Santa Barbara Doctors ExtraCare – April 2021 Newsletter
April 2021 ExtraCare
Newsletter
Change is in the air! Not only in our mountains as evident by the mustard, poppies and lupin dotting our hillsides but also here at Santa Barbara Doctors.
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Sawyer Haig will be joining us in early June, practicing at the 216 W. Pueblo office.
We are also saddened to say goodbye to Dr. Viglione as he has decided to leave Santa Barbara Doctors to pursue an interest in integrative, home based medicine. We wish him luck in his future endeavors.
And as our community vaccination efforts push forward we remind each and every one of you to GET VACCINATED so our lives can finally get back to some semblance of normalcy.
Introducing Dr. Sawyer B. Haig
Dr. Haig earned his undergraduate degree in Geosciences from Williams College in 2000. After researching lava flows at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, his love of science and caring for people led him to his passion for medicine. He earned his post-baccalaureate pre-medical certificate from Mills College in 2005 and pursued his medical training at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
During his time at Touro University he was a Global Service Health Intern in partnership with Jimma University in Ethiopia. While in Ethiopia he served as a medical volunteer at Mother Theresa’s Home for Sick and Dying Destitute. He earned a T.O.U.C.H. Award from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine for his extensive community service. He graduated from Touro University with honors in 2012.
Dr. Haig came to Santa Barbara in 2012 to embark on his Internal Medicine Residency at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital where he focused on inpatient and outpatient primary care. He received board certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine in 2015.
Following graduation, he joined Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, where he spent six years caring for community members as an Internal Medicine Physician practicing primary care and hospital medicine. His time at Sansum deepened his appreciation of preventative medicine and the value of merging science and compassionate patient care. As part of his commitment to the Santa Barbara community, he remains on the staff of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital.
At Santa Barbara Doctors, Dr. Haig values the focused attention and personalized, comprehensive care that a concierge medical practice allows. He especially appreciates the opportunity to spend more time with each patient, to provide care promptly, and to be accessible at all times for his patients.
Dr. Haig was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts and his loving family has deep roots in the Berkshires. He met his wife, Malana Willis, a Santa Barbara native, when they were students at Williams College. They love returning to Massachusetts to visit family and their alma mater, especially when the leaves change color in the fall.
Dr. Haig loves spending time traveling abroad and exploring Santa Barbara’s beauty close to home with his family. During the weekends you can find him playing with his young children Gus and Gretel. Riding bikes, jumping in the waves, and exploring neighborhood parks are favorite pastimes. In any remaining free time, he enjoys listening to music, cooking, reading, and tinkering with electronics.
Four months into the Santa Barbara County vaccination, supply has effectively ramped up to efficiently meet the demands within the community. If you haven’t yet received your Covid vaccination, now is the perfect time to get it done because vaccine slots are readily available for EVERYONE in the community greater than 16 years of age. That’s right, every adult is now eligible to receive the vaccination! below are 5 tips on how to efficiently navigate the process:
1. The public health department website for Santa Barbara should still be your primary platform to identify available Covid vaccination appointments. This is updated daily and continues to showcase both community driven vaccination sites and pharmacies. Large-scale vaccination sites are continuing to emerge, and should be your #1 source of vaccine, when available. This week, thousands will receive the vaccine at the Hilton Waterfront in Santa Barbara. Additional Sites are actively vaccinating individuals at Allan Hancock Community College and Marian Medical Center, in Santa Maria, as well as Lompoc Valley Medical Center and Dick DeWees Community and Senior Center, in Lompoc. New public health mediated sites are designated weekly and are clearly identified on the public health department website.
2. Cottage Hospital has a remarkably efficient drive through clinic at the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital parking lot, and the best way to monitor for vaccine availability here is through a new website (also connected to the public health website, for convenience); http://myturn.ca.gov. This site was a state wide IT directive to identify locations that have availability, and interestingly, it works! Once you complete a few questions to confirm eligibility (ie. every adult), available sites with links populate. The efficiency and rapidity of the Goleta Valley drive through clinic makes it a patient favorite. And as the name implies, there’s no need to even exit your vehicle.
3. The pharmacy links remain tedious, as the only way to identify vaccine availability is to literally click each individual pharmacy link to determine availability. But, several new pharmacies have joined the mix to provide vaccination, and these include CVS, Ralphs, Sav-On, Von’s, and even Costco. Last month, you could spend hours clicking links to no avail, but greater distribution to pharmacies in the greater Santa Barbara area has tremendously alleviated the “bottleneck phenomena” that previously plagued the city.
4. Be flexible with your vaccine choice! Clinics and pharmacies offer whichever vaccine supply is received, and this is often driven by federal distribution mandates. The J&J vaccine is currently on HOLD while investigations proceed regarding rare blood clotting events, so expect to receive either the Pfizer or Moderna until further safety studies are completed. Please do not let this deter you; both available vaccine formulations are tremendously effective and exceedingly safe by all metrics. The inherent problem with “waiting” for a specific vaccine manufacturer is that the virus won’t do the same. And it puts both you and your loved ones at risk in the interim.
5. Be willing to drive. Not all vaccination sites are in Santa Barbara proper, but all the options listed above are within about an hour drive, maximum. The fastest way to receive vaccination is to be flexible with the location. Santa Maria and Lompoc have several large-scale sites that are an excellent option for those willing to enjoy a day trip.
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