North Bay Business Journal

PETALUMA — Redwood Community Health Coalition recently took part in a pilot project testing a mobile health application that enrolls patients in public assistance programs, a potentially pivotal development for the public health sector. The accelerating convergence of mobile technology and health care will likely open new avenues of access to underserved populations, which could in turn help states with implementing key pieces of health care reform, officials said.

Sonoma County’s Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the Alexander Valley Health Center in Cloverdale to bring “essential mental health and substance abuse treatment services” to Northern Sonoma County through its Path2Health program, but its future is now somewhat clouded with the prospect of health care reform being struck down by the Supreme Court.

SANTA ROSA — The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today named Lynn Silver-Chalfin, M.D., M.P.H., as the county’s new health officer, responsible for health policy development and advising government and medical professionals on public health and safety.

SONOMA COUNTY — The first provisions of Sonoma County’s smoke-free law went into effect in early December, a move viewed by proponents as both a critical step in making the county healthier as well as a relatively rare achievement for a county.

After five years in development under St. Joseph Health System’s wing, the Mental Health Coalition of Sonoma County will officially become its own entity this summer, and officials have already garnered support from nearly every big health care name in the county.