Media and Newsroom
Welcome to the NorthBay Health press room. We want to make accessing our facilities and health care experts as easy and efficient as possible. The following guidelines are designed to help you navigate our system with ease.
Media Contacts
You can reach out to External Communications Manager Sharon Song (Sharon.Song@Northbay.org) or Internal Communications Manager Maribel Rosas (Maribel.Rosas@Northbay.org) from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m, Monday – Friday except on holidays.
To contact a member of the communications staff after hours, call the hospital administrative coordinator for NorthBay Medical Center at 707-646-5011, or for NorthBay VacaValley Hospital at 707-624-7620.
Media Services
The press is asked to contact the Communications Department for an escort when visiting our facilities. Please reach out to us to coordinate interviews, still photography or video shoots at all NorthBay Health facilities.
Patient Information
Our policy is to provide patient conditions to the media based on the privacy rules outlined in HIPAA. Media must provide the patient's name and the location of the facility where they are being treated. We do not provide conditions on patients who have been discharged or transferred to another facility.
Patient Privacy
Our top priority is ensuring patient privacy at all times. Any patient who will be interviewed, videotaped or photographed within NorthBay Medical Center, NorthBay VacaValley Hospital, NorthBay Health Cancer Center or any facility affiliated with NorthBay Health must first sign a consent form authorizing the release of their personal health information. Members of the Communications department are authorized to obtain consent.
HIPAA and the Media
We are required by law to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of our patients' medical conditions.
Federal regulations set forth in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) strictly limit the patient information we may share with the media. We will release certain information only if the media provides us with a patient name and the name of our facility where the patient is receiving care.
We can only disclose a patient's condition in general terms. We use the following definitions:
Undetermined. Patient is awaiting physician assessment.
Good. Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious and comfortable. Indicators are excellent.
Fair. Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious, but may be uncomfortable. Indicators are favorable.
Serious. Vital signs may be unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.
Critical. Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient may be unconscious. Indicators are unfavorable.
