Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show April 4 2013

President JOHN SYLVESTER called the meeting to order and asked PP STEVE ANDERSON to lead the pledge of allegiance.
 
President JOHN thanked Greeters: GEORGE STAFFORD and JUDY OTT; Sergeant at Arms FRANK VERLOT, STEVE POMEROY, MIKE ABRAMS and FRANK ELMER; photographer JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT; and cashier DAVID CASAS.
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
SHELLY POTVIN shared something with us that she says all the time:  There is a positive and a negative side to each moment.  You decide.
 
SINGING ALONG
RON STEFANI with banjo in hand and a nod to the era of Dorothy Lamour, et al, led the group in song of the day “Side by Side”.
 

VISITING ROTARIANS AND ROTARIANS WITH GUESTS
President Elect JACK KELLY found no visiting Rotarians present so asked Rotarians ABBY AHRENS, PAUL NYBERG, MATT CABOT, STEVE SHEPHERD, and BOB ADAMS to introduce their guests.
 
OUR NEXT PROGRAM
Next week’s program will be Raj Mathai, local NBC news anchor and sports contributor.

 
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE PRESIDENT
Last week President JOHN handed out pins to the women members of the club in honor of the 25th anniversary of the admission of women to Rotary.  If you didn’t get yours, let John know.
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chair of the Red Badge Club, MARLIS McALLISTER, announced the birth of a son to red badger TAYLOR ROBINSON.  Baby Bodin (Bodie) weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz.  Our Sunshine Chair, JUDY OTT, sent around a congratulations card to be sent to the proud mom.

 
DONNA VERNA reminded us there was still time to get our check in to be a sponsor of the upcoming Art Show.
 
STEVEN WHEELER is hoping you found the Elevator Speech last week inspiring enough to sign up to do one in May.  Please let him know.

 
RON STEFANI needs songsters so please sign up.
 
PAUL NYBERG says it is time again for Los Altos Live.  That’s the fifth annual talent show to benefit Los Altos High School.  Auditions are scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday and the event is on April 20.
 
MEL KAHN came to the podium to say that he didn’t have an announcement but just wanted to say hello.  (There was heckling from the crowd.)  And president JOHN said, “Isn’t that precious?”
 

10-MINUTE TALK
Seeing that it was only 12:30, President JOHN asked whether anyone was willing to do an impromptu ten-minute talk.  JOHN SINES said yes and strode to the podium only to say that he was going to pretend to do a ten-minute talk so we could all enjoy our lunch and conversation at the table.
 

A FINE TIME
It was SAM PESNER’s turn as recognition chair and his infamous Rotary Jeopardy fining session consisting of three categories: 

• JK
• Happy Birthday to Who
• and Madame Prez

• ROY JONES
• BARRY GROVES
• HARRY PRICE
• MIKE ABRAMS
• MEL KAHN
• FRANK ELMER
• ALISON SALISBURY
• STEVE POMEROY
• TRACIE MURRAY
• LARRY MADSEN
• JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT
• and JACK KELLY

• The first woman president of the club was MARGE BRUNO
• JACK KELLY served in the Air Force
• BILL PALMER is the oldest member of the club
• while JARRETT FISHPAW is the youngest

• GREG DABB protested that the answers to the Rotary Jeopardy weren’t formed as questions.  He ended up with a $19 fine.
• GEORGE STAFFORD announced that his grandson Lincoln James Stafford was born just shy of the dreaded April Fool’s Day and that he looked a lot like his grandfather since he didn’t have a lot of hair and was pudgy with a double chin.  When asked how much it was worth, he responded that it was “priceless and joined the Presidents’ Club.

ROTARY PROGRAM
BOB ADAMS introduced the President and CEO of El Camino Hospital, Tomi Ryba, who previously served as President of United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota and as Chief Operating Officer at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco.  She was also recognized by the SF Business Times as one of the most influential women in San Francisco in 2007 and 2008.
 
Tomi began her talk by sharing how the El Camino Hospital District was structured and governed and that it includes two locations with hospitals in Mountain View and Los Gatos. In addition, ECH also has a Children’s Hospital, a unique Men’s Health program and a South Asian heart center.  Since opening in 1961, El Camino has received national recognition for several pioneering programs in the areas of information technology, cardiac treatment, radiation oncology, maternity, and genomics. 

Tomi said El Camino is known for it’s innovative medicine with the Fogarty Institute that features start up companies and technologies such as e-valve, cryoplasty, green light laser and robotics.  The hospital district was also initiated the first medical record system.  El Camino is also focused on giving back to the community through a variety of programs such as the RotaCare Clinic, Road Runners and other programs.  For the future, Tomi said El Camino will remain focused on quality. The goal is to stay in the top quartile and that Physicians will be integrated in all that ECH does by forming partnerships and alliances.
 
Questions?
Is there a nursing shortage?  Nursing shortages are cyclical in nature about every 10 years and currently there is not a problem. There is very low turnover.
 
 
Do hospitals charge different fees for uninsured vs. insured?
All charges are the same but paid differently by payer mix.
 
What about Measure M?
We hope to prevail. This may go into default.
 
How are you preparing for Obamacare?
Need to bring down the cost and will have to manage as won’t get paid if patient readmitted to the hospital within 30 days so partnering with physicians and working with payers.
 
What is status of occupancy?
The new building occupancy is 80% and the old building will be coming down in a few months. 
 
Any solution to $51 million loss of Medicare under Obamacare?
We will stay focused and have a clear path. 
 
MEETING ADJOURNED
President JOHN thanked Tomi for an exceptional talk and adjourned the meeting with his usual “Have a good day, unless you have made other plans.”
 
 

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM:

Raj Mathai is a three-time Emmy award winner and the weeknight news anchor for NBC Bay Area.

Raj anchors the nightly news and is among the Bay Area’s most well-known TV personalities. He is also part of the Giants broadcast team when the Giants are on NBC Bay Area.  Before arriving at NBC Bay Area, he worked for NBC stations in Fresno, San Diego, and Arizona.

He has reported on-location from the Olympics in London, Vancouver, Turin, Athens and Salt Lake City. He has run the Olympic Torch three times (1996, 2002 and 2008).

Raj also hosts a series titled ‘The Interview.’ He goes behind the scenes with high profile newsmakers including Colin Powell, Jed York, and many more.

In 1995, Raj became the country's first Indian sportscaster. Prior to his career in television, Raj served as a public relations assistant for the San Diego Chargers for five seasons.  He is a regular guest instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Raj was born in Trivandrum, India, grew up on the Peninsula, and graduated from Los Altos High School. He went on to graduate from San Diego State University with a degree in journalism and political science.