P age A6
J une 8, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
Health
Professionals
Earn Praise
Tom L loyd, K elly K am m erer
and E ric S chum an have been s e ­
lected by th eir peers for the K ai­
se r P e rm a n e n te A llied H ealth
C ouncil “A w ard o f E x cellen ce”
for high p erfo rm ance in clin ical
p ractice and q uality o f service to
p atien ts.
A llied h ealth p ro fessio n als
h av e p ro v id e d c a re at K a ise r
P erm an en te for alm ost 25 years
and re p re se n t several professions
- n u rse p ra c titio n e rs , c e rtifie d
nurse m id w iv es, p h y sician a ssis­
tan ts, c e rtified reg istered nurse
a n e sth e tists, o p to m etrists, m en­
tal h ea lth th era p ists and drug and
alcohol co u nselors.
“In the future, these profession­
als will have an even greater impor­
tance in health care," says Ben
Berger, PA, Kaiser Perm anente’s
allied health adm inistrative coordi­
nator. “If we develop a national
health policy that covers all Ameri­
cans, w e’ll suddenly add at least 25
m illion people to the number of pa­
tients receiving care. There’s no way
the country can gear up medical
schools fast enough to provide that
care.”
A llied h ealth p ro fessio n als
see p atien ts who d o n ’t require a
p h y sic ia n ’s sp ecialized training.
As a ce rtified nurse m idw ife,
L loyd sees m oderate to low -risk
p re g n an cy p a tie n ts at the Mt.
T alb ert M edical O ffice and d eliv ­
ers babies at K aiser Sunnyside
M edical C enter. He also consults
w ith p atien ts on fam ily planning
and w o m en ’s health.
“ W hat m akes being a nurse
m idw ife so special is that I ’m
allow ed to becom e a p art o f som e­
one e ls e ’s fam ily for a very im-
Suggestions For Keeping
Your Blood Pressure In Check
A frican A m ericans are tw ice
as likely to suffer from high blood
p re s su re th an w h ite s, leav in g
them m ore su sceptible to stroke,
heart attack s and kidney failure.
The risk s for h y p ertension can be
m inim ized, how ever, by know ing
which lifesty le behaviors are the
m ost h arm ful, and w hat steps you
can take to change them .
The Sum m er 1994 issue of
H eart & Soul m agazine explores
five lifesty le facto rs th at can in ­
crease your risk for developing
high blood pressure. T ogether, the
solutions pro v id e a lifelong p re ­
scrip tio n for p reventing this life-
th reaten in g disease. H e re a r e th e
ch a n g es you can m ak e to keep
you blo o d p re s s u r e in ch eck :
THE PROBLEM THE
PRESCRIPTION
An Unhealthy Diet Eat right.
Limit your sodium intake to less than
3,000 mg a day by using salt substi­
tutes, avoiding salty or processed foods
and limiting you hang time on the salt
diet and exercise regularly and you
will be well on your way.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Give it up. The use -- and abuse
- of tobacco, cocaine, and alcohol are
all linked to high blood pressure. Try
to quit on your own, seek professional
help, or join a support group, but take
steps to quit today.
TOO MUCH STRESS
Leant to cope. Relax. Chill. In­
corporate stress-busters into your daily
routine. A few good methods to try are
meditation, exercise, reading, listen­
ing to soothing music, some goodold-
fashioned rest & relaxation.
Not all hypertension suffers
ex p erien ces the w arning signs,
w h ich are c h a n g e s in v is io n ,
sh o rtn ess o f b reath , d izzin e ss,
fatigue and headaches. O v erall,
the b e st d efen se a g a in s t high
blood p ressure is to follow the
prescrip tio n o f prevention listed
above, and have your blood p re s­
sure screened by a m edical p ro ­
fessional at least once a year.
shaker. Stock up on such potassium-
rich foods as bananas, potatoes, green
leafy vegetables and dried peas and
beans. Keep your fat consumption to
less than 30 percent of your daily
caloric intake and cholesterol to fewer
than 300 mg per day. Cutting down
on red meat and whole-milk dairy
products will help, as will broiling,
grilling, and steaming your foods in­
stead of frying.
