Sherri Greif, Nurse Practitioner, Stroke Program Manager and Nicole Schumacher, Neuro Nurse Practitioner are proud of the recognition.
Dignity Health—St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC) and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo (SJHC) have received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Quality Achievement Award for their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke was developed to assist health care professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for treating stroke patients.
Each year program participants apply for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for stroke patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their health and rehabilitation once at home.
“We are pleased to recognize St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital Camarillo for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
“Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The
Guidelines quality improvement initiatives can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
SJRMC and SJHC also received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
Additionally, both SJRMC and SJHC received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90% of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”
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In 1943, nine-year-old Maureen Bennett came down with meningitis—an inflammation of the fluid and membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. “They’d done lumbar punctures to diagnose, and I had terrible nosebleeds. Some people told us to use brown paper or a clean dime under my upper lip to stop the bleeding–it rarely helped. I was miserable. I remember being in bed and seeing company walking outside past my bedroom window towards our front door. That was the last thing I can recall before going unconscious,” says Bennett. “I was told that I began convulsing and my parents, aunt and uncle put me in the car and raced to the hospital.” Bennett’s father tore up the road between the towns of Coleman and Saginaw, Michigan while her uncle prayed. “Dumb luck got us to the right hospital. Our family doctor had called ahead, but my dad just followed the signs that said ‘hospital’ and it turned out to be the right one.” Bennett’s temperature was 106° F.
Doctors at the Saginaw hospital told her parents that they had a new experimental medication that might save their daughter’s life. “They said, ‘We have this drug but it could leave her a vegetable; it could kill her, but it might let her live.’ My parents had no choice.” The doctors experimented with the dosage because not enough was known about the drug.
One afternoon, six weeks later, Bennett woke up from her coma. “My mom screamed and nurses came running. I couldn’t get out of the hospital fast enough. I soon went home, but I couldn’t walk. I scooted a chair around like a walker and I leaned on its back.” Maureen recovered and became her mother’s helper, caring for her five younger siblings.
The drug Bennett had been given was penicillin.
Two years later in 1945, Sottish scientist-physician Alexander Fleming, Australian pharmacologist-pathologist Howard Florey and German-British biochemist Ernst Chain shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery and development of penicillin. It is estimated that 80-200 million human lives have been saved by penicillin. Originally derived from the Penicilliummold on melons, the name penicillin was chosen “to avoid the repetition of the rather cumbersome phrase: mould broth filtrate,” according to Fleming.
Bennett’s journey has not been an easy one. She served in the U.S. Navy as a teletype operator for four years and was in the Army reserve for sixteen. Eventually, she married and had four boys. “Then my husband abandoned us and we lived in my Falcon car for a while. I eventually went to nursing school and worked as an LVN for ten years.” She also worked as a mail carrier. Bennett, who now goes by the last name Finlay, is unable to tolerate most medications which is a problem for someone her age. “The doctors think I can’t take medications because of the penicillin. I’m in pain most days, but I can’t take pain pills. They just put me out.” A resident at the Veterans Home-Ventura for the last seven years, she is now dependent on a mobility device at the assisted living facility. “But, I’m fortunate that I had someplace to go. Many are not so lucky.”
Note: Do you know (or are) a senior with an interesting story to tell let us know at [email protected].
Local surfer and talented artist, Andrew Rodriguez (aka @fischerrman), recently brightened up Ventura Harbor Village with these two new sea-inspired murals.
“On September 8, 2021” according to Mary Haffner, an advocate for people with mental illness, “NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Advocacy Group held a countywide Town Hall to address the needs of people with mental illness.”
During the Town Hall, it was discussed that: “Because of the gaps in services to people with mental illness, the Ventura County Behavioral Health Advisory Board recently passed a unanimous motion requesting that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approve an independent assessment regarding the continuum of care for people with severe mental illness. Through this comprehensive assessment, it will become possible to reduce the number of people who continue to cycle through successive hospitalizations, incarcerations, and homelessness. Other counties in California have conducted similar assessments and the California State Auditor has recommended that all counties do so, too.”
