Health & Wellness

Vitalent Blood Services will be in town on Monday, July 15 for the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department Blood Drive from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

One blood donation can save up to three lives!

Make an appointment HERE or stop by the station at 2101 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

El Dorado County's HUB5*, which spans from Pollock Pines to South Lake Tahoe, is offering a free family workshop with focus on Infants and Toddlers on June 15th and June 22nd from 9am to 12pm. It is possible to only attend one portion but it is recommended to attend both. Refreshments and childcare will be provided. The workshop will take place at Step by Step Early Learning Center at 981 Silver Dollar Ave, South Lake Tahoe. For more information and to register for the workship, please contact Silke Rover in English (530-543-8204) or Juana Anthenien in Spanish (530-621-4533).

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A one-day training on identifying mental illness will be held on the LTCC campus on Saturday, May 18, 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The title of the training is "Sometimes what hurts the most can't be seen, but sometimes what helps the most is easy to do." Special guest trainer David Woods Bartley will be speaking. He is a renowned speaker on mental health wellness, a member of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and a TedTalk veteran.

MENTAL ILLNESS DOESN’T LOOK ANY PARTICULAR WAY

The Barton Foundation will be awarding $50,000 in grant funding to improve community health across the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. As part of Barton Health’s commitment to community health and collaboration, these annual grants provides funding for programs and services that positively impact the health of the local community. Applications are now being accepted through May 31, 2019. Grant criteria and the application can be found online at bartonhealth.org/foundation/grants. For more information, contact Tania Pilkinton at 530.543.5614.

The El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, Family Caregiver Support Program (FCSP) is pleased to present a free Aging & Caregiver educational series in South Lake Tahoe. The series will provide instruction and support for people who care for, or plan to care for, a family member or friend aged 60 years or older.

The educational series will be held at the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel, located at 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd in South Lake Tahoe, on Mondays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the following dates:

I was on the beach today for my first Bachelorette Party Yoga Practice of the season. These sessions are some of my favorite. I love being outside. I love looking at the lake and the mountains. I love sharing in the practice of Yoga for such a joyful event. I am also very good at connecting with and recognizing how prepared each group is for the practice that day.

It’s Been A While Since I Did This

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Foster and Kinship Care Education (FKCE) program at Lake Tahoe Community College is holding a free training on Thursday, April 25 to members of the community on "How does trauma impact healthy development?"

Discover the importance of attachment and how to achieve healthy attachment when trauma has occurred.

The training will be held in the Lake Tahoe Community College's Creekside Room from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The El Dorado County Family Caregiver program is offering a six-week series of classes designed to provide instruction and support to caregivers who are or are planning to care for a family member or friend age 60 or older.

It started on April 15 but participants can still join and attend any or all of the remaining sessions. This series is offered twice a year.

The good news is it can be learned!

Building resilience — the ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats and/or significant sources of stress — can help us and our children manage stress, uncertainty, and feelings of anxiety. However, being resilient does not mean that we won't experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common when we have suffered major trauma or personal loss, or even when we hear of someone else's trauma.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Barton Health has expanded the area's access to care and treatment of neurological issues and opened a neurology office in South Lake Tahoe. To staff the new office they have brought on neurology specialist, Rituparna Das, MD to see patients 18 years and older.

Dr. Das is board-certified and experienced in rural health care systems. She was most recently practicing at Adventist Health Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Calif.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Hundred of staff members at Barton Health in South Lake Tahoe have selected Matthew Wonnacott as their Doctor of the Year.

Dr. Wonnacott was recently appointed to Chief Medical Officer at Barton Health. He was previously Medical Director and a family practitioner at Barton Community Health Center. Dr. Wonnacott was instrumental in bringing a new Medication-Assisted Treatment program to address substance abuse and opioid dependency in the community.

An eight-week course at Carson City's Western Nevada College campus will help participants develop more capacity to deal with short- and long-term stressors in life.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is starting March 26 and will meet weekly on Tuesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with an all-day retreat from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on May 4. The cost is $365.

Patient Safety Awareness Week is an annual recognition event intended to encourage everyone to learn more about healthcare safety. It’s an opportunity for hospitals and health systems to share their work and resources on patient safety, safety culture and patient engagement.

