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Contact: Adrienne Newell
Office: (562) 933-2805
Email: anewell@memorialcare.org
Children Kick off Game Day With a Run to End Childhood Obesity
LONG BEACH, Calif., Feb 3, 2011 – The Pediatric Residents from the University of California, Irvine are hosting the Super Kids Sunday 5K and Fun Run to fight childhood obesity with a day of fitness and wellness in conjunction with Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. Obesity is becoming more of a problem for children everyday, leading to an alarming increase in the number of children and adolescents developing type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. The percentage of overweight children in the United States is growing at an alarming rate, with 1 out of 3 kids now considered overweight or obese.
After seeing so many cases of children that were severely overweight within their clinics, residents from the University of California, Irvine wanted to do something about it by appealing to children on their level. Jen Chen MD, resident at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, came up with the concept of the 5k and Fun Run on her way home from an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Advocacy Day conference. Excited to engage her patients in understanding the importance of being healthy, Dr. Chen decided to bring the education outside of the hospital clinic setting and deliver it directly to the kids in a fun way.
“As medical professionals, it’s our job to teach the importance of health and well-being,” says Dr. Chen. “We don’t want to treat a child when they are sick, we want them to be proactive in their health care management. And for kids there is no better way to do it than in a fun environment.” The charity 5k was born.
The run is open to anyone who would like to participate, from kids just beginning to learn about their health, including those who have family members and friends of children who are battling obesity or type 2 diabetes, to healthcare professionals and members of our local communities who are interested in advancing the cause of fighting childhood obesity.
The Super Kids Sunday event will feature a Health, Nutrition, and Fitness Expo at the finish line. The expo will be created just for kids and their families, with interactive displays showing ways to eat smart and to make staying fit fun. There will be plenty of games for kids of all ages and giveaways promoting the fight against childhood obesity.
The 5k and Fun Run will be held at Belmont Olympic Pool Plaza in Belmont Shore, 4000 Olympic Plaza Drive on Sunday, February 6. Registration is $25 and opens at 7 a.m. The 5k begins at 8:30 a.m. followed by the free Kids Fun Run at 9 a.m.“Funds raised through the 5K Run will support prevention, education, research, and treatment programs,” says Dr. Chen. “Family and friends can come together to help assist this worthy cause, take action against a growing epidemic, and enjoy a beautiful morning by the beach before the big game.”
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Douglas Garland, MD, Named Medical Director of MemorialCare
Joint Replacement Center
LONG BEACH, Calif., Mar. 15, 2011- Dr. Douglas Garland, practicing orthopedic surgeon for Memorial Orthopedic Surgical Group, has been named the new medical director for the Joint Replacement Center at Long Beach Memorial.
Orthopedics was once a function of general surgery but with time, growth and knowledge, it was clear that orthopedics deserved its own chair at the table. A separate Medical Director is the logical evolution of this dynamic to harness the efficiencies in knowledge, specialized patient care and management of medical and allied health as well as hospital financial resources.
“Hospital admissions and discharges occur so quickly with joint replacement that unless a manager is actively involved in all these processes, these efficiencies can be lost. We are serious about preventing complications such as infection, VTE/PE etc, as well as controlling costs. This requires active not passive management,” says Dr. Garland.
The goal of Memorial's Joint Replacement Center is that all patients whose physicians participate in the program will have a similar and excellent experience with each individual patient. This uniformity of care is achieved by best practice guidelines and data collection of predetermined outcomes.
“Many joint centers revolve around a specialty trained joint surgeon. If you go to that hospital and have that person as your surgeon, one can have an excellent experience. On the other hand one can go to the same hospital, receive joint surgery by another orthopedic surgeon and have a totally different experience,” says Dr. Garland.
One of Dr. Garland’s new responsibilities as Medical Director are to meet monthly with various department leaders to review program data and define areas of improvement so that patient care is always improving. This is what makes having a separate medical director so important and the program at the Joint Replacement Center so unique.
About the MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center:
The MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center at Long Beach Memorial is committed to providing patients with the highest level of compassionate, quality care in a patient and family centered environment. Our joint center promotes wellness and teamwork among our patients, their families and our specialized health care team. Through skilled and personalized care, we will work together to achieve high patient satisfaction, successful outcomes and enhanced quality of life.
