Page 12 - Mid Valley Times 8-20-20 E-edition

Thursday, August 20, 2020 | A12 | Mid Valley TiMes
Telemedicine helps provide need for pediatric services
Sanger Pediatrics takes advantage of grant from Calviva Health Net
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
Sanger Pediatrics is the only true pediatrics medical provider in the city of Sanger and patient concerns due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic have been evident since March.
“They’re afraid to come in,” said Physician Assistant Cristina Lopez, who runs the Sanger medical office under Dr. Emerson Walls. “In the beginning, it was really slow because people were afraid.”
But in spite of the fears, Lopez said she has not closed her doors since the pandemic began. Though she did have to scale back at times due to lack of patients, she said the office has taken all the pre- cautionary measures to en- sure patients and staff are protected.
Also, Lopez noted, when shelter-in-place orders were first implemented, many clin- ics stopped seeing children, leaving a demand of under- served patients.
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Physician Assistant Cristina Lopez listens to the heart of Jenica Salazar, 11, of Sanger at Sanger Pediatrics on Aug. 14. A telemedicine grant recently received by the medical office is now allowing Lopez to better serve her patients at a distance through telephonic and video conferencing services.
ical and something is abnor- mal,” Lopez explained. “So I run a test. Now, I’m telling them that they don’t have to come in for the test results. We will do telemedicine on the phone or on the comput- er.”
The new telemedicine ser- vice also helps protect staff members from exposure as well, as the possibility of an infection could compromise an entire office.
So far, Lopez said she has had a total of eight patients test positive for COVID-19. Office staff was exposed to only one of those cases, forc- ing the office to close mo- mentarily for sanitation pur- poses and further testing, all done per the instructions of the Fresno County Depart- ment of Health.
Lopez is also considering the purchase of a new medi- cal machine that will take all the vitals of a patient, something normally done by a nurse assistant, to further minimize exposure and con- tact.
As for concerns from her patients in regards to a full return to school, she said the vast majority of them are too afraid to go back to school during the pandemic
“I knew then that I had to stay open,” she expressed. “Somebody had to see these kids.”
To keep the doors open, Lopez said she applied for a Payroll Protection Program loan from the federal govern- ment. But to better serve her patients, she also applied for
one of 138 state grants made available by Calviva Health Net. She was awarded the grant in May.
The Calviva Health Net COVID-19 Telehealth Capac- ity Grant was made avail- able to California physicians to help them utilize technol- ogy to provide telehealth, tel-
ephonic, live video visits and e-consultation services.
The service has afforded Sanger Pediatrics with the opportunity to better serve patients while avoiding un- necessary trips to the doc- tor’s office.
“Let’s say for example someone comes in for a phys-
'Safety Improvement Project' in Dinuba completed at Kamm and Greene avenues
By George M. Villagrana
Mid Valley Times
The Kamm Avenue and Greene Avenue Safety Improvement Project is officially com- plete.
The city of Dinuba accepted the project as complete, and autho- rized the city engineer to file a Notice of Com- pletion with the Tulare County Recorder’s Of- fice at their meeting on Aug. 11.
The project consist- ed of the installation of four concrete bulbouts, raised median islands with rectangular rapid flashing beacons, sig- nage, high visibility crosswalks, streetlights and other miscellaneous concrete improvements.
In 2016, the city was awarded $290,304 in Federal Highway Safety Improvements Program funds for the improve- ments and the intersec- tion. The city re-evalu- ated the original scope and added two additional bulbouts to ensure safe- ty at all four crosswalks and recalculated the en- gineers estimate to re- quest additional federal funds. The city was suc- cessful in securing ad- ditional funding in the amount of $626,850 for construction, design and construction manage- ment and inspections.
The project was awarded to Ameri- can Paving Co. in the amount of $540,616 in 2019. There were three change orders in the amount of $27,654 due to additional traffic control and unforeseen storm drain issues that arose during construction. The
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total amount of the proj- ect was $568,267 and the final inspections of the
project were performed by the public works in- spector on July 23.
D.H. TAX & INSURANCE AGENCY & GALVAN BOOKKEEPING
ServiceS AvAilAble:
• Taxes • auTo • RenTeR’s, Home & Life insuRance
• VeHicLe RegisTRaTion seRVice • accounTing • PayRoLL
• agRicuLTuRe seRVices
REEDLEY
FULL GOSPEL TABERNACLE
519 E. 11th Street (at corner of 11th & East Aves.) Reedley, CA 93654
Meets Sunday at 830am Outdoors on the property All are welcome
For more inforamtion call 559-638-2738
We welcome you to join us
For more information: www.reedleyfullgospel.com Pastor Ron Robertson • Pastor Frank Pinon
Christ Lutheran Church
1254 N Frankwood Ave. Reedley | 559-638-2112 | www.clcreedley.org Sunday morning Worship begins at 10:00am | All are welcome! Pastor Virgil Miller is Preaching | Musicians: Aarne Kela & Jason Awbrey Facebook: Christ Lutheran Church ELCA
DINUBA
First Baptist Church of Dinubba
A church for people on the grow!
