News reports from Bakersfield, California; Denver, Colorado; Loma Linda University Medical Center; Loma Linda University Medical Center Children’s Center, Walla Walla University and Union College

Bakersfield.com reported that 13 members of the Westside Crips criminal street gang attended a recent gang call-in at Southside Seventh-day Adventist Church in central Bakersfield, California. At the event attended by gang members, law enforcement, social workers, pastors and other local leaders, help was offered for gang members wishing to get out of a life of crime. Gang members were also warned that if they continued in gang life and survived, they would likely be prosecuted and incarcerated. The 13 Westside Crips members that attended were all on probation or parole and were required to attend. All 13 remained afterward to talk with pastors and others. There is some evidence that outreach of this kind can reduce crime.

CNN Health has reported on the aftermath of a decision by Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colorado, to suspend their organ transplant program. The decision was made following the departure from the hospital of key staff critical to the program. The decision has meant that 232 patients who were slated to have their organ transplant procedures done at Porter now have to transfer to other hospitals and risk losing their place in line for organ donations. Dustin Cuzick, a 35-year-old reporter for Colorado Springs’ KKTV 11 News (a CNN affiliate) is one of these patients. Cuzick has end-stage kidney disease from Type 1 diabetes. Hospital spokeswoman Wendy Forbes said in a statement obtained by CNN: “We apologize to our impacted transplant patients and are working to support them through this transition however we can. The staffing situation for our transplant team has been dynamic, and a few months ago we did not feel a pause on our procedures was needed. After losing a few key positions in this tight labor market, we made the decision to temporarily stop performing transplants. At that time, we promptly began notifying patients.”

The American College of Cardiology has recognized Loma Linda University Medical Center as a superior facility for treating heart attacks. According to the LLUMC website, the newly awarded national accreditation from the American College of Cardiology recognizes the high-level heart and vascular care that LLUMC offers its communities. The “Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI” accreditation recognizes the medical center’s ability to rapidly evaluate, diagnose and treat chest pain.

In other news, the Loma Linda University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital was recognized for resuscitation quality by the American Heart Association. The Children’s Hospital won awards for quality in treatment for patient cardiac arrests in the hospital.

Walla Walla University’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (a student club that does humanitarian work with an engineering focus) recently got back from India where they are working on a project at Riverside Adventist Academy tackling education, business and social issues. The WWU team of six students and one faculty member evaluated the school’s sanitation and water supply systems and met with the school’s principal to discuss previous work in creating a science laboratory at RAA. “Though development work is riddled with unimaginable challenges, we have learned that the greatest challenges teach the most important lessons and lead to the greatest triumphs,” said a statement from the group leaders on Walla Walla’s Facebook page.

Union College recently mourned the passing of Ella May Hartlein on June 20th. The Union grad (Class of 1941) who lived until she was 98, was credited with being the inventor of the popular Adventist dish called the haystack. The dish could be described as a vegetarian variation of a taco salad. Hartlein worked at several Adventist academies across the United States during her lifetime.

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