by Richard Lieberman

Jeffery Lambert, Chief Operating Officer for Ventura County Community Foundation wants to remind Ventura County residents that “Covid is not over, the impact is still there” said Lambert. “It’s not going away simply because everyone is vaccinated,” he added.

The current health and economic challenges since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic continue, so do community needs. Food Share Inc. a Ventura County Community Foundation partner has gone from serving meals to 75,000 people per month to 150,000 people since the start of the pandemic.

The Amgen Foundation has announced it will contribute $300,000 in matching grants to VCCF’s Rapid Response Fund. “our goal is to triple the fund with matching contributions, for every fifty cents they give us we will attempt to raise $1.00 in matching funds.” Lambert added. “In addition, we want to continue to fund non-profits that serve individuals and families affected by Covid-19.” He added.

Funds raised from the matching campaign will benefit local nonprofit organizations addressing the on going needs of individuals and families with food and housing support, childcare, wage replacement, mental health care, and more related to Covid-19.

A speaker’s program, available on-line produced by the VCCF, offers a series of forty-five-minute videos that tell the story of the real impact Covid-19 has had on our community. “They are really powerful hearing the stories of people on the ground making the impact happen by providing direct relief,” Said Lambert. “We are not out of this crisis yet we are still deep into it and the real impact is still there and will be for some time to come,” he said.

Established in 1987, the Ventura County Community Foundation builds philanthropy in the region by stewarding legacies through careful management of charitable capital. The foundation honors donor intent by protecting endowments. The nonprofit specializes in connecting philanthropic resources with community needs for the benefit of all. The organization also serves the community through scholarships, grant making, and collaborative partnerships.

The Amgen Foundation seeks to advance excellence in science education to inspire the next generation of innovators and invest in strengthening communities where Amgen staff members live and work. The Amgen Foundation brings the excitement of discovery to the scientists of tomorrow through several signature programs, including Amgen Scholars, Amgen Biotech Experience and LabXchange.

Since the start of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Ventura County Community Foundation donors have granted out fourteen million dollars to support local small businesses, individuals and families in need, our essential workers, and our nonprofits.

by Jill Forman

Book sale! Book sale! Book sale!

The Friends of the Library have been able to schedule a book sale, hooray! Our warehouse is overflowing and our coffers are not, so we are delighted to resume the practice of in-person used book sales.

April 17, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Foster Library in the back parking lot. Quality used books, arranged by genre/category. Books will be displayed in car trunks and on tables. All COVID-19 protocols will be in place including monitored entry and exit, limited time in any one location, social distancing and masks. Payment by exact change, check or credit card.

Reopening status

From Nancy Schram, Library Services Director: There is a very detailed Library Reopening Plan that has been approved by VC Public Health that the library will continue to follow.  The plan is based on the various Tiers as outlined by the state.

Currently in the Red Tier, the Ventura County Libraries are now offering Walk-up Holds Pick Up and access to the library computer labs by appointment.  Computer labs are offered to limited number of people at a time based on building capacity.  Once the county moves into the Orange Tier, we will open up browsing of library collections as well, also within limited capacities.  When the County moves into the Yellow Tier, the capacity limits will be increased, and volunteer groups will be able to enter library buildings again as well.

From new Ventura Librarian

Dolly Knight: I am excited to be taking over this role in the Ventura Region and looking forward to working with the community. Obviously, the pandemic has led to a lot of change, but we’ve embraced this opportunity to try new things, and we’re looking forward to the future.

Online bookstore update

Leslie Bellmore, Online Bookstore organizer, says: Ventura Friends of the Library would like to thank everyone for a very successful first six months with our online bookstore. Customer response has been very positive, and sales have been averaging $500 a month. This was a great help in moving inventory at a time when large book sales were almost non-existent, and our library stores have been closed. The online bookstore has a wide variety of reading materials for everyone, and some great gift ideas. We also sell puzzles, DVDs, and audio books. It is a convenient way to get quality books at bargain prices, avoid shipping costs, and help your Ventura Libraries. We anticipate that the online store will remain even after the Pandemic has moved on.

We have a travel and trivia category and expanded gardening selections. All books are clean and selected for quality literature.

Reminder of many programs offered by the library

Check the library homepage at vencolibrary.org, the Friends of the Library newsletter, and the library newsletter to find activities. Here is a brief sampling: Storytimes (including bilingual, bedtime, STEAM); art lessons; the mobile library; book suggestions; Discover Science, Minecraft Mondays, and so on.

One last word

Did I mention we’re having a book sale?

by Carol Leish

“Requests have doubled this last year during the pandemic, which has required the organization to automate volunteer coordination,” according to, Tammy Glen, who has been the Executive Director for 10 years. “A volunteer coordinator was hired to help to set the stage for future growth. CAREGIVERS has welcomed as many volunteers in the first two months of the COVID-19 Pandemic as they normally would over the course of one year. More recently, retired teacher Toby Petty joined the team as the Student Engagement Coordinator. CAREGIVERS now has an easy-to-use online portal where volunteers who have been vetted with informed consent can access assignments as needed.”

Volunteers lend their helping hands 2-4 hours per week to CAREGIVERS for tasks such as grocery shopping, changing a lightbulb, providing transportation to a medical appointment, meal prep, or friendly visiting by phone or in person. Glen said, “Consider yourself a good neighbor who’s willing to lend a helping hand with added support from the CAREGIVERS Office Team. Even if you’re helping your neighbor now, it’s a good idea to give CAREGIVERS a call. Our organization can help to identify additional resources as well as provide an umbrella of support that you may not have considered.” She also said that, “CAREGIVERS Volunteers do not provide professional care such as toileting, bathing or wound care.”

