“More confirmed cases does not mean we are losing ground.”; “Go out with your friends, your family, go on a hike…” – County Health Officer;  “It’s up to each city to make a determination with regard to enforcement.” – Chair of the Board of Supervisors

By Allen Payton

Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) has confirmed the county’s first confirmed death linked to COVID-19.

The patient died Thursday in a hospital in the county. The Contra Costa resident was in their 70’s and had a pre-existing condition that put them at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and a history of recent overseas travel.

A media briefing by county officials to update the public was held this morning.

“Today we regret to announce the first death in Contra Costa County caused by the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, County Health Officer. “This person passed away at a hospital in our county on Thursday. They were in their 70’s and they had a condition that placed them at risk of serious illness, and they had recently traveled outside of the country.”

The individual traveled from Europe, but those were all the details he would provide. “Unfortunately, we do anticipate more deaths in Contra Costa County,” Farnitano said.

“This death underscores the urgent need for all Contra Costa residents to follow the stay at home order, maintain social distancing and the state order just issued by Governor Newsom, last night,” he stated. “Novel coronavirus is dangerous for older adults and people with certain medical conditions, including heart or lung disease, diabetes and those with weak immune systems.”

“We believe that by following these orders we can reduce the spread of the virus, right now in our community and that will save lives,” Dr. Farnitano continued. “The situation is very serious in Contra Costa. We expect more confirmed cases as our testing expands. So far, Contra Costa Public Health has confirmed 42 cases in our community. We believe that aggressive testing can help, and we are ramping up our testing efforts on a daily basis.”

Most testing is being done by private labs.

“Our public health lab is performing between 40 to 100 tests per day, but that’s a small percentage of the total testing being done across the county, right now,” he stated.

“As we’re expanding our testing, we really want to get to the point we’re able to test everyone who has symptoms,” Dr. Farnitano said. “We’re trying to prioritize our public health lab which can do rapid testing and get results in 24 hours or less to those folks we’re most concerned about.”

“The private labs can test anyone who has symptoms,” he continued. “The more folks we test with symptoms then the more we’re going to be able to understand the spread within our community, and more able to isolate more effectively those who test positive.”

“More confirmed cases does not mean we are losing ground,” he stated. “It means we are sharpening our focus and gathering data that will help us through this emergency.”

“As always, the best way to protect yourself is to practice good hygiene and social distancing,” Farnitano shared. “Because COVID-19 is new humans have no immunity to it and there is no vaccine.”

He then repeated the ways to protect yourself, such as washing your hands regularly and avoiding touching your face.

“If you are ill, it is imperative you stay home, even if you’re an essential worker,” Dr. Farnitano concluded.

Candace Andersen, Chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors spoke next.

“We recognize this order is disruptive. We would not ask any of you to do this if we didn’t think it was important,” she said. “During this difficult time, we are continuing to provide county services, virtually. We have county employees working from home, remotely, in offices and away from the public who can still assist you. Please go to the county’s website at contracosta.gov for the most updated information resources.”

“I want to assure you that Contra Costa is doing all it can to slow the spread of the coronavirus and reduce its impact,” Andersen continued. “The county’s emergency operations center has been activated and is slowing the virus and is now the primary focus of our local government actions in Contra Costa.”

“You can visit cchealth.org/coronavirus or call our help line at 1-844-729-8410 if you have any questions about this order and the virus,” she added.

Dr. Farnitano encouraged county residents to go out and exercise and take a hike in the East Bay parks.

“We do want to encourage people to get outside and exercise and enjoy our beautiful, natural setting in the East Bay,” he said. “Go out with your friends, your family, go on a hike, but stay six feet apart. So, do it safely.”

Asked about local enforcement and people going outside, “It’s certainly not recommended unless you can really do it from a safe distance,” Andersen responded, “It’s up to each city to make a determination with regard to enforcement.”

Specifically, about golfing she said, it’s up to each city “whether or not to say you can’t golf or not.”

“Clearly if you’re golfing with members of your household and you’re staying six feet apart from everyone else, I think that works,” Andersen shared. “But if you’re meeting up with your buddies and you all live in different households and you’ve all been out doing your essential shopping and other things, you have a good chance of spreading the virus, if you get together in that close circumstance. We expect people to use their good judgment and take this seriously.”

By Allen Payton

Thursday evening, at TreVista-Antioch Senior Living, the leaders and supporters of An Elderly Wish Foundation gathered for the drawing of the three winners in their fifth annual Fund-A-Wish fundraiser.

Tickets were sold for $100 each and “all 100 tickets were sold,” said Executive Director Mary Chapman.

Winner of the $1,000 prize was Max Tellez. He bought the ticket from foundation Board Member Nora Von Ubin.

“Wow, You’re kidding?” Tellez said when he was called with the good news.