600 E. Nebraska Avenue, Dinuba • Phone: 591-0234
Donna Hernandez 559-399-8965
Carlos Galvan 559-500-9515
1719 7th Street • Sanger
Se Habla Español
Department of Toxic Substances Control
DTSC Public Notice
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) - Our mission is to protect the people, communities, and environment of California from harmful chemicals by cleaning up contaminated sites, enforcing hazardous waste laws, and compelling the development of safer products.
EMERGENCY PERMIT
POM WONDERFUL
5286 S. DEL REY, DEL REY, CA 93616
e California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has issued an Emergency Permit to POM Wonderful (POM) for onsite treatment of expired chemicals at 5286 S. Del Rey, Del Rey, California 93616. e items to be treated are two 4-liter containers of Ethyl Ether.
e Clean Harbors Environmental Services company has been contracted to conduct this treatment. e chemical is potentially reactive and unsafe for transport in its present state. e treatment involves the addition of liquid solution to the containers to stabilize the chemical. Once the chemical is treated, it will be transported o site for proper management. DTSC has determined that the chemical poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment if not properly managed. erefore, an emergency permit should be issued. is Emergency Permit is e ective from June 12, 2020 through August 17, 2020. e Emergency Permit includes measures to minimize any adverse impact to the community and the environment.
CALIFORNIA ENVORONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA): DTSC has determined that the issuance of this permit is exempt from the requirements of CEQA and has led a Notice of Exemption (NOE) with the State Clearinghouse. e Emergency Permit, NOE, POM’s request for this project are available for review at the le room located at:
DTSC Sacramento Regional O ce 8800 Cal Center Drive Sacramento, California 95826
Tel: (916) 255-3758, call for an appointment.
CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
Parisa Khosraviani Project Manager
Tel: (916) 255-6559 Parisa.Khosraviani@dtsc.ca.gov
Chinh Sheow
Public Participation Specialist Tel: (818) 717-6571 Chinh.Sheow@dtsc.ca.gov
SUNDAY - Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Worship 10:30 a.m. Evening Worship 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday - Bible Study 7 p.m. CLASES EN ESPANOL - 9:30 a.m.c Call 875-8270 / 960-8982 Para Espanol
006223
Gamaliel Ortiz Media Inquiries
Tel: (916) 327-4383 Gamaliel.Ortiz@dtsc.ca.gov
Hearing impaired individuals may use the California Relay Service at 711 or 800-735-2929TTY/VCO/HCO to voice. Additional informa- tion on DTSC sites can be found through our EnviroStor database.
CalEPA DTSC State of California
Holy Cross Anglican Church
Sunday Holy Eucharist at 9:30am Sunday School at 9:15am
O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness
We meet at “Old St. Mary’s” Catholic Church at 828 O Street in Sanger. All are welcome! • www.HolyCrossAC.org 559-255-4883
You may list your Church Announcement on this page for $15 per week. Including Church name, address, phone and service times with additional 50 words for announcement. Deadline for Church News is 12 p.m. Friday.
For more information call, Reedley 638-2244, Dinuba 591-4632, Sanger 875-2511.
August 2020
Website: rstbaptistchurchdinuba.org Facebook: DinubaFirst Baptist Senior Pastor: Rev. Rick Foddrill Youth Pastor: Nick Gomez Director of Children’s Ministry: Natalie Zuniga
O ce hours:
Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. “4-5” by appointment Sunday Service 8:30 a.m. outdoors Youth group Wed 6 p.m. online Children Ministry Wed 6 p.m. online
First Baptist Church lives to glorify God by leading people to Christ, helping them grow in Christ, and training them to minister for Christ.
First Lutheran Church an LCMS congregation
961 E. Elizabeth Way, Dinuba, CA 93618 • Phone: (559) 591-0375
9:45 Bible Study • 10:30 Worship
Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit...fruit that lasts” (John 15:16) In response, First Lutheran Church holds values of Bible Centered Preaching and Teaching, Strong Families, and Godly Servant Leadership. A church where God gives and we receive.
SANGER
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1518 Cherry Street (Corner of “P” Street) Sanger, CA 93657