after my blog posting about Kaiser eliminating smoking at its Sacramento campuses, including at previously designated areas.