The NAMI Town Hall also focused on the fact that, ‘The gaps in Ventura County are significant, from crisis care to long-term care. As for crisis care, Ventura County has no psychiatric facility that can directly admit psychiatric emergencies. Someone in crisis with a psychiatric emergency must first wait in a general hospital emergency room. However, other California counties have facilities that allow them to pass hospital emergency rooms so that they can receive prompt treatment. In addition, Ventura County has only 8 chairs for crisis stabilization. For a county of 846,000, this is woefully deficient. As for long-term care, Ventura County has only one 43-bed locked facility, which is currently staffed for 36 patients (July, 14, 2021 ‘Ventura Breeze’: ‘Expansion of Hillmont Psychiatric Unit alleviates waits for patients in crisis.’). There are few Board and Cares, and not enough supportive housing to support long-term rehabilitation and care. As a result, people who need a higher level of care may end up at a sober living home with inadequate supports, thus setting them up for relapse and getting caught up in the cycle again.”
“Ventura County appears to have the second highest percentage of inmates classified as ‘open mental health cases,’ according to a review of the latest numbers from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC),” according to the NAMI Town Hall. “With no needed intercept model diversion program, and a dire lack of crisis care, and very few options for long-term treatment and housing, people with severe mental illness cycle into either jail or homelessness.”
Haffner believes that, “We don’t do more to help those with severe mental health issues because I believe that discrimination and stigma play a big role in our society’s failure to provide adequate treatment. We have normalized the jailing of people with mental illness and we have too many people who don’t want any treatment facilities in their communities. This is why leadership is so important. We need leaders who understand the illness and who are willing to educate the public and work towards solutions.”
∙ Since 1992, the Spay and Neuter Animal Network, otherwise known as SPAN, has made it their mission to reduce dog and cat overpopulation throughout Ventura County by raising public awareness about the direct consequence of irresponsible breeding.
Today more than ever, responsible dog and cat owners like you play the most significant role in the solution to overpopulation by spaying and neutering your pets. SPAN shares in that responsibility by providing financial assistance to pet owners who would otherwise be unable to pay for this procedure.
SPAN is a highly regarded nonprofit and recognized for commitment to their mission and overall success. Over the last 30 years, SPAN has provided financial assistance for the spay and neuter of over 35,000 thousand dogs and cats.
“SPAN receives hundreds of requests for financial assistance every year. Our ability to help pet owners is directly related to our Thrift Store sales, Legacy gifts, and unrestricted cash donations. Thanks to our all-volunteer staff at SPAN, we are proud to say that 100% of our income is used towards spay and neuter procedures.” — SPAN Board of Directors
For more about SPAN, their mission, and opportunities to assist, please visit at www.spanonline.org.
Shop the SPAN Thrift Store, located at 110 N. Olive St. Suite A Ventura (Please visit website for store hours). SPAN Thrift Store Phone: 805-641-1170
∙ Veterinary Viewpoint: Raising healthy puppies
Dr. Joanna Bronson
Lack of sleep is normal for new puppy owners. Puppies play hard, eat, and sleep. Potty training should rotate around any change in activity. Puppies will have to relieve themselves after playing, eating, and sleeping, and any other form of excitement, usually every hour for puppies a month old or younger.
Thankfully, the potty-training process usually goes smoothly when consistency is followed. There may still be occasional accidents, and during inclement weather, an indoor potty-training pad may come in handy. The important thing is not to punish the pup when an accident happens. He’s doing what nature tells him to do. Praising him when he does go outside is a good thing.
If an accident is discovered, and he is close by, pick him up, take him outside and walk a bit. Do not rub his nose in it his accident.
Any new puppy should be closely chaperoned inside and outside. New puppies want to chew anything in sight. Rocks, twigs, leaves, etc., all taste and crunch satisfactorily. Watch and remove any objects before they get lodged or swallowed.
Until your puppy is fully vaccinated, it’s best to avoid dog parks and contact with other dogs. If your puppy is small enough to carry, you may expose him to watching other animals, while keeping him safe from touch.
Puppies like to bite, you and everything in sight. Their teeth are horribly sharp. Exchange your flesh for a toy and trying to keep him occupied with appropriate chew toys, but make sure that toys cannot be easily dismantled and parts swallowed or get stuck in his mouth.
Also, be aware of poisonous substances and plants. Keep the garbage and all human food out of reach. Medications should always be kept out-of-sight. Electrical cords are very tempting to chewers and can be deadly through electrocution.