TOO LITTLE EXERCISE
Get moving. The healthier your
heart is, the better it is at pumping
blood. Climb the stairs instead of
riding the elevator, take a walk at
lunchtime, or go dancing. No matter
what the activity, do something aero­
bic - an activity that gets your heart
moving - at least three times a week.
EXCESS WEIGHT
Lose it, or lose out. Just one
pound of extra body weight contains
several hundred miles of blood ves­
sels, meaning the heart has to work
overtime to cover extra territory. Fol­
low the guidelines for eating a healthy
Nutritionist Director Receives
Top Honor
Robert Honson, Portland School
District’s director of Nutrition Ser­
vices, was served a gold plate recently
when he received the International
Foodservice Manufacturers Associa­
tions (IFMA’s) Gold Plate Award at
their annual awards banquet.
Honson beat out several top con­
tenders in the national food-service
industry to win the IFMA’s top honor
and title of “Foodservice Operator of
the Year.” The association gives its
most prestigious award annually to
recognize one person who has given
a lasting and outstanding contribu­
tion to the industry. Other nominees
included chairm an and CEO o f
Wendy’s International Inc., vice presi-
dent of food and beverages for Hyatt
Hotels Corp, and CEO of Longhorn
Steaks Inc. This is only the third time
in the past 40 years that school food-
service director has won.
The central kitchen produces
38,000 meals daily for 92 schools.
SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE HEALTH SYSTEM
Tom Lloyd helps deliver babies as a certified nurse midwife.
K am m erer w orks at Bess K ai­ ing in fam ily practice at a T o ­
ser M edical C enter and g ra d u ­ p e k a , K a n . c lin ic , S c h u m a n ,
ated in nursing from the U n iv er­ treated his first HIV patient. A f­
sity o f U tah. She received her terw ards, he w anted to learn m ore
CRN A training at A bbott N orth- about (at that tim e) the fairly u n ­
know n virus. He volunteered for
the T opeka AIDS project and w it­
nessed the d iscrim in atio n HIV
and AIDS patients faced in obtain­
ing proper medical care. He used the
experience to help establish an Im­
mune Deficiency Clinic at Kaiser
P e rm a n e n te ’s N orth L a n c a ste r
Medical Office.
“W e recognized a need and
w ere able to use our resources to
o rganize a specialized clinic to
provide the best care for these
p a tie n ts,” says Schum an. He is a
g ra d u a te o f the U n iv ersity o f
M aryland at C ollege Park and
c o m p le te d p h y sic ia n a s s is ta n t
training at Long Island U niver-
sity/B rooklyn C um berland M ed i­
cal C enter.
Eric Schuman is a physician assistant who works with AIDS
Kaiser Permanente is a group
patients.
practice health maintenance organi­
p o rtan t ev en t, such as the birth o f w est School o f Nurse A nesthe­ zation providing medical care to more
than 380,000 people in Oregon and
a c h ild ,” say sL loyd. A nem ployee tists in M inneapolis, M inn.
In the m id 80s, w hile w ork­ Southwest Washington.
o f K aiser since 1989, Lloyd is a
g ra d u a te o f the U n iv ersity o f
F lo rid a. He received his m id ­
w ifery train in g at the U niversity
o f Utah.
C e rtifie d re g is te re d n u rse
an esth etists have provided a n e s­
thesia care to p atients for over a
century.
K am m erer, ad m in isters a n ­
esth esia for a variety o f surgical
and o b stetrical procedures.
“ I spend quite a bit o f tim e
talking to p atien ts to m ake sure
they u nderstand an e sth e sia and
to assu re them that they w ill be
m onitored th ro ughout the p ro c e­
d u re ,” say s K am m erer, w h o ’s
been with K aiser since 1991. “ I t ’s
p ro fessio n ally rew arding when
new m others tell me they had a
Kelley Kammerer, CRNA
p ain -free birth ex p e rien ce .”
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■ SISTERS OF
PROVIDENCE
Eat Healthy & Exercise Regularly
HE ALT H SYSTEM
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