About Douglas Garland, MD:
Dr. Garland received his medical degree at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and completed his postgraduate residency training in orthopedic surgery at Tulane University in New Orleans. He completed his fellowship in neuromuscular diseases and was the former Chief of Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Fracture and Spinal Cord Injury Services at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center.
Dr. Garland is a practicing orthopedic surgeon who does a reasonable amount of joint replacements, both of the hip and knee. This allows Dr. Garland to participate firsthand in the entire process of pre operative care through discharge of joint replacement individuals. Dr. Garland has been involved for 30 years in clinical research, mostly regarding bone metabolism- fracture healing, heterotopic ossification and osteoporosis. This required teaching credentials, copious back ground reading and publications. He is using those same skills now to stay current with the every changing face of joint replacement surgery.
Dr Garland holds multiple committee positions and is a board member and former President (1999-2000) of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA). He is the current Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
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Cha Taqueria: Achieving traditional mexican with affordability and sophistication
The quest to find Mexican food that satisfies the need to indulge in delicious cuisine without getting food poisoning or breaking the bank can be a difficult one. The saying, “you get what you pay for” is hideously inconvenient and more often than not, true. Until now...
Happy Hour can mean more than $1 beers and marked down cocktails, it is Portland’s gift of delicious, quality and...(wait for it) affordable dishes that will fill the food void you have been wrestling with. Cha Taqueria in NW Portland has a happy hour menu that you can feast your eyes...and your mouth on. For a fraction of the price of a dinner entree (around $5), you can find anything from picaditas to cerviche to empanadas. All of your favorite Mexican comfort dishes you don’t have to feel guilty about diving into because everything that comes out of the kitchen is made from scratch using olive oil and fresh veggies.
Let’s face it, happy hour is when most people are tempted to choose the cheapest, most tantalizing dish, one that really gives the “come hither” to your taste buds (think red pleather, spike heels)...and one that you wouldn’t allow yourself to choose should your inhibitions not be compromised. Anything that actually sounds good for you isn’t generally in the running. Cha’s happy hour menu may just be the thing to change your mind. Cha’s brussels sprout ensalada with salsa roja and verde is a vibrant plate of colors that is fresh, filling and delicious. It may just make room in some of those arteries you’ve been clogging.The picaditas are a vegetarian’s Mexican pizza, otherwise known as a “dream come true.” Piled with sauteed veggies, black beans and avocado, the picaditas are a risk-free indulgence. Not only are the choices plentiful and mouth watering, the portion sizes keep you in check. There is truth to the saying “too much of a good thing.”
Cha Taqueria is located at 305 Northwest 21st Avenue. For directions or further information please call (503) 295-4077.
Peanut Butter and Jelly - A classic worth messing with
Let’s face it. More often than not, fads are short lived. We go into a frenzy to enjoy the next biggest and best, but almost always revert back to an old true blue favorite. The same is true with food. You always come back to a classic. Many try too hard to breathe new life into a classic, but PBJ’s does it just right.
Found on 23rd between Kearny & Lovejoy in Northwest Portland, as well as in the Beaverton Farmer’s Market, PBJ’s food cart fits the bill, providing a lifetime comfort food favorite with ingredients even Grandma couldn’t criticize. Using local and mostly organic ingredients, ranging from $4 to $6 dollars, this popular child time selection can transform into your choice of a sweet, spicy or savory creation even the big kids lick their fingers for.
This isn’t your regular old peanut butter and jelly. Each sandwich is an experience, a pairing of flavors your taste buds didn’t think possible...and then grilled. Although unusual, I was forever changed by the harmony of Marion berry jam, Rogue Creamery bleu cheese and Oregon hazelnut butter, grilled on Challah bread. Any PBJ that is birthed to be paired with an Oregon Pinot Noir is good in my book.
For those who cannot indulge in the same bliss of ignorance as those who pacify their inner personal trainer with the excuse that “organic” is synonymous with “healthy”, I have good news for you. Not only are the ingredients natural and organic whenever possible, but the 7 flavors of “jam” found in the various sandwiches have so little sugar added, they cannot legally be considered jelly or jam. Kiss your favorite Smuckers goodbye, it’s time to trade up.
