Honoring Our Volunteers

In a garden patio at Jazzmen's Art of Pasta in Old Sacramento, attendees listened to the sounds of jazz and enjoyed a wine and cheese reception before the buffet dinner was served and short speeches began.

Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society President-Elect Paul Phinney, MD, welcomed the volunteers and guests. He spoke briefly about the history of SPIRIT and Adopt-a-School, and the importance of the work that the volunteers are doing. Next, Amerish Bera, MD, SPIRIT medical director, spoke about volunteerism and SPIRIT and AAS accomplishments. He reported that to date:

• a total of nearly 11,000 hours have been volunteered by over 70 volunteers;
  
  
• 12,000 patients have been provided free medical care;
  
  
• over $3 million in medical services have been donated;
  
  
• over 275 hernia repair surgeries have been performed;
  
  
• and approximately 7,000 students in over 35 different schools are reached each year.
  
  

Awards were presented to four volunteers. Donald Brown, MD, and Otto Neubuerger, MD, were honored for donating over 300 hours each at Capital Health Center. Dennis Sullivan, MD, was honored for donating over 400 hours at the Primary Care Orthopedic Clinic. John Young, MD, was honored for performing over 170 of the 280 hernia repair surgeries attributed to SPIRIT. Each honoree received a platinum clock inscribed, "Thank you for the gift of your time."

After a pasta dinner, followed by chocolate cake with raspberry filling and even a little impromptu dancing, the event wound down by 9 pm.

Joining us to honor our volunteers were four members of the SSVMS Board in addition to Dr. Phinney: Drs. Richard Jones, Richard Pan, Janet O'Brien and Satya Chatterjee. Four members of the CSERF Management Committee were also on hand: Drs. Thomas Atkins, Amerish Bera, and John Young, as well as SSVMS Executive Director Bill Sandberg.

Overall, the event was a great success. The weather was perfect, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We were thrilled to be able to offer this small token of appreciation for all of the dedication and hard work that our volunteers donate on behalf of our programs.

If you have any questions about the SPIRIT or Adopt-a-School Programs, please call (916) 453-0254.