CMHS debuts Camarillo unit in countywide expansion
Community Memorial Health System’s newest facility, the Santa Rosa Health Center, at 5800 Santa Rosa Road in Camarillo. (Courtesy photo)
Community Memorial Health System, a nonprofit network based in Ventura, has opened a new facility known as Santa Rosa Health Center in Camarillo.
The center is the Ventura County health system’s newest location in a countywide network that includes 11 other offices. The new center will offer specialty health care in areas including internal medicine, neurology and neuromuscular disease, endocrinology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, as well as forthcoming services in cardiology and gastroenterology.
Located at 5800 Santa Rosa Road, Suite 149, in Camarillo, Santa Rosa Health Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Its team of board-certified physicians includes Dr. Eric Watson, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist; Dr. Cammy Babaie, specializing in internal medicine; Dr. Debra Quyang, an endocrinologist; and Dr. Darshan Shah, a neurologist and neuromuscular disease specialist.
“Our goal was to open a center specific to the needs of the seniors living in Leisure Village as well as the community of Santa Rosa, where medical access is an issue,” Kimberly Bridges, vice president of CMHS’s Centers for Family Health, said in a statement. “For that reason, our anchor physician is an internist, and we have five represented medical subspecialties in our physician panel.”
Fisher to keynote
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme will host its 13th Annual Great Futures for Kids Breakfast on April 23, featuring keynote speaker Antwone Fisher.
The inspirational event will kick off with an address by Fisher, an award-winning screenwriter, author, producer and director who was born in prison to a teenage mother and spent most of his childhood in the foster system, experiencing years of abuse.
Fisher is the author of “Finding Fish,” an autobiography and New York Times Best Seller published in 2001, and the screenwriter for the 2002 film depicting his life, “Antwone Fisher,” which was directed by Denzel Washington.
The breakfast event on April 23 is being held in support of Great Futures for Kids, a program that offers educational and enrichment youth development programs. Families pay $20 per year to become members of the Boys & Girls Club, and the organization pays the remaining $500 per year in program fees for each child. According to a statement from the nonprofit, its members have higher graduation rates, lower teen pregnancy rates and lower crime rates than other area youth, resulting in a 1,200 percent return on donor investments.
“This event engages our local businesses and individuals in our mission to create hope and opportunities for the youth of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme,” CEO Erin Antrim said in a statement.
TMHA receives grant
Transitions-Mental Health Association, which serves northern areas of the Tri-Counties, received a $25,000 grant from the Women’s Fund of northern Santa Barbara County.
The grant will assist Growing Grounds Gallery & Gifts retail store in Santa Maria in employing mental-health services consumers for positions in retail store management and coordination and retail sales.
Last November, the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation donated $40,000 to the Growing Grounds Vocational Advocates Program in northern Santa Barbara County, with $2,500 of this funding being set aside for the Growing Grounds Gallery & Gifts store’s operations budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
“This grant opens up a wonderful opportunity for head-of-household women to do healing craftwork at a time that suits their family needs and can bring in some additional income,” Frank Ricceri, TMHA’s associate director for northern Santa Barbara County, said in a statement. “The Women’s Fund has made a leap of faith in funding TMHA’s fourth social enterprise. We are all so grateful for their generosity and trust.”
A new tune for academy
The Music Academy of the West is promoting its annual summer classical music festival and other events with a host of cost-cutting initiatives targeting local residents.
The organization will offer $10 community-access tickets, which will be available for all events, and attendees ages 7 to 17 will be offered free admission. Additionally, the Academy will host a free open house featuring rehearsals, performances and masterclasses on June 24.
“Transforming our audience by increasing it is critical to our mission. We are fiercely dedicated to introducing more people to classical music and earning more fans,” Margaret Cafarelli, board chair for the academy, said in a statement. “Thanks to the incredible philanthropy of our supporters, we’ll be able to present performances and learning opportunities for more people in Santa Barbara’s finest venues, in their own homes, or wherever they are.”
The organization also plans to increase its live streaming of events and festival performances at www.musicacademy.org, providing footage of more than 25 events throughout 2015.