The $500 winner was Carol Thibodeaux, who was in attendance. The ticket was sold by foundation Board Member Tracy Brown. The $250 winner was Marguerite Bloomfield, who was also in attendance. Mary Chapman sold her the ticket.

“The biggest thank you goes to our sponsors for this evening, TreVista-Antioch, Oakridge Winery, Black Bear Diner, CalBay Realty, East County Insurance, Homestar Real Estate, Summit Funding and The Print Club,” Chapman stated.

“The biggest thing is your support, all of you tonight,” she continued. “You’re the ones who make the elderly wishes come true. All of you have brought such joy to many, many seniors.”

Chapman shared about the latest wish the organization granted, which was for a lady with cancer, to enable her to travel to attend her son’s wedding.

Another wish was to replace another lady’s 40-year-old mattress with a mattress that moves up and down, and back and forth.

“She got seasick the first time she used it,” one of the attendees said with a laugh.

“Your support makes a wish come true,” Chapman stated. “You’re all invited to our 19th Heart to Heart Gala, Feb. 21, 2020 at Lone Tree Golf & Event Center.”

The theme, entitled “Putting on the Wish” and they’re asking attendees to dress in roaring twenties style black and white. For more information about the organization, visit www.elderlywish.org.

By Allen Payton

The city’s premier assisted living facility, TreVista Antioch recently made a change in leadership with the hiring of Sonya (Gonzalez) Smith as the new Executive Director. She replaces Neal Torres who has moved on to another position in the industry.

A native of Antioch, Smith is a graduate of Antioch High and was on the varsity teams for both cross country and track. She was track and field team captain in her freshman year. She was the starter for the 4×100 relay team, but her specialty was the 200-meter. They wouldn’t let her run the hurdles, as she wanted, out of fear of getting hurt and not being able to be the relay team’s starter. But Smith got her chance to deal with hurdles, later in her career.

“I got my running from my dad. He was a runner. I’m an Army brat and he would enter me in all the kids’ mile runs, over by the fairgrounds,” Smith shared. “Tom Torlakson was my cross-country coach. We always participated in the Kiwanis Club’s Holiday Run.”

She still loves to run and runs around Contra Loma at least once a week.

Smith attended Marsh Elementary “when Mr. Reed was principal,” she shared. She then attended Antioch   Junior High, when it had 7th, 8th and 9th grades, before it became the middle school. Smith continued the family tradition of attending Antioch High, “the home of the Panthers”, she said, proudly.

Her favorite subjects in high school were home ec, government and science.

“I loved being in jazz dance,” Smith said.

Health Care Career Begins

“After high school I became a nurse and fell in love with the seniors,” she shared. “I’ve always been in geriatrics, senior care.”

Smith specialized in pain management, working for a private practice doctor in Walnut Creek.

Then she became a community nurse at an assisted living facility in Brentwood.

“I just fell in love with it and knew this is the kind of nurse I was meant to be,” she said.

An LVN, for four years she was in charge of all the health care plans, assessing all the residents, supporting them in their day to day care, visiting them in the hospital, staying in contact with their doctors, and making sure their medications were correct, “to ensure a good quality of life,” said Smith.

Agemark Career Begins

She was then hired as the Assistant Director for the Agemark facility in Oakdale, California. That was short lived as she was then promoted to the Executive Director position three months later.

“I believe in the company and really believe in their values,” she shared. “So, it was really easy to jump on the team and go forward.”

“I think people in the healthcare industry get so task oriented that they forget about the person,” said Smith. “Our families, our residents have stories to share. They’ve been successful. We have veterans. They have done so much. We don’t see them as their diagnosis. We focus on the residents and the staff, as family.”

“That’s why I’m always here,” she said with a laugh.

Then, this year, she was offered the position at TreVista Antioch and began as Executive Director at the beginning of September.

Agemark, Owner of TreVista

The owner of TreVista is Agemark, based in Orinda. They currently own 21 properties, but they’re getting ready to break ground on five more properties.

The company’s first facility was in Vancouver, Washington. They have another location in Nebraska which is a renovated 1940’s hotel.

“It’s like a flash into the past,” Smith stated. “It’s so cool.”

“That’s what I love about AgeMark. They invest in their properties and some are original landmarks,” she said. “They save the buildings, rehab and give them a facelift and bring new life to them.”

They’re now coast to coast with another location in Maryland.

“It’s a smaller company in the industry, with     regards to the number of locations they own,” Smith shared. “We stay local and our philosophy is that we treat everyone like family. All of our facilities are intimate.”

Her daily responsibilities include ensuring her team provides their residents with the best quality of life. That includes their care needs, their dietary needs and most importantly, their social stimulation needs.

“We have happy hour, we go to the casinos, we go to the movies, we take them shopping. We let them try new things, like going to the beach, when weather permits,” Smith added.