Not only are the sandwiches an affordable culinary amazement but Shane and Keena, PBJ’s owners and sandwich artists, are more amicable than your third grade teacher and will guide you on the right path to your own peanut butter and jelly euphoria.
A delicious grilled sandwich with your favorite ingredients, kicked up a notch for the inner kindergartener in you, all under $6 dollars. This is better than a teacher work day.
They asked for a writing sample on the topic of my choice, this is what I wrote...
I am a southern California transplant, once removed for a one year stint in Portland. I was following a boyfriend in fulfilling his very concrete dream, and hoping to a find a dream and identity of my own. In Portland, I learn to appreciate every summer evening that lasted until nine p.m., every tree that looked aflame in the fall, every twinkling light on my block, and every strangely dressed native with animal hats and zebra striped leggings who made homelessness look more like camping. It is a year of big trees, clean air, and endless creativity. My experience there teaches me more about myself then anything.
But it doesn’t work out, so I follow the advice of my friends and family and head south to another foreign land, my big sister as my tour guide. This would be second plunge in the relocating game and I know it would be awful, possibly even more difficult than the first time.
The fact that I have moved at all is fairly miraculous given I am a gal of familiarity. If it were a drug, I would OD on it. I love knowing what to expect. Picking up and moving to a different state...again, without a job, an apartment, a sense of regularity, and the comfort of... well... anything familiar, formally induced instant nausea followed by panic.
But it is decided, what had become my "regular" doesn’t fit anymore. I feel like the winner of The Biggest Loser who is still trying to wear the same, oversized, ill fitting garments. I make decisions I would never have anticipated and pick up and move again. Each time I leave more behind, yet gain so much more than my car can be packed with.
So I morph again and find myself in San Francisco, taking in the practically 90 degree hills, the crowded streets at mid-day, and the constant construction somewhere. Coming to San Francisco to live made me hearken back to my first visit as a teenager, driving through the city and onto the Golden Gate Bridge and feeling that, while the city felt so much bigger than me, it was allowing me a spot in it.
Now I am a San Francisco inhabitant. Even though the streets of downtown are constantly flooded with people, it feels very confirming. This was what “life” looks like. Colors, the chatter foreign tongues, people laughing, smiling, crying, picketing, giant historic buildings, and flashing neon lights. This is life. Most afternoons I can hear someone practicing on his bagpipes at a nearby park. I am so enamored by San Francisco and all she has to offer that I hardly notice his lack of expertise, and am only charmed.
Being a recent import to a new city means more transitions, like hitting the town sans company. My sister-guide, is now gone. Off on her dream honeymoon, no less, and I am left to fend for myself. I have never thought I would have the confidence to ask for a table for one or sit at a crowded bar by myself and I cringe at the mere thought of it. How can I possibly go out without friends? Well I don’t have any. So I decide to become one of those girls who can.
My extreme loneliness forces me to gather my courage to go out on my own and I decide to visit the bar inside the Omni hotel, Bob’s Steakhouse. The Omni sounded like a classy place where important and interesting people might go so I slap on some red lipstick in direct juxtaposition to my feelings of unease and walk right in. After a sharp inhale I realize there is no place for me to sit. All of the appropriate places are taken. Alas, I would have to sit at a cocktail two topper running the risk of looking like I am stood up, a single girl’s worst fear. In my head I find myself, hastily devising a story as to why I have no company while firmly plastering a pleasant smile on my face to dispel any confusion of my situation. Then I realize that absolutely no one is looking at me and I am surrounded by couples over 65 and a few overweight assumed former football players. I relax my slightly crazed grin and take a sip of my wine. It takes one glass of Sauvignon Blanc before two old men ask to buy my next and request my company at their table. Whether they feel bad for me or are truly attempting to woe a girl young enough to be their granddaughter, I’ll never know. They are nice to me and pleasant company. They are also amazed that I have come out on my own. They called me “bold.” They even offer a few priceless pieces of wisdom I couldn’t possibly live another day without knowing, such as “learn to play golf.”
