El Camino Health launches Taft Innovation Fund to invest in new health care technology

El Camino Health announced the launch of a fund to invest in new health care technology on June 20. The fund, donated by local philanthropists Pamela and Edward Taft, will go toward adopting new health care technologies to improve patient care.

El Camino Health has a history of committing to innovation for more than 50 years. The health system adopted the first computerized physician order entry system in 1971. As a pioneer of best practices that improve care, El Camino Health recently integrated mental health assessments into mother-baby care.

“At El Camino Health, our priority is to provide the most advanced science of medicine and

continuously improve our services and patient outcomes,” Dan Woods, chief executive officer at El Camino Health, said in a hospital statement.

The Taft Innovation Fund will address five key categories: clinical care, medical technology, clinical research, compassionate care services and other emerging areas.

El Camino Health is currently working on its first eight innovation projects, which are in different phases of implementation and are expected to be completed over the next 18 months. Some of these projects include developing a smart, wearable device for monitoring patients at home to facilitate rapid feedback and intervention, as well as a contactless check-in experience for visitors.

Pamela and Edward Taft have been donors to El Camino Health for more than 20 years. Their first gift launched the Imagine Campaign for a new patient tower on the Mountain View Hospital campus.

“We’re so proud that El Camino Health is a locally-based health system empowered by the

technology typical of larger academic medical centers,” Edward Taft said in the statement. “We want to ensure patients have access to the very best care right here in our own community. By establishing this fund, we know the teams at El Camino Health will continue to prioritize leading-edge technology, develop pioneering programs and deliver consistent, personalized care to our community for years to come.”

Owl Cookies to be sold at Shoreline Lake conservation event

On Sunday, June 25, the American Bistro, located at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, will be selling their signature Burrowing Owl Cookies to help commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Shoreline at Mountain View.

The cookie sale is meant to complement the City of Mountain View’s speaker presentation,“Forty Years of History: Birds, Wildlife & Habitat Conservation at Shoreline,” which is a part of a speaker event series that celebrates the environmental stewardship of the area and ongoing sustainability efforts.

Since their initial debut in November 2011, the owl-shaped cookies have supported the safety of the Burrowing Owl species, which calls Shoreline at Mountain View home. A portion of each in-house made cookie will be donated to organizations that support the Mountain View’s burrowing owl conservation and educational activities, such as the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society.

Each cookie costs $6.95. If you would like to pre-order a batch for your own fundraiser, contact the American Bistro for availability and pricing.

Samantha Stevens

Frankie, Johnnie & Luigi Too slated to return next year

Those longing for the return of Frankie, Johnnie & Luigi Too, a longtime Italian restaurant that's been a mainstay on El Camino Real in Mountain View for decades, can rest assured the place is coming back soon, although it'll look a little different.

The city approved a proposal by the restaurant's owners in 2020 to tear down the old building and rebuild it as a mixed-use project. The restaurant is coming back along with a 60-bed senior memory care facility on the property, which began construction in 2021.

Mike D'Ambrosio, co-owner of the restaurant, told the Voice in an email that the building is scheduled to be done in early 2024, with the restaurant expected to open shortly thereafter. The restaurant will be coming back under the name Giorgio's, but the menu and the prices will look familiar to what was offered before the building was torn down. The new place is will have decor commemorating the old Frankie Johnnie & Luigi Too.

Consistent with the original plan in 2020, D'Ambrosio said the rebuilt restaurant will be focused more on delivery and to-go meals and will be less focused on indoor dining space, but will still have a bar and a sizable outdoor patio.

Kevin Forestieri