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Thomas S. Nesbitt Family and Community Medicine Recipient 1996-1997 Dr. Nesbitt has made significant contributions to improve health-care delivery to various underserved populations in California, especially women, children and rural residents. Appointed to the state advisory panel for the access to infants and mother's program, Nesbitt makes recommendations on providing perinatal coverage to uninsured women in California. The program is regarded as a national model for health-care delivery. As a member of the advisory committee of Sierra Health Foundation's Community Partnerships for Healthy Children, Dr. Nesbitt works to provide a lasting, positive impact on rural communities and to enhance their ability to respond to children's health-care needs. He also serves on the board of directors for the California Health Collaborative and volunteers and serves on the advisory board for the California Institute for Rural Health Management. Through the American Academy of Family Physicians, Nesbitt helped create the "Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics" program, which standardized training for the management of obstetrical emergencies. He also created the California Telehealth/Telemedicine Coordination Planning Project with the help of the California Health Collaborative and has advised the state government in addressing telemedicine policy issues. In 1992 he launched a pilot project with Colusa Community Hospital linking physicians in the sparsely populated county with perinatal specialists at the medical center, 70 miles away. This fetal-monitoring connection facilitated the reopening of obstetrical services in Colusa County. Telemedicine and Telehealth Networks magazine named the project among the top 10 outstanding telemedicine programs in the country. Dr. Nesbitt also is developing a telemedicine program to link the primary-care practices within the UC Davis Health System to the medical center to allow physicians to better care for their patients without having to send them to a distant site for a referral. Dr. Nesbitt has received many honors and awards in recognition of his work, including being named Family Physician of the Year by the California Academy of Family Physicians in 1993. |