My next experiment in plunging myself into San Francisco’s social scene is Father’s day. My year in Portland had already taught me the difficulties of spending holidays alone. This year is no different; I feel the pang of loneliness once again. But I decide to face it head on and embrace my new city to fill the void of missing my family. With almost gusto, I practically skip to South Park. Nothing will bring me down today come hell or high water, I tell myself! When I get there, this little oasis of a park is totally deserted. The only inhabitants are a homeless man completely passed out on the grass and me. No families on the grass, no children running around me shrieking, swinging, and skipping in the grass. Only a set of abandoned swings swinging lightly by the breeze. Under one of the swings, I see a disheveled bouquet of flowers left lying on the sand. The entire scene is so very disappointing, and yet I decide those flowers are for me, my very own Father’s Day fanfare: "Happy Father's day, Adrienne. Welcome to SF." "Thank you kind homeless man.” I say, “These are lovely." I take a picture and move on.
But as painful as all of this is sounding, I am starting to get the hang of this and get myself out there once more. I saw a listing for an event at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins hotel and decide it is my next social experiment. So I head to the hotel all the way up to the Top of the Mark for their movie night and wine tasting. I squeeze myself into an elevator filled only with what felt like 100 well-dressed couples, stand in a long line and then triumphantly walk up to the podium to put my name in with the hostess. Our conversation went like this.
“How many in your party?”
“One.”
“Will anyone be joining you?”
“No.”
“So you’re alone”
“Yes.”
Three questions and answers to clarify my lone status. Yes, I was alone! The awkwardness was palpable and yet now I’m starting to find these situations almost funny. It is extremely crowded and there is a five to ten minute wait, just long enough for me to squeeze my little party-of-one self onto the window seat cushion next to all the couples talking intimately. Someone asks me if I want my picture taken and I giggle only slightly hysterically. A picture of me on my solo-date? Of course not! I text my little sister about what just happened and her response is “do it, and send it to me.” Maybe she needs proof. Just like ripping off a bandaid or getting a flu shot, the night itself isn’t as bad as I had dreaded. I have lived through the social taboo asking for a table for one. I order a cheese plate and glass of wine and enjoy the tiny corner of the film on the screen I can just barely see past a large pillar. “A job well done, Adrienne. Jolly ho. You did it again,” I tell myself.
It’s still so surprising to me that even at 27 I am still reminding myself to “be you.” It is on a constant movie reel in my head spinning around and around like a motivational poster in a third grade classroom. It is such a simple message but completely necessary and easily forgotten. It seems that no matter how much you think you might know or understand what is going on around you, it is so easy to become muddled and jaded and lost. Moving to a new city with almost nothing but everything to gain has really made that really clear to me. It's not my turn to have it all together. It hasn't been my turn for a while, but it's taken me this long to realize it. Rather than feeling I am akin to the "have nots" and as though I am not really living, I am accepting the gift that is in front of me that I have been too scared to unwrap.
It's my turn to be spontaneous, crazy, and single in a new city with reckless abandon. It's my turn to go on lots of dates with lots of people, some relationships lasting longer than others. I will take each for what it is and reconcile my losses with the many free drinks. It's my turn to struggle a ton and be poor but there will be something just barely cool about it. I will make the most fun memories now...and then it will all come together...slowly. I'll get the job, I'll get the friends, I'll get the man. I'll get the adult life I worked so hard to achieve and I'll get the stability. Just not right now.
Rather than hoping for better, I've stopped having expectations out of my life. Rigid ones anyway. It seems it only becomes worth living when you stop letting it disappoint you by placing standards and guidelines that you couldn't possibly control. When you finally give up, relinquish control and let the adventure unfold, it becomes fabulous.
Fabulous can mean a lot of things but for me it meant allowing the good things to feel good. Anything. If it felt good, I would bask in it. It didn't matter what it was or what it meant or if it was on time or enough. Just taking it all in. And for people, it meant taking time to figure out who I was first...and then seeing how everyone else fits into my world. Taking a break from trying to fit into theirs. Or any other crazy prediction of a life I believed I should be living. Doing this feels like breathing when this whole entire time I was sucking through a stir stick at Coffee Bean, trying so hard to get more.