There are over 80 staff members at the Antioch location, including her management team and line staff: servers, care givers, housekeeping and maintenance.

One of her managers is also the head chef, offering home-made, nutritional meals.

“You gotta have that home-style cooking, of course on the healthier side,” Smith said with a laugh.

“With our wellness department we also have two other nurses on staff to address the care needs of our residents,” she continued.

“I’m on the floor all the time. We have a resident council with regular meetings, which I attend when I’m invited in,” Smith said. “I think it’s important to be on the floor, to be visible. It goes back to our philosophy. Engaged in conversation, welcoming them.”

TreVista Antioch also has a dementia support unit, known as memory care.

Community Involvement

Smith wants to help her residents enjoy their lives.

“We have one lady who wanted to ride a motorcycle. So, we made that happen,” she said. “That’s why I like working with Mary Chapman of An Elderly Wish Foundation. We sponsor their annual fundraising dinner.”

TreVista is also a member of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce as Silver Sponsors of the local business organization. Smith plans to be more involved, first as an Ambassador, then hopefully as a member of the board of directors.

“Now that I’m local, I really want to help with the community events, including the parades in downtown,” she said. “Our location in Oakdale won the Most Inspirational Float of the Oakdale Rodeo Parade.”

On the Personal Side

Smith is a big supporter of veterans and the military. Her son is a Marine serving as a diesel mechanic with one deployment under his belt, and her dad served 26 years in the Army and was a Captain in the infantry.

Her daughter is a cheerleader and is currently in high school.

For the Future

TreVista is in the process of adding a bistro where residents can grab a coffee or snack, plus a movie theater for residents to enjoy that kind of experience.

Soon they will become more high profile in the community

“My whole focus is to share our residents’ stories. They’ve had wonderful lives and want to invest that back into the community,” Smith said.

“The stereotype of what assisted living is, it’s not a place to go until you die. The misconception is that it’s the place where you’ve given up on life. But, it’s actually a new beginning. We’ve evolved because we know our residents need a support system in place. We get referred to as a standing cruise ship, where people go to live life.”

“We’re here to promote a healthy lifestyle, with the support and care to meet each individual resident’s needs,” she concluded.

To learn more about TreVista Antioch visit their website at www.trevista-antioch.com and their Facebook page, or call (925) 470-3395 to set up a tour. They’re located at 3950 Lone Tree Way in Antioch across from Sutter Delta Medical Center.

By Antioch Police Department

We are looking for the public’s help in locating 78-year-old Clarence Smith who suffers from Alzheimer’s and dementia. Mr. Smith is 6’ tall, 150 lbs. with gray hair and blue eyes. Mr. Smith was last seen wearing black pants and a gray sweater leaving his Antioch residence at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.

County surveillance cameras recorded his vehicle in the area of Stone Valley Road and Danville Blvd in the City of Alamo at approximately 5:35 am today (10/2/19). The vehicle is a silver 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe CA license 4ZKH349. See attached photo.

Mr. Smith and his vehicle have yet to be located. A silver alert via CHP has been issued. If you locate Mr. Smith or the vehicle, please immediately call 9-1-1 or the Antioch Police Department Dispatch at 925-778-2441.

By Sergeant James Stenger #3604, Antioch Police Violent Crimes Unit, Investigations Bureau

This morning, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, at approximately 7:30 AM, 91-year-old Antioch resident George Pack, missing since early Saturday morning, was located alive by the San Francisco Police Department. (See related article).

Mr. Pack, who suffers from dementia, was located on foot in the SOMA District of San Francisco. Mr. Pack was taken to a local hospital for observation as a precautionary measure and is in stable condition at this time.

Mr. Pack’s vehicle is still outstanding – a red 1994 Nissan Pathfinder, CA license 3HLV677. If anyone locates Mr. Pack’s vehicle, they are encouraged to call their local law enforcement.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Gragg at 925-779-6887, or the Antioch Police Department nonemergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Last seen in Clayton, early Saturday morning

By Lieutenant Joe Donleavy #6011, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, at 1:15 AM, Antioch Police Officers took a missing person report after George Pack failed to return home (3037 Butternut Street) after visiting a friend in another part of Antioch. Mr. Pack was last seen wearing a green short sleeve polo shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. He is possibly driving his red 1994 Nissan Pathfinder (CA license 3HLV677). The vehicle has a 49er spare tire cover on the back. The vehicle was last seen on Marsh Creek Road near Diablo Parkway in Clayton early on the morning of Sept. 21, 2019.

Mr. Pack suffers from dementia. A Silver Alert has been issued in this case. If you see Mr. Pack, please immediately call 911 or the Antioch Police Department Dispatch at 925-778-2441 or you may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.