Glen said that, “We always need donors and volunteers. CAREGIVERS exists thanks to the generosity of donors who underwrite the costs of delivering services and coordinating volunteers. Our operation is efficient in that it costs us 20 cents on the dollar to provide services, and we are effective in making these services available to low-income senior who would otherwise not have access to the types of support that our volunteers provide.”

According to Glen, “Volunteer Caregiving was launched across the nation in 1984 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Ventura County was one of the original 25 pilot programs, which was the first one in California. Over the course of 20 years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation invested $100 million dollars to establish 1,000 programs like CAREGIVERS: Volunteers Assisting the Elderly.”

“The organization currently focuses on individuals 60 years of age or older. The average age served is 85,” according to Glen. “We are always seeking volunteers who are willing to provide transportation, which is a precious commodity. In addition, we are growing the number of youth volunteer teams throughout Ventura County. Thus, we need Adult Team Leaders who are willing to work with 2-3 high school youth each week to tackle light household chores at the homes of the seniors that we serve. We also have fun opportunities for volunteers interested in helping with our sailing, miniature golf and golf events as well as more challenging opportunities such as providing respite for family caregivers who are confronting the challenges of early stages of dementia in their loved ones.”

CAREGIVERS website is: www.vccaregivers.org. Glen said, “You can learn more about the day in a life of a volunteer caregiver by taking a look at some of our favorite videos that are posted on the website. Our organization continues to thrive on the time and talent of volunteers. With the equivalent of four full-time staff in the office, the organization relies upon the multitude of talents from the volunteer base, which includes individuals like Volunteer Coordinator Renee Becker and Intern Supervisor Doug Miller, who are both indispensable to our daily operations. Please call us at: (805) 658-8530 to become involved.”

Community Memorial Hospital (CMH) welcomed a new Chief of Staff, Dr. Deborah Carlson of Ventura, a longtime leader at CMH who has focused on improving policies and helping to adopt best practices for patients and the medical staff.

“It’s a difficult time right now for physicians and healthcare workers due to the stresses of the pandemic. I’m glad I have a chance to try to ease the burden for our medical staff while also enhancing patient care,” said Dr. Carlson, who underwent a bone marrow transplant for leukemia in February 2020.

Dr. Carlson is grateful to the many members of the Community Memorial Health System Medical Staff who traveled to City of Hope to donate platelets when she needed them or signed up as bone marrow donors. Now that she has returned to work, she said she looks forward to giving back to the medical community in a new way.

Dr. Carlson has enjoyed a long and successful career at CMHS, having joined the Community Memorial Hospital Medical Staff over 25 years ago. Board certified in Internal Medicine, she has served at the hospital in many capacities, including as a Palliative Care Team physician, a Hospitalist and as the original Program Director for Community Memorial Health System’s Internal Medicine Residency Program. “I feel that my greatest legacy is the young doctors I graduate,” said Dr. Carlson. “They are the physicians of our future.”

In a leadership role, Dr. Carlson has served as the Chief of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff, and as Secretary/Treasurer of the Medical Staff Executive Committee. She’s also headed several other important hospital committees, including serving as the first chair of the new EMPOWER Committee (Employment of Metrics for the Promotion of Wellness and the Enhancement of Resilience). The medical staff leadership launched the EMPOWER committee last summer to help the medical staff handle the stress and burnout brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee’s goals are to evaluate personal, professional, and organizational factors that affect physician well-being, satisfaction, and productivity; to identify best practices that can positively influence those factor; and to implement practices that promote an optimal workplace and improve medical staff well-being. In December 2020, Dr. Carlson launched a monthly e-newsletter called “CMHS Medical Staff Matters” to help keep the staff informed about decisions from the Medical Executive Committee and new initiatives of the EMPOWER Committee.

Dr. Carlson has also chaired CMH’s Quality Assessment and Improvement Committee and the Department of Medicine, and she started the Inpatient Medicine Division at CMH, a committee that brings together numerous hospital departments to help solve problems and improve patient care by encouraging collaboration and breaking down operational silos.

Dr. Carlson earned her medical degree from the University of Southern California School of Medicine in 1990 and completed her internship and residency at LAC-USC Medical Center.

St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), a member of Dignity Health, is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ and Coronary Intervention™, according to new research released by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians, and health systems.

“We are honored to be recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ and Coronary Intervention™,” said Darren W. Lee, President and CEO of St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital. “These awards demonstrate our commitment to providing nationally-ranked cardiac care and advanced technologies to our community.”

Every year, Healthgrades evaluates the performance of nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data and outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states. The new report demonstrates the importance of hospital quality to both hospital leaders and consumers.

“Now more than ever, consumers understand the importance of hospital quality and are starting to become more diligent when researching where they receive care,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “When selecting a hospital, consumers can feel confident in America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ and Coronary Intervention™ for their commitment to quality care and exceptional outcomes.”

From 2017 through 2019, patients treated at hospitals receiving America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care Award™ have, on average, a 28 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive the award. And patients treated at hospitals that did not receive the award were 1.39 times more likely to die than if they were treated at hospitals that received the award.

During this same period, patients treated at hospitals receiving America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention Award™ have, on average, a 47 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive the award. And patients treated at hospitals that did not receive the award were 1.90 times more likely to die than those treated at hospitals that received the award.

Other notable 2021 Healthgrades recognitions at St. John’s Regional Medical Center include:

• America’s 250 Best Hospitals Award™ (2021)
• America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Critical Care Award™ (2021)
• Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award™ (2021)
• Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ (2021)
• Stroke Care Excellence Award™ (2020-2021)

To learn more about how Healthgrades determines award recipients and more information on Healthgrades Quality Solutions, please visit Healthgrades.com/quality.