Women’s Eating Issues
Nutrition for Life is a new program at the
Alta Bates Summit Women’s Health Center in downtown
Lafayette that lives up to its name — and then some.
It offers women of all ages confidential advice and strategies
for managing their eating to promote their health and well-being.
“If you have questions about nutrition, this is a safe
place to get credible information from a registered dietitian,
and if you’re concerned about any potential eating
disorder in your own life or that involves someone in your
family, this is a place to get help,” says April Hackert,
M.S., R.D., the program’s counselor and an Alta Bates
Summit adolescent eating disorder dietitian.
The program’s one-on-one, 45-minute counseling sessions
are geared to the patient’s history, goals and barriers
to healthful eating, says April. “We can talk about
anything — including how nutrition relates to disease,
supplements, weight and body image issues.” Personalized
remedies have run the gamut, she adds, from recommendations
for specific vitamins or mineral supplements to suggestions
for new recipes — even grocery store tours to offer tips
on getting the most nutrient-dense foods for the dollar.
For ongoing treatment of eating disorders, patients are referred
to the Center for Anorexia and Bulimia, where April is a
dietitian, located at Alta Bates Summit’s Herrick Campus
in Berkeley. This center offers the only full-spectrum psychiatric
eating disorder program for both adolescents and adults in
Northern California, with full and partial inpatient treatment,
plus intensive outpatient treatment, including an evening
program that meets three times a week.
Contact April Hackert at (510) 204-2440 or crossma@sutterhealth.org to schedule an initial phone assessment or get more information
about Nutrition for Life (monthly support group meets third
Wednesdays, starting April 21).
Call (925) 962-9129 for
more information about the Alta Bates Summit Women’s
Health Center (3595 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette). Call (510)
204-4569 or visit here for more information about the Center
for Anorexia and Bulimia.
A Warrior’s Fight Against Heart Disease
 |
| Alta
Bates Summit’s
Nutrition for Life counselor and Heartfelt campaigners:
Golden State Warrior
Ronny Turiaf, a native of Martinique,
and his mother, Aline Cezar. eating
disorder dietitian. |
|
Golden State Warrior Ronny Turiaf has won the heart of area
professional basketball fans because of his courtside charm
and expertise, but it’s his passionate work promoting
heart health that’s caught Alta Bates Summit’s
attention and inspired their recent collaboration.
The medical center, Ronny and the Warriors (a valued community
partner of Alta Bates Summit) joined forces to produce a
public service announcement (PSA) on heart health, featuring
Ronny and his mother. The PSA debuted February 25 at the
Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets game. (The medical center’s
and Ronny’s public health efforts were honored at the
game, too.)
“I want people to know that they should get regular
checkups and preventive care,” says Ronny, who also
was the recipient in February of the NBA Cares Community
Assist Award for his efforts. “This is a very important
cause close to my heart and a very important topic in my
life.”
During preseason testing in 2005, Ronny was diagnosed with
an enlarged aortic root, a potentially life-threatening heart
condition. Less than six months before playing his first
NBA game (he was then with the Los Angeles Lakers), he underwent
open-heart surgery, which remedied the ailment and allowed
him to return to the court.
During the 2008 – 2009 season, Ronny started the Heart
2 Heart Foundation, a charitable organization that aims to
raise awareness about heart health issues. This past June,
he teamed up with the American Society of Echocardiography
to expand access to echocardiograms — the test that saved
his life — especially among those who might otherwise
not be able to afford it. The foundation recently donated
five defibrillators to Bay Area high schools. “The
way I look at it,” says Ronny, “if I can help
one person, it’s worth it.”
Dr. Der’s Decades of Service
 |
| Trailblazing
physician David Der, M.D. |
|
In the wake of the 1970s surge in Asian migration to the
Bay Area and the resulting shortage of medical care in
Oakland’s Chinatown community, a young general surgeon,
David Der, M.D., rallied a group of concerned medical staff
to advocate for culturally appropriate care in hospital
settings. In 1997, their work led to the founding of Alta
Bates Summit’s Asian Outreach to fulfill a mission
of bridging cultural gaps in order to increase health care
access in the Asian community.
By that time, the dedicated Dr. Der, who journeyed to the
United States from China as a young boy in 1939 and grew
up in the East Bay, had already blazed an impressive trail
of service. In 1974, he helped establish Asian Health Services,
served on its board and for a time was its chair. (Asian
Health’s multilingual staff now annually provides services
for 65,559 medical visits to their communities.) In 1977,
Dr. Der helped organize the Chinese-American Physicians Society
(CAPS) and has been actively involved ever since. In 1986,
he assisted the Chinese Community Council (now called Family
Bridges) in opening the Hook Fook Senior Health Care Center.
In 2001, he went on to found and become administrator of
the Hepatitis B Program in the East Bay, targeting the medical
condition that can lead to deadly liver cancer, disproportionately
striking Asian-Americans.
In honor of his selfless devotion to his community and Alta
Bates Summit, Dr. Der was celebrated at a recent luncheon
at an Emeryville restaurant, attended by medical center physicians
and staff and community members. “I’m proud that
we’ve been able to make so much progress,” he
says, noting the medical center’s leadership in cultural
competency; this includes Alta Bates Summit’s efforts
to provide translation services and broadened outreach, which
extends to the area’s Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese,
Filipino and Korean communities.
Now 78 and still working full time at his Chinatown office,
Dr. Der gradually is turning over the reins of his Asian
Outreach and CAPS leadership to Larry Eng, M.D., an Alta
Bates Summit pediatrician. “My tenet is to improve
the health care of the community as a whole,” says
Dr. Der. “That’s what I’m still trying
to do. As long as I can contribute, I’ll just keep
on going.”