∙ Dr. Joanna Bronson of Bronson Veterinary Services,
Whether you’re a new dog owner or a seasoned pup parent, there’s always something new to learn about taking care of your pet.
Keep your dog on heartworm medication
Add extra water bowls around the house to prevent dehydration in older dogs
It’s best to make your older dog’s trip to the water bowl as short and easy as possible.
Making sure your older dog has constant access to water can help prevent dangerous dehydration.
If your dog has difficulty climbing stairs, it’s a good idea to keep their food and water bowls on the ground floor of the house.
Give your dog personal space if they need it. All dogs are different — some pets love to snuggle up, but others don’t like to be closely cuddled or held.
Long play sessions, active games, praise, and treats are all ways to show your dog that you love them without invading their personal space.
If you’re struggling to train your dog, miscommunication may be the problem.
Giving dogs inconsistent verbal cues can be confusing for them. For example, telling your dog to “go potty” one day and “go pee” the next can be confusing.
Instead, train your dog using the exact same word or phrase every time and try to keep those cues short, like saying “down” rather than “go lay down.”
Try to keep your dog’s diet consistent
Suddenly changing your dog’s food could upset their stomach or give them diarrhea.
Brush your dog’s teeth every day
Just like those of humans, dog’s teeth should be regularly brushed to avoid cavities and bad breath.
If you aren’t able to brush your dog’s teeth, talk to your vet about products that your dog can chew on to control tartar buildup.
Make and keep regular vet visits
Dogs can sometimes develop health problems that aren’t obvious to the untrained eye, so it’s important to schedule routine visits to the vet.
Regular checkups are also opportunities to monitor your dog’s dental health and keep them up-to-date on vaccinations, which can help you avoid costly interventions in the future.
Resist the urge to bend the rules, even on special occasions. For example, allowing your dog on the furniture as a treat but then scolding them for jumping on the sofa the next day can be very confusing, so try to establish clear house rules and stick to them.
Praise your dog for good behavior instead of scolding them when they’re naughty
Instead of scolding your dog for being afraid or nervous, try showering them with praise when they calm down or giving them a treat when they appropriately react to a stressful situation.
Just as humans may develop neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease as they grow older, our aging canine friends also can develop dementia, also referred to as canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCDS), a complex of behavioral and neurological symptoms the prevalence of which increases with age.
Trio tells stories through song and stomp, highlighting the musical traditions of American Folk Music.
“Prepare to be stunned by The Honey Whiskey Trio. They create moving vocal music but you will also see and hear elements of dance and theatre in their performance. They draw deeply from the well of American musical tradition. We are thrilled to have them as part of our series of Americana-themed shows this Fall” said Namba Arts Musical Director Doc Ventura.
Courtney Gasque Politano, Ann Louise Jefferies Thaiss and Christina Wilson began singing together in each other’s living rooms as an emotional and musical release. In 2013, after seeing the impact of their music on the contemporary A cappella community, these sisters in song solidified their style as American Folk and picked up instruments to further enhance their vocally driven sound.
Today their passion for music education, community outreach, and singing unapologetically continues to drive them. They create, arrange, and explore music from the front porches, music halls, and hymn books of early America, sharing it with students, adults, and life-long music lovers across the United States.
Tickets for this show are $20 and may be purchased at the Namba Arts website https://nambaarts.com. Please note that proof of vaccination or Covid test must be presented to enter.
Other upcoming Americana music shows at Namba Arts this Fall are: The Carolyn Sills Combo Nov 13, The Healers ft. Henry Carjaval Nov 19, Phil Salazar and the Kinfolk Nov 20, Anna May December 4.
Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Y: The Last Man – FX on Hulu
3 out of 4 palm trees
Y: The Last Man is based on DC Comics’ acclaimed series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, a 60-issue science fiction comic book series published in 2002 in which a worldwide event kills every male mammal on the planet but for one cisgender man and his pet monkey. This plunges the entire planet into a post-apocalyptic world full of dystopian realities.
For some unknown reason, every man in the world died of some sort of plague all on the same day, leaving women to assume the roles previously held by men who were no longer alive. The many deaths in the chain of command for the United States government left Senator Jennifer Brown (Diane Lane) in charge. That very same day Agent 355 (Ashley Romans) was sent out on her first day to guard the president, and when the chain of command changed, she informed President Brown that she was at the service of whatever sitting president.
