More Than 100 At Mesa College Exposed to TB
Students, faculty and staff at the community college are undergoing testing. In other local news, a program helps connect newly diagnosed patients with mentors who have gone through the same experience; a medical center joins UC Riverside in offering a cardiovascular fellowship program to help combat shortages; and a mystery patient is identified.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
TB Diagnosis Prompts Testing At Mesa College
Mesa College is testing students, faculty and staff members for tuberculosis because more than 100 people on campus may have been exposed to the disease. The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency reported Tuesday that a person who has TB was at the community college regularly between Oct. 23 and Dec. 17 last year. (Warth, 2/2)
The San Diego Union Tribune:
Patients Helping Patients
Two and a half years ago, Scripps Ranch resident Dennis Bourque co-founded the patient organization ReMend to connect patients newly diagnosed with kidney disease with mentors who have experienced kidney disease themselves. The goal was to take a chronic condition and help make it a manageable one. To do that, Bourque drew on both professional and personal experience. (Brennan, 2/2)
The Sun:
St. Bernardine To Host New Cardiology Training Program
To help ease a shortage, the UC Riverside School of Medicine and St. Bernardine Medical Center have teamed up to provide a new cardiovascular fellowship program. The three-year program will begin training doctors in cardiovascular medicine July 1, officials said in a statement Tuesday. San Bernardino and Riverside counties have some of the highest age-adjusted heart disease mortalities in California, UCR officials said. (Steinberg, 2/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Mystery Patient Known As 'Garage 66' Is Identified After 16 Years On Life Support
A man who's been lying anonymously in a hospital bed at Sharp Coronado Hospital for 16 years finally has a name. The man, known for years as "Garage 66," is severely brain damaged and on life support. The San Diego County hospital's Villa Coronado Skilled Nursing Facility has been his home since 1999, when a car accident left him fighting for his life. On Friday, the Mexican Consulate in San Diego announced that an effort by doctors, immigration authorities, politicians and educators has led to discovery of the man's identity. (Sanchez, 2/3)