doctor

With the retirement of Dr. Gregory Bergner in April and the pending retirement of Dr. Paul Marlow in September, Barton Urgent Care and Barton Health have announced the new team at their Stateline office.

Warren Withers, MD, has moved from his position as Director of Emergency Services at Barton Hospital to Barton Urgent Care. He will join Patti Bucher, FNP and Michelle Feeney, FNP who both joined Barton Urgent Care this past year.

In 1981, Dr. Gregory Bergner opened Tahoe Family Physicians along with Dr. Brooks Martin and Dr. Paul Rork. The popular physicians delivered hundreds of South Lake Tahoe babies and kept many in the community healthy in a family friendly atmosphere.

Bergner is set to retire on April 14 after 34 years of helping the South Shore, not only as a doctor but as someone who actively sponsored, volunteered, and participated in many local organizations.

Any parent will tell you raising teenagers is a stressful time! Are you in that stage? Talk to your teenager about it. Your stress may be similar stress for your teen.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.
The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

12/27

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - You've walked by them, biked past them, and maybe even seen them on empty lots - what are those random piles of wood? The piles are the first half of a two-step process used by Lake Tahoe Basin agencies to reduce hazardous fuels, provide community protection, and improve forest health.

Backers of California Proposition 46 claim it will protect the patient and reduce patient harm. While the initiative argues patient safeguards and seems well-intended, the proposition is flawed and costly. If passed as written, Proposition 46 would discourage doctors from working in California, jeopardize patient privacy, and increase patient and government healthcare costs.

Many people know him as Arty the Party, others know him as Arthur Hervey while others will remember him as a local entertainer who has graced local stages with his piano and singing for years.

Arty, who once worked for Caesars Tahoe and is now with Harrah's Tahoe, recently lost his wife Randee to Andrenal Cancer. Their love story lives on even though Randee is no longer with us. Facing mounting medical bills, a gofundme.com campaign has been launched to help with expenses.

As an emergency room nurse, I have cared for visitors and locals who experience heat-related illnesses. This includes dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. It is important to understand the differences, especially when exercising in an area like Lake Tahoe with higher altitudes and higher temperatures.

Two possible cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, were reported at South Tahoe High. A letter from El Dorado County Health & Human Services was emailed to South Tahoe High parents Friday evening, warning them of the probable cases.

Does hiking or biking the 165 miles of the Tahoe Rim Trail seem interesting but rather daunting?

The Tahoe Rim Trail Challenge may be just what the doctor ordered since you have all summer to accomplish the whole trail.

Hikers can choose to walk six easy treks of two to six miles each and become a Tahoe Rim Trail Challenger, or, if they want a bit more challenge, there are six moderate hikes of six to 12 miles each to earn Trail Blazer status.

The public is encouraged to come to Barton Memorial Hospital and celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week with Barton Health. On Wednesday, March 5, Dr. Clint Purvance, Barton’s Chief Medical Officer, will recognize our successes, lessons learned, and commitment to our patients while creating patient safety awareness. Barton staff will announce the Patient Safety poster contest winner. Festivities begin at 1 p.m. in the Snowflake Lobby at Barton Hospital.

El Dorado County health officials have confirmed an influenza-related fatality in a County resident. The individual was an adult who resided on the Western Slope of the County. This is the first confirmed flu-related fatality in El Dorado County this flu season.

In Washoe County, Nevada there have been 5 flu related deaths, bringing the total deaths in Nevada due to the flu to 8.

Dubbed the "All Star Panel," a group of long time local residents shared stories of a South Lake Tahoe most of us never experienced. The seven panelists have lived in Lake Tahoe a combined 600 plus years and shared some great stories with the overflowing crowd at Camp Richardson Lodge on Tuesday evening. In fact, the number of long time locals in the audience was very evident since their combined years of living in Lake Tahoe was over 1880!

Dave Wakeman, South Lake Tahoe resident since 1947

It’s hard to imagine South Lake Tahoe without a hospital. But before Barton Memorial Hospital opened on Nov. 23, 1963, there were few nearby services for the sick and injured.

“All my children were born in Reno or St. Mary’s because we didn’t have a doctor or a hospital,” said longtime resident Patty Olson, who helped organize fundraising for Barton in the late 1950s.

It’s not every day Dr. Gregory Eyre, from Barton General Surgery, gets called into Barton Health’s, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Clint Purvance’s office — especially when he’s in-between surgical cases. But, on Tuesday, March 26, he rounded the corner at Barton Memorial Hospital’s nowflake Lobby and was greeted by Dr. Purvance and quickly surrounded by applause and the faces of smiling Barton staff.

Barton Women’s Health welcomes Kenneth Spielvogel, M.D., obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN), to their care team. Dr. Spielvogel and the entire women’s health team, including, OB/GYN, John Missanelli and long-time, Barton Health, family nurse practitioner, Patience Wenck will host a public open house reception on Tuesday, Feb. 26. Just across from Barton Memorial Hospital, at 2175 South Avenue, South Lake Tahoe, the newly remodeled women’s facility, will open its doors from 4 to 6 p.m.

TRUCKEE, Calif. — A Northern California doctor who was preparing for a humanitarian aid trip to Mexico was identified late Thursday as the pilot who died in a single-engine plane crash earlier that day at Truckee Tahoe Airport.

LONDON (AP) - First the drug tester told American beach volleyball player Jake Gibb that he was suspended.Then he said to call a doctor.A quick Internet search told Gibb the abnormal levels of h...

In Nevada, the Affordable Care Act — the new health care law — helped 101,333 people with original Medicare get at least one preventive service at no cost to them during the first six months of 2012, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday. This is 43 percent of those eligible for these services in Nevada. This figure also includes 7,543 in Nevada who have taken advantage of the Annual Wellness Visit provided by the Affordable Care Act.

(Editor's note: This is the next installment in a regular feature by South Lake Tahoe-based Certified Wellness Coach and Advanced Integrative Therapist Krista Kline. Visit her website at www.kristaekline.com.)

I am a big believer in balance. Balancing work and play, exercise and relaxation, the to do’s and the to don’ts. Unfortunately, it seems that many times our virtual see-saw gets pretty lopsided and we’re left stranded in the air with toes dangling, or completely weighed down without any way to get on our feet.

Saddle up for Western Days on Saturday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Complex barbecue area. Sponsored by K-Tahoe and Golden Bear Events, the Western Days will feature a barbecue, music, games cowboy poetry and vendors.