There was chaos everywhere caused by the instantaneous death of men such as planes falling from the sky and mass casualty car pileups, which also killed many women. All normal operations had gone offline, including power, and those left in the cities began to protest and riot in an effort to gain answers to what had happened thinking somehow the government was involved. President Brown gathered a team of dedicated women and setup to get some basic resources online while also try to find the cause and deal with the outcome of this cataclysmic event.
President Brown had a daughter named Hero (Olivia Thirlby) who she had strained relations with and was a paramedic in New York. Hero was traveling on foot with her friend Sam (Elliot Fletcher), who was transgender and experiencing prejudice due to looking like a man. Hero refused to reach out to her mother for any assistance, and had not even contacted her since the event. President Brown sent Agent 355 to retrieve Hero and bring her back to the White House.
When Agent 355 returned she didn’t have Hero, but did have Yorick (Ben Schnetzer), President Brown’s son, which seemed impossible as it was believed that all mammals with a Y chromosome on the planet had died. Yorick also had his pet Capuchin monkey Ampersand with him, which also seemed miraculous as he was also male. Though President Brown was overjoyed to see her son, the situation presented a huge number of issues, including some believing it could be used as validation for the public’s conspiracy theories regarding government involvement in the event.
Agent 355 convinced President Brown that it was too dangerous for her son to be discovered there, and agreed to secretly get him to a geneticist and cloning expert Dr. Allison Mann (Diana Bang) in Boston who they believed could shed some light on why Yorick and Ampersand were still alive. Unfortunately the only lab that had what Dr. Mann needed was in San Francisco.
While this was happening it was discovered that former cabinet secretary Regina Oliver was alive in Israel, having been injured and in a coma since the event. She of course was looking to return to run the country rightfully in the line of succession, and had very conservative views similar to those of the recently deceased president and in direct opposition to those of President Brown.
Through the month of October, Ventura Land Trust will celebrate its first annual OAKtober with a series of events that acknowledge and celebrate Ventura County’s oak trees and ecosystems.
Oaks are the foundation of several major ecosystems in Ventura County. Each oak is central to home to a hundred interdependent plant and animal species. Trees work for us by cleaning air and water, sequestering atmospheric carbon, buffering climate extremes, and reducing energy usage. Oaks reduce flooding and support our native wildlife. Oaks, and trees in general, provide important benefits that provide the foundation for our individual and planetary health.
VLT and event partners will drive awareness of the value of oaks across California, while developing a community network to support these important oak ecosystems. Scheduled events include:
On October 2, OAKtober featured Once Upon a Watershed Program Director Dr. David White and Melina Watts, Author of Tree.
Guests met at the Harmon Canyon Preserve trailhead and walked a short distance to an oak grove with trees that are over 300 years old. Dr. David White spoke about the central role of oaks in the ecosystem in Harmon Canyon Preserve and gave tips on how to grow an acorn into a sprout help the young tree to mature. Writer Melina Watts read from her 2017 novel Tree, the story of a California live oak from the point of view of the tree.
On October 30, from 9-10:30am, in partnership with Los Padres ForestWatch, LPFW Conservation Director Bryant Baker, known on Instagram as @bryanttheshrublander, will lead a presentation on Harmon Canyon Preserve’s signature oak woodlands. This presentation will delve into the habitat, biology, and natural history of oak woodlands in Ventura County’s hills and the Los Padres National Forest. Guests will meet at the Harmon Canyon Preserve trailhead and walk a short distance to a Harmon Canyon oak grove to see and learn about the trees up close. Location: 7511 Foothill Road, Ventura.
Other events will be announced as they are scheduled. Guests are encouraged to RSVP for OAKtober events at www.venturalandtrust.org/events. Space is limited. Find more OAKtober resources at www.venturalandtrust.org/oaktober.
The mission of Ventura Land Trust is to permanently protect the land, water, wildlife and scenic beauty of the Ventura region for current and future generations. Founded in 2003, Ventura Land Trust believes that preserving open space and providing public access enhances the economy, quality of life, and public well-being of Ventura and surrounding communities.
