Joined on stage by members of his family and backed by local musical luminaries such as Alex de Grassi, Gene Parsons, David Hayes, Kirk Harwood, and John Mattern, Michael McDonald packed the house in a benefit for Mendocino County’s burgeoning Family Medicine Residency Program, which is aimed at bringing more primary care physicians to our county.
This is the third year the concert has been organized by the Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County, or FMEMC, a non-profit group of local community members dedicated to doing whatever is needed to bring more doctors here and enticing them to stay. Dr. Noemi "Mimi" Doohan, Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program for Adventist Health, explains the program goal is to provide a pipeline for providers, and hopes that the program, which will begin training 6 doctors in partnership with U.C. Davis in 2019, will serve to keep practitioners here.
Mary Anne Landis, Board Chair of the FMEMC, and former Ukiah Mayor and City Council member, is convinced that increasing the number of primary care providers in Mendocino and Lake counties will not only enhance the quality of medical care here, but also bring a wider economic impact.
An investment of $2 million is needed for the start-up of this family medicine residency program. Adventist Health, the sponsor of the program, is shouldering the majority of the cost. FMEMC was created to help support Adventist Health to create and sustain the program. The organization has raised over $200,000 towards the rural residency program in its first two years.
Each year, The Rural Health Rocks fundraiser honors four healthcare professionals doing exemplary work in the community with Rockstar awards. This year’s award recipients, nominated by the community, were Dr. Lynne Coen, Family Physician and Director of Community Medicine Education, Leanna Sweet, RN and Director of Population Health at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley, Nancy Johnson, Support Services Manager at the Cancer Resource Center, and Cindy Arbanovella, Family Nurse Practitioner at the Anderson Valley Health Center.