Strategic Planning Meeting in San Diego

On Saturday August 20th Board members of the Free Clinics of the Western Region gathered in San Diego to discuss plans for the next three years. At the conclusion of our meeting, we were visited by the Perpetual Health Cycling Club. They have toured Free Clinics around California on their bicycles bring attention to the good work being done.

Great to see these young people interested in Free Clinics.

Maggie Kestly Elected Board President

Leasing and property manager and community leader Maggie Kestly has been selected to serve as president of the board of directors for the Free Clinic of Simi Valley.
Kestly has been with Mid Valley Properties for 23 years, managing a portfolio totaling a million square feet in Ventura County, and holds Certified Property Manager and Certified Commercial Investment Member designations.

Currently Kestly serves the Free Clinic Board as well as the governing boards for the Simi Valley Community Foundation and the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise, for which she is immediate past president. Previously she served the boards for the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley and the Jewish Life Center, and she served as Simi Valley City Councilwoman Michelle Foster's appointee on the City of Simi Valley's General Plan Advisory Committee.

Kestly has served the Free Clinic's Board of Directors since 2003, and succeeds Harry VanDyck, who served two years as the Free Clinic's president.

"The Free Clinic of Simi Valley is blessed to have Maggie Kestly's experience, energy and leadership during these challenging times for us in the healthcare industry," said Fred Bauermeister, executive director and co-founder of the 38-year-old Free Clinic of Simi Valley. "Harry VanDyck did a wonderful job leading the organization through an uncertain economic period, and challenges remain to continue to deliver quality services to those in our community who need it."

"We are fortunate to have a dedicated group of volunteers and Board members who understand the challenges before us and look forward to meeting the community's needs," he said.
Elected to join Kestly on the Clinic's Executive Board in 2010 are Ron Hyrchuk as Vice President; Kurt Fredrickson as secretary; and Harry VanDyck as treasurer. Board members will be Noel Kelsch, Curt Witeby, Diane Goldenring, Polly Vlasic, Don Sturt, Judy Gobble, Phyllis Wilson, Dennis Benton, Keith Jajko, Leigh Nixon and Fred Bauermeister.

EHR Comes to the Free Clinic

Thanks to the generosity of Dr Russell Noblett from Roanoke West Virginia, the Free Clinic is switching over to Electronic Medical Records. Dr Noblett has developed a comprehensive software program, which is Internet based, to keep medical records. In addition the system tract patient demographics which will be useful in future grant applications. Dr Noblett is a medical doctor who has developed to program. The system is accessible from any computer and requires no specialized servers on site. Thanks Dr Noblett!

Dr Myhue Li

Dr Myhue Li (on the right) mentors resident physician Henry Pham at the Free Clinic today. Dr Li is a doctor from the local Kaiser office on the corner of Alamo and Tapo Canyon Road. She is filling in this month for the attending physicians from Kaiser and welcomes the opertunity to share her knowledge and experience with some of the resident physicians like Dr Pham.

Kaiser Check

Kaiser Permanente presented a check for $15,000 to the Free Clinic at a recent ceremony at the beautiful Camarillo House in Camarillo. The funds will go toward general operating funds for our medical and dental programs.

Kaiser Graduation

On Sunday June 28th, six resident physicians completed their training and received their certification as family practice physicians. Their training through Kaiser includes a regular rotation here at the Free Clinic. The festivities were held at the Renaissance Hotel in Agoura Hills. The event was attended by the friends and families of the physicians as well as representatives from the Free Clinic. In the picture above are Dr Jeffrey Caputo, Dr Bonnie Chung, Dr Marisol Luna-Pizano, (Unknown guest) Dr Jennifer Haggerty, Dr Linnlee Sam, and Dr Sarvenaz Saadat.

This evening also marks the end of Dr Steve Rogers term as the Attending Physician for Kaiser he will move on the be the Attending Physician for Ventura County Medical Center. He hopes and we hope that he will eventually manage to get resident physicians to come here from the County in a similar manner to Kaiser. No matter what though, he will continue to be a volunteer physician here at the Free Clinic. Thanks Dr Rogers!

Dr Laura and Dr Pete

Tonight we are celebrated the completion of the training of the two Ambulatory Care Pharmacists. Laura Baroutgian Pharm.D. and Peter Lee, Pharm.D. have been seeing patients on Thursday eveninings for the past year. On behalf of the Free Clinic, Dr. Deamer, the attending pharmaisist, and Fred Bauermeister, presented certificates of appreciation to them thanking them for their participation. we all wish them well.