The organization currently owns and manages land along the Ventura River and in the Ventura hillsides, including the 2,100-acre Harmon Canyon Preserve, opened in June 2020. Harmon Canyon Preserve is Ventura’s first large-scale nature preserve. All preserves are open to the public daily from dawn to dusk for free. Ventura Land Trust received accreditation by the Land Trust Alliance in 2019. Learn more and become a member at www.venturalandtrust.org.
Hi: I’m Apollo, a five-year-old a mixed bred… a little Australian Shepard, mostly a little border collie. I love squirrels, lizards and rabbits and a head, ear and butt scratch as long as you do it all day long. And car rides too, and I bark for joy every chance I get if I know am going to go somewhere.
Randy Parsons has left the building? Randy packed up the prime space he had occupied upstairs since 2014 overlooking Main and Chestnut for Parsons Guitars (past clients include Jimmy Page, Jack White, Sammy Hagar and others), it was where he created state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind guitars, and where he provided luthier workshops for those who wanted to learn how to build their own guitar which included students such as Ventura’s own Gary Best.
I asked Randy for any final words and he told me, “I really loved Ventura, it’s a special place, the people are all pretty damn cool, although I’m still convinced the whole city is some type of witness protection program.”
I thought about it, and I can’t disagree. Though totally talented and incredibly nice, I always admired his love for cats; there’s just something about a man who adores the feline species. Randy and wife have landed in Kansas where they bought a castle looking church moving on to their next adventure.
And speaking of next adventures, Colin Bailey has also left the building, he passed away peacefully at his home in Port Hueneme at age 87. I met Colin when I saw him first perform at Squashed Grapes in 2015 with the Frank Potenza Trio. Adam and Josh from the Grape told me to look up Colin’s background which I did and I was just floored. This man had not only worked with Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Joe Pass and dozens more, he not only recorded on more than 100 jazz albums, he not only continued to give drum workshops including those at Pulse Drumming here in Ventura, but he was the drummer on the Charlie Brown Christmas special, a cartoon special that will always take me back to my childhood!
For some reason, there are so many special events falling on the same day, Saturday, October 9; I’ve listed them here along with websites to find out more:
1. Topa Mountain Music 2021 Benefit Concert headlining is The White Buffalo with sets from Lee Koch Band, Bryan Titus Trio, Will Breman Band and more at the Libbey Bowl. Go to TopaMountainMusic.org for more information and tickets.
2. Surf ‘n’ Suds at San Buenaventura State Beach, where it’s more about the beer than music, but it’s always a good time. Performing will be Jacob Marquez and the Good Vibes, Mestizo and DJ Hecktik. For tickets go to SurfBeerFest.com.
3. SteckleStock 2021 at Steckle Park in Santa Paula features a full day of live music from Premonition, Sisterook, Charles Law Band, No Biggee, Tommy Foytek Band and Whiskey Business. You can find more on this via Facebook on Premonition’s page.
4. Surfers Point Live has a full day of Reggae, 2 – 10 pm at the Ventura Fairgrounds featuring Sublime with Rome, the Dirty Heads, Rey Fresco, Local Love Project and Hirie. Find out more at SurfersPointLive.com.
Quick Notes: Congratulations to Suzanne & Ian McFayden (50 Sticks of Dynamite, Duncan and the Dragonslayers) for tying the knot; tickets are on sale for the Ventura Winter Wine Walk for December 11 sometimes called the event of the season if not the year for downtown Ventura (CBFProductions.com); Cadillac Zack presents the Delgado Brothers at Cantara Cellars on Friday, October 8 and the legendary band Canned Heat plays Thursday, October 14 (call Zack at 323-377-5291 for tickets); Ojai Pops Orchestra has a free show at the Libbey Bowl on Sunday, October 10; Ventura Theater shows include Social Distortion October 6, Pennywise with Dead Kennedys on October 7, Pennywise with Strung Out of October 8, and Elefante, Inspector on October 15; Queen Nation plays a free show at the Collection at Riverpark in Oxnard on Wednesday, October 13 at 6:30 pm; and Phil Salazar & the Kin Folk play the Ojai Underground Exchange on Friday, October 15.
VenturaRocks.com is undergoing changes. I’ve invested in a new calendar app which doesn’t seem to be saving me much time, but I can load items way in advance which should help in the long run. The look and feel is evolving and for the time being, I’m covering all of Ventura County.
Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to [email protected], and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.