Schoolchildren from across the state of Nevada will be taking part in organized event that promote walking or bicycling to school on Nevada Moves Day, March 20, 2019.

The 10th annual event will feature school-wide events in Carson City, Clark, Washoe, Lyon and many other counties. Children not taking part in an organized school event are encouraged to involve their families in safely walking or bicycling to school on this special day and throughout the year.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Flu season is till here, and while cases across the country have resulted in few hospitalizations and deaths so far, people still need to take precautions.

“While it appears that influenza activity may have already peaked in El Dorado County, we are still receiving reports of flu cases. In fact, Marshall Medical Center reported nine confirmed cases of the flu this past week, a recent uptick in cases,” said El Dorado County Public Health Officer, Dr. Nancy Williams.

Carson Tahoe Expressions Memory Care invites the community to attend a free discussion on Thursday, February 28 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., led by internationally recognized memory care expert David Troxel, MPH, who will discuss the importance of engagement and activity for brain health as it relates to Alzheimer’s disease.

Troxel’s expertise is rooted in the “Best Friends Approach” – a treatment philosophy he helped pioneer that redefines how families and caregivers can enhance the lives of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After a national search, Barton Health has announced they hired from within to fill two key spots on their executive team.

Kelly Neiger, CPA, MBA is now the new Chief Financial Officer and Matthew Wonnacott, MD has been selected as the new Chief Medical Officer for the South Lake Tahoe non-profit healthcare system.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Two new physicians have been added to the Barton Health team, Joseph Hancock, MD and W. Reid Shepard, DO. They are both providing services at Barton’s new General Surgery and Gastroenterology office at 1139 Third Street in South Lake Tahoe.

Come join the discussion and the warm community at Black Bear Lodge (1202 Ski Run Blvd, 544-4451) as we delve into various wellness topics with local businesses that know the topics inside and out.

The weekly events will run from 5pm to 7pm starting on February 6, 2019, and the topics and leaders are as follows:

February 6: Laura from Young Living, covering essential oils and how they can enhance our days and nights

February 13: Jenay from Lake Tahoe Yoga, who is one of the region's most recognized guides in the practice

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Teachers at South Tahoe High stayed after school Tuesday to learn what Homeland Security and the FBI want them to - how to correctly apply a tourniquet and help survivors should there be a mass casualty event.

Level III Trauma Center surgeon, Kimberly Evans, MD, FACS and Barton’s Trauma Program Manager, Cate Neal, RN joined South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Captain Kim George in presenting "Stop the Bleed," a programs created by the Department of Homeland Security and American College of Surgeons to teach lay people how to care for trauma victims.

Promoting resilience is key to supporting healthy development in youth, yet currently, there is a decline in youth resilience across the United States. About 1 in 4 youth develop a mental health disorder which can lead to poor school outcomes, risky behaviors, self-harm and even suicide.

Join the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) on February 7 for a rich discussion about trends in adolescent health, and how we, as parents and community members, can help. By supporting youth in developing protective factors, we can bolster their resilience and help them thrive.

Live Violence Free invites the community to join us for our 12 week parenting class beginning Monday, January 7th. Classes will be held from 1:00-2:15pm every Monday at the Live Violence Free office, located at 2941 Lake Tahoe Bvd, South Lake Tahoe, CA. This free course is based on of the book, The Incredible Years, A Trouble-Shooting Guide for Parents, and will equip parents on how to navigate the many stages of youth development.

For more information and to register for the class, please call (530)544-2118

The holiday season can be a happy and joyous time, bringing family and friends together. But for some, it can be a stressful and lonely time, leading to symptoms of depression. When stress is at its peak, unhealthy behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, using drugs, and overeating, tend to take over. Though people use these behaviors to cope and escape difficult emotions, they tend to make things worse.

With the weather getting colder and the snow falling, it’s time to break out the winter gear, get outside, and start enjoying some frozen nature. However, if you have recently suffered an injury and are looking to get back to outdoor activities, here are a few precautions you may benefit from before charging the backcountry or joining the kids in the terrain park.