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Watsonville Community Hospital

(Private)  
Healthcare - Health Services
HQ: Watsonville, CA   |  
Approx. 8 active jobs   |  Website
Overview
Welcome to Watsonville Community Hospital where we continue to provide the right care, right here.

Our philosophy states that 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, you will find qualified physicians who take the time to listen to what you have to say. You will be greeted warmly by nurses who are truly compassionate and a registration staff that understands that people come before paperwork.

In response to the multi-cultural base of the Pajaro Valley, the Cardiovascular Services Department has a commitment to offer bilingual services whenever possible. We actively recruit bilingual staff and offer instructions and education bilingually whenever possible.

Culture
The mission of Watsonville Community Hospital is to provide comprehensive healthcare services that effectively meet the needs of our community through compassionate and responsible care.
Career Opportunities
Making Sense Out of the Healthy Heart Dietary Guidelines

11/24/2003

Since 1958, the American Heart Association (AHA) has been publishing dietary guidelines in an effort to reduce heart disease risk. Unfortunately, recommendations have changed over the years, which has lead to confusion for people trying to adhere to a "heart healthy diet". Articles are published in popular magazines and newspapers attempting to educate people, often resulting in increased confusion. One year you are told not to eat butter and the next year you are told margarine is worse than butter. Who are you to believe and how are you to reduce your risk for heart disease if they keep changing the rules?

Despite the confusion, a few simple guidelines continue to dominate the recommendations and can serve as a guide to anyone trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The current guidelines place emphasis on overall eating pattern and the need to achieve and maintain a health body weight.

The guidelines are a framework that can be altered to fit any dietary preferences and cultural backgrounds. A healthy diet is based on an overall eating pattern over time and not a single food or meal. A healthy eating pattern includes foods from all food groups, yes - even fat.

The Following are the American Heart Association's recommendations to decrease risk of disease. We have added comments to help you include these guidelines into everyday practices:

Maintain a level of physical activity that keeps you fit and matches the number of calories you eat*. Walk or do other activities for a least 30 minutes on most days. To lose weight, do enough activity to use up more calories than you eat every day. Nobody wants to count calories but how do you know if you are eating enough calories to maintain or lose weight. The scale and your waist band are good guages for caloric intake. If you are losing inches around your waist area and/or losing weight on the scale your caloric intake is below your needs. Exercise in combination with diet modifications is the most effective way to achieve long term weight loss. It is recommended that people not loose more than 1 to 2 pounds per week for safe sustainable weight loss.

Limit your intake of foods high in calories or low in nutrition, including foods like soft drinks and candy that have a lot of sugars. Foods such as these tend to have a lot of fat and sugar and few vitamins and minerals. These foods can be included in small amounts in everyone's diets but should be limited especially when trying to lose weight.

Limit foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and/or cholesterol, such as full-fat milk products, fatty meats, tropical oils, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and egg yolks. Instead choose foods low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol. Trans fats refer to a group of fats that has been chemically processed to make food more shelf stable (margarine, hydrogenated oils, etc.). However, it appears that this process may have a more negative effect on blood cholesterol levels than eating saturated fats (butter and/or meat. Most dietitians advise "moderation" and/or minimizing these types of foods rather than substituting a lot of fat free or chemically altered foods.

The new guidelines recommend an overall eating pattern that stress fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and fish as the basis of a healthy diet. It's unrealistic to expect the public to keep tabs on the percentage of fat in their diets. Instead, we suggest that you simply limit the foods containing high levels of saturated fat.

Eat less than 7 grams of salt (sodium chloride) per day or less then 2,400 milligrams of sodium. One teaspoon of salt has around 2000 mg of sodium, so even minimizing salt use can add up! In addition to salt, most pre-packaged and processed foods have large amounts of added sodium. Your best bet is to eat foods that have been minimally processed and include lost of fresh fruits, fresh or frozen vegetables and whole grains.

Have no more than one alcoholic drink per day if you're a woman and no more than two if you're a man. ("One drink" means it has no more than ½ ounce of pure alcohol). The following are amounts to count as one drink: 12 oz. beer, 1 ½ oz. 80-proof spirits (bourbon, gin, rum, Scotch, tequila, vodka, whiskey), or 4 oz. wine (red, white, rose). However, if you do not drink, don't start! The scientific evidence on the health benefits of alcohol is controversial at best.

Following these basic principals should mean you don't have to give up your favorite foods. Every meal does not have to meet the guidelines. It is important to incorporate these principals into your overall-eating pattern over several days. Remember exercise with diet moderation and variety is the key to healthy living.

* Remember to talk with your doctor before starting any type of exercise program.
The WCH Vision
We have created a great hospital, that all of us and the community trust, and are proud to recommend to our families and friends without qualification.

We provide excellent care, within the scope of services we offer. We make it easy and seamless for patients to have access to other providers for the services we don't provide.

We are the hospital of choice, "the" place to go, and the market leader in our service area. Our service area has expanded considerably into the peripheral markets that were once considered our secondary service area. There is only minor out-migration, except for (tertiary) services we are unable to provide.

We consistently surpass all our customers' expectations for health care and service. We provide a great health care experience.

It is a joy to work here. Morale and trust are high among our employees; they are proud to be part of the Hospital, and they tell other people so.

We are prosperous and efficient, and we all have a sense of financial security. We meet or exceed the budget, and our employees share in the results they help produce.

Our physicians are happy with the services provided by the hospital because their patients are satisfied. They refer all their patients to WCH, except those needing tertiary services. They are partners with the Hospital/CHS in a number of joint ventures and initiatives.

We collaborate with the community by meeting their needs for medical care, health improvement, and health education. They have confidence in us and in our future. We have also worked with the community to strengthen the local economy, and thereby earned their trust and recognition as significant assets.

We have modern-day facilities, technology, and equipment.
Hospital Information
  • 106 licensed beds

  • Physicians and specialties:
    Active: 100; Courtesy: 20
    Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, Gastroenterology, Hematology, Internal Medicine, Neonatology, Nephrology, Neurology, Obstetrics, Ophthalmology, Oral Maxiollofacial Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pain Management, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pediatric Dentistry, Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, Plastic/Reconstructive Surgery, Podiatry, Psychiatry, Pulmonology, Radiology, Rheumatology, Thoracic Surgery, Urology and Vascular Surgery

  • 750 hospital employees
Services
  • 24-Hour Emergency Room
  • Anesthesiology
  • Cardiology
  • Dermatology
  • Gastroenterology
  • General Surgery
  • Hematology
  • Internal Medicine & Family Practice
  • Neonatology
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology
  • Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Ophthalmology
  • Oral Maxiollofacial Surgery
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Otolaryngology
  • Pain Management
  • Pathology
  • Pediatrics & Pediatric Dentistry
  • Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation
  • Plastic/Reconstructive Surgery
  • Podiatry
  • Psychiatry
  • Pulmonology
  • Radiology
  • Respiratory Therapy
  • Rheumatology
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Urology
  • Vascular Surgery
  • Wound Care Center