The Office of Sen. Megan Dahle reports Dahle and her team visited three Plumas County hospitals last week, during her trip to meet with community leaders throughout Sierra and Plumas counties. “It was a great chance to talk about ranching‚ rural law enforcement‚ community building in small towns and especially the work of keeping patients healthy at some of California’s smallest hospitals,” said Dahle.
In Portola‚ Dahle walked the halls of Eastern Plumas Health Care with Clinic Director Tracy Studer‚ CEO Doug McCoy and their “stellar team,” she said. Through strong partnerships‚ EPHC has been able to bring important resources to the community‚ including access to a state‑of‑the‑art mobile MRI unit‚ which travels the region to serve multiple small hospitals around the North State, said Dahle. “We also had an open conversation about the challenges of providing health care in a rural community and the impact unfunded state mandates can have on small hospitals with limited resources.”
Plumas District Hospital in Quincy recently opened a brand‑new skilled nursing facility to care for patients‚ many of whom are elderly and disabled‚ who need longer‑term care that just cannot be provided at home. “It’s a beautiful space‚ but operating under full capacity in part because of local shortages in key staff,” said Dahle. “Building up the health care workforce‚ from certified nursing assistants to specialist physicians‚ is a key need everywhere I go in the North State.”
Dahle thanked CEO JoDee Johnson‚ Chief Financial Officer Caleb Johnson and Director of Business Organizational Development Tiffany Leonhardt for their time and thoughts.
The next day‚ Dahle and her team visited the future Lake Almanor Community Hospital‚ under construction in Chester. This project has been nearly 10 years in the making. Seneca Healthcare District CEO Shawn McKenzie‚ Board President Jerri Nielsen and their team have shown “tremendous persistence and dedication” in bringing this long‑awaited project across the finish line, said Dahle.
The new‚ earthquake‑safe hospital and emergency room will provide modern facilities to care for residents and visitors throughout the area‚ and it is truly being built for the mountains. One example is the heated helicopter landing pad‚ designed to ensure urgent patient transfers are not delayed by snow and ice when every minute counts, said Dahle. Currently‚ patients requiring an air transfer must first be transported by ambulance to the airport. Bringing that capability directly to the hospital could save critical time in an emergency.
“These are multimillion‑dollar investments in the future of health care in these rural communities,” said Dahle. “They are very exciting to see‚ even as bringing them to fruition reveals a new set of challenges. Rural health care is essential to maintaining healthy‚ thriving communities. We are grateful to the staff for taking the time to walk us through their facility and candidly share their successes‚ challenges and ideas for the future.”
Dahle said she and her team look forward to continuing to work with rural health care providers and ensuring their voices and experiences are heard in Sacramento.
