March 2007

PAMF patients and members of the community have a new face to greet them when they visit the Fremont Center's Community Health Resource Center (CHRC): health educator Kimberly Greer, R.N.

Greer joined PAMF's Fremont Center in November to help part-time nurse educator Margie Dino, R.N., provide health education in both individual and group settings, and manage the CHRC's large collection of educational materials and multimedia content.

A graduate of San Joaquin Delta College, Greer has more than 20 years of experience as a nurse and health educator, including educating patients about newborn care and presenting lectures to hospital nursing staff. She also has experience teaching basic life support, neonatal resuscitation, pediatric advanced life support and infant CPR.

Greer said she joined PAMF because her job as a nurse educator allows her to communicate one-on-one with patients and develop relationships with other staff and members of the community - one of her goals for her first year at the CHRC.

"My favorite thing to do is talk with a patient, help them identify what they need and show them how to find it," she said. "I'd like to talk to people about what we do here and develop new ways to help patients, staff and the community at large. My priority is to gather information and develop ways the CHRC can be responsive to the needs of the community."

While Greer said many patients come to the CHRC seeking information on pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing topics -- areas in which her background fits perfectly -- she emphasized that the CHRC has information for individuals at every stage in life. With its recent move into the campus' new Building 2, the CHRC offers a greater variety of health information. The CHRC also provides special education services such as instruction on breast self-examination and completing an advance health care directive, and offers community health lectures by physicians and other health care providers.

"Often when talking to people, we find they have more than one health issue that they're dealing with in life. By spending time with them and assessing their needs, we can help patients identify what is really on their minds, prioritize their questions and individualize the educational materials for them," said Greer, adding that the CHRC's new location in Building 2 of the Fremont Center offers more quiet space where patrons can privately discuss their questions with one of the health educators. "This is one of the benefits of having the CHRC staffed by nurses; we are skilled in performing this kind of health education assessment."

The Fremont Center's CHRC is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and guidance is provided at no cost on a drop-in basis or by appointment. For more information about the CHRC, visit www.pamf.org/health/chrc.html, or call (510) 623-2231 to schedule an appointment.