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enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2020
Governor appoints Dan Wolk to Yolo Superior Court BY LAUREN KEENE Enterprise staff writer
Dan Wolk, a former mayor of Davis, was appointed Tuesday to the Yolo Superior Court bench, one of 14 new California judges tapped by Gov. Gavin Newsom across the state. Wolk, 42, has served as a deputy county counsel in the Solano County Counsel’s
Office since 2009. Prior to that, he worked as an associate attorney at McDonough, Holland & Allen P.C. from 2005 to 2008 and was founder and director of the Legal Clinic of Yolo County from 2006 to 2008. He also served on the Davis City Council from 2011 to 2016 — beating out nine other candidates to fill a vacated seat — and held the mayor’s
post during the final two years of his term. Wolk is the son of former Lois Wolk, a former Davis mayor, Yolo County supervisor, California assemblywoman and state senator; and Bruce Wolk, former dean and professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law. Wolk said Tuesday he was honored by Newsom’s appointment. “My parents instilled in me
a deep commitment to both the law and public service, and serving as a judge in the county in which I grew up and am raising a family is especially meaningful,” Wolk said. “I look forward to joining the exceptional jurists already on the Yolo County bench and to serving the people of Yolo County with fairness, thoughtfulness and humility.”
A Democrat, Wolk earned his law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law. He fills the vacancy created by last year’s retirement of Judge Janet Gaard. “On behalf of all the judges of Yolo Superior Court, we thank the governor for an excellent judicial appointment,” Presiding Judge
Supes favor go-slow approach on recovery
Dr. Sumana Reddy demonstrates a Telehealth exam using Updox, a HIPPA-compliant video chat software, one of several programs her clinic relies on to meet with patients. During exams, Reddy will point to parts of her body to ensure she understands where her patients are experiencing discomfort.
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer
ANNE WERNIKOFF/ CALMATTERS PHOTO
Virtual medicine the new normal Doctors and patients navigating through changes BY ANA B. IBARRA AND ELIZABETH AGUILERA CalMatters California doctors are diagnosing anything from appendicitis to strep throat with only a phone during the coronavirus pandemic. Video visits and conversations are the closest doctors can get to patients who are sheltering in place and avoiding potential exposure from doctor visits. COVID-19 has catapulted telehealth — those virtual visits — into the mainstream more effectively than years of advocacy and policy-making. Experts and physicians are calling it a rare “silver lining” of
the current crisis: An overnight availability of video and phone appointments for medical needs, especially in areas where doctors have been in short supply. “COVID-19 has changed everything,” said Dr. Mark Henderson, professor of internal medicine and associate dean for admissions and outreach at UC Davis School of Medicine. “Because of COVID19 we have all of this distance and it has accelerated all of these ideas and it’s totally exploded our thinking around what we can do with telemedicine in primary care.” Telehealth has been in use for decades, long before smartphones or tablets, and California already was poised to expand options under several new laws passed last year. Initially, though, it was seen as a tool for rural communities and inner-city areas
with a shortage of providers. It took a change in regulations affecting billing during the pandemic to allow a dramatic pivot to telehealth, as much as 40% to 80% of patient visits in some health systems in recent weeks. The Department of Managed Health Care announced March 18 that all health plans must reimburse telehealth medical care at the same rate as face-to-face appointments, and California’s Department of Health Care Services obtained a federal waiver to allow similar Medi-Cal reimbursement. The federal government eased regulations on March 17 affecting Medicare payments to allow the same flexibility. Medical providers say telehealth is
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Death toll climbs to 11 at St. John’s BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Two more residents of the Stollwood Convalescent Hospital in Woodland have died of the novel coronavirus, bringing to 11 the number of patients who have died since an outbreak of COVID-19 began at the skilled nursing facility several weeks ago. The two most recent deaths reported Monday involved individuals over the age of 85. Stollwood, on the campus of St. John’s Retirement Village in Woodland, also accounts for around half of the 162 total
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SEE WOLK, PAGE A7
WOLK Former Davis mayor now a Yolo County judge
coronavirus cases reported in Yolo County as of Tuesday (though infected Stollwood staff members who do not live in Yolo County are not included in the county’s case numbers). In a message to the community on Tuesday, St. John’s CEO Sean Beloud said, “we are heart stricken by the deaths of any of our residents and incredibly grateful for the vast support and gratitude from our residents’ families in dealing with this invisible enemy.” He also said several staff members who were quarantined have retested negative
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“and have rejoined the workforce after participating in a ‘refresher’ training on containing the spread of the virus.” Last week Beloud said St. John’s top focus “continues to be the health of our residents and staff and we are doing everything we can to keep them safe,” Beloud said. “I am working on the frontline with St. John’s caregivers and we are incredibly fortunate to have our dedicated staff and the on-site assistance from the county and state as part of our care delivery team.”
Th Thursday: B Becoming sunny. Hi High 85. Low 54.
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May elected to Academy of Arts and Sciences BY DAVE JONES Special to The Enterprise
But if there is a bright spot for those officials right now, it’s that the fight does appear to be succeeding elsewhere in the county.
The 240-year-old American Academy of Arts and Sciences last week announced UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May as one of its 276 newly elected members for 2020. They include artists, scientists, and leaders in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. May’s classification in the academy is “educational and academic leadership.” Other new members in this category include Ana Mari Cauce, University of Washington; Sally Ann Kornbluth, Duke University; Vincent E. Price, Duke University; G. Gabrielle Starr, Pomona College; and Ngaire Tui Woods, University of Oxford. Their classmates in other classifications include Joan Baez, singer,
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SEE ACADEMY, PAGE A7
vigilant in our actions to combat the spread of COVID-19,” he said, adding that St. John’s is following the guidelines of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Public Health. The outbreak at Stollwood has represented one of the biggest challenges county health officials have faced in their fight to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“We have been extremely
WEATHER
How and when to reopen society as the COVID-19 pandemic continues was a topic of conversation throughout the state of California on Tuesday. Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the topic at his daily briefing in Sacramento at the same time Yolo County supervisors were weighing in on a “Roadmap to Recovery” drafted by health officials here. What the governor ultimately decides to do will largely determine what county supervisors can do, because while counties may have stricter health orders in place, they cannot be more permissive than the state order, which “acts as a floor,” noted Yolo County Administrator Patrick Blacklock. Still, some of the activities currently prohibited in Yolo County are allowed under the statewide stay-at-home
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