Adventist Health is working to rebuild its women’s health services
Even in the best of times, women’s health can often fall by the wayside, something Adventist Health has continued to work to address for the residents of the Ridge.
Opened after the Camp Fire ravaged the community in 2018 and damaged the Feather River Hospital, the health center has stepped in to fill the healthcare gap the hospital’s closure left. Moira Kehoe, a family nurse practitioner with a special interest in women’s health, says the center has been an important factor in maintaining some consistency for local patients.
“Traditionally, women would pursue getting their yearly women’s exam, and sometimes that was the only provider that women would see,” Kehoe says.
“I see a lot of our role as kind of being a front-line diagnostic facility.”
Jill Antell, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Adventist Health Feather River
For these women, services include—but are not limited to—various cancer screenings, contraception management and screenings for sexually transmitted infections. Jill Antell, a women’s health nurse practitioner at the center, says they often refer patients to outside resources if more advanced care is needed.
“I see a lot of our role as kind of being a front-line diagnostic facility,” Antell says “For some of these more complex things, at least, we can offer other resources once that diagnosis is made.”
Antell notes much of the work done in women’s health at the center is in terms of preventative care, problem management and “well-woman care”—yearly check-ups for women that focuses on general, sexual, and reproductive health. Screenings for breast cancer and cervical cancer are key aspects of this, with the center recently setting up a mammography center last year to help facilitate the former.
“We have the mammography machine so that we can do it up here now which is very nice,” Kehoe says. “Some people have a lot of anxiety since the fire about leaving or going anywhere.”
Kehoe also noted that in addition to the aftermath of the fire, the COVID-19 pandemic was another factor in increased anxiety among patients, with many being nervous about coming to the clinic. Antell noted that the center’s mental health resources were also a vital part in addressing this and providing better care for patients.
“There’s just a lot of PTSD, a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression that stems from what people have been through,” Antell says.
The fire has also made it harder to bring new doctors and specialists into the area, due in part to a lack of housing. Kehoe noted that one of the doctors who worked there before the fire had to drive in from Lincoln after his own home burned down.
“Our other doctor had been planning to retire but he went way past the normal retirement age,” Kehoe said. “It’s hard to recruit people when you don’t have housing options for them.”
Despite these challenges, both Kehoe and Antell say they believe the work they do in women’s health is vital to the local community and wish to see it continue.
“You want to have all options open for people,” Kehoe said. “Since there has been a women’s health clinic on the ridge for so long, it just feels like there’s some continuity.”
For more information about Women’s Health Services at Adventist Health’s Feather River Health Center, visit adventisthealth.org/feather-river/services/womens-health/.
