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5/30/25 Dr. Taft Bhuket departs for his new role as Vice Chair of Internal Medicine at Los Angeles General Medical Center. It is with deep appreciation and admiration that we bid farewell to Dr. Taft Bhuket, whose exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication, and profound impact have left an enduring mark on Alameda Health System.
Since joining AHS in 2008 as the fifth Division Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Highland Hospital, Dr. Bhuket has been a driving force in transforming GI care across our system. Under his leadership, the division has grown from just two full-time providers to a team of ten, expanding access to GI services from a single hospital to three, ensuring that more patients across Alameda County receive the high-quality care they deserve.
Beyond his clinical leadership, Dr. Bhuket has been an influential voice in shaping the future of AHS. Serving as Chief of the Medical Staff and later as President of the Board of Trustees, he tirelessly championed initiatives to improve patient care, expand access, and advocate for both patients and providers. His steadfast commitment to excellence and equity in healthcare has been truly inspiring.
A gifted clinician and educator, Dr. Bhuket’s impact extends beyond patient care. His dedication to medical education earned him numerous accolades, including the AHS Physician of the Year award, the AHS Internal Medicine Teacher of the Year Award four times, the California Pacific Medical Center Endoscopy teacher of the year award, CPMC GI Fellowship Distinguished Service Award, and the prestigious UCSF Clinical Faculty Teaching Award. Under his guidance, the teaching GI rotation was recognized as the Internal Medicine Rotation of the Year for four consecutive years. Additionally, his vision led to the establishment of a joint GI fellowship program in partnership with California Pacific Medical Center, further strengthening the training and development of future gastroenterologists.
Despite his remarkable achievements, Dr. Bhuket has remained humble, always putting his colleagues, trainees, and patients first. He has been an advisor, mentor, and friend to so many at AHS, embodying the values of compassion, integrity, and excellence in every role he has undertaken.
As Dr. Bhuket embarks on this next chapter as Vice Chair of Medicine at Los Angeles General Medical Center, we express our deepest gratitude for his years of service, leadership, and friendship. While his presence at AHS will be greatly missed, his legacy will continue to shape our institution for years to come.
Please join us in celebrating Dr. Bhuket and wishing him all the success in his new role. He will always be a part of the AHS family.
6/11/25. Dr. Aaron Lee wins the CPMC Endoscopy Teacher of the Year Award and Dr. Taft Bhuket wins the CPMC Distinguished Service Award. The California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) GI Fellowship held their annual GI Fellowship graduation dinner honoring graduating GI fellows Drs. Alyssa Caplan and Omar Alshuwaykh at the San Francisco Yacht Club. Dr. Arron Lee was awarded the "Endoscopy Teacher of the Year" award and Dr. Taft Bhuket was awarded the "Distinguished Service Award". Congratulations to all.
(L-R) Dr. Aaron Lee, Dr. Paul Levy (2nd yr), Dr. Mili Parikh (1st yr), Dr. Torrey Czech (2nd yr), Dr. Matt Bell (1st yr), Dr. Alyssa Caplan (3rd yr), Dr. Omar Alshuwaykh (3rd yr).
4/15/25. Dr. Benny Liu is appointed as the Interim Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology as Dr. Taft Bhuket steps down from his role as Division Chief which he has held since 2008 to take on a new position as Vice Chair of Internal Medicine at the Los Angeles General Medical Center. We wish them both well in their new positions.
2/28/24. Dr. Christina Chou wins the Department of Medicine's February 2024 Outstanding Faculty Award. This Department of Medicine award is based on faculty nominations and is "In recognition of your dedication and commitment to excellence in clinical services and academic training as recognized by the Department of Medicine." It is a well deserved award for our own Dr. Chou. Congratulations to Dr. Chou!!!!
January 2024. The Division wins an Alameda Health System 2023 Culture of Safety Innovation Award. The Division's physicians and Advanced Practice Providers achieved the 2nd highest culture of safety score amongst the more than 30 provider groups at Alameda Health System. AHS culture of safety survey assesses teams for their teamwork, safety, and communication. Congratulations to the Division!!
11/6/23: The Division welcomes Physician Assistant Larry Barden to the team. The Division is thrilled to announce that Physician Assistant Larry Barden has joined the team. Larry has over 20 years of experience at Alameda Health System in the Department of Surgery. His deep commitment to AHS' safety net mission, his clinical experience, and his dedication will be a valuable asset to our patient and team.
7/10/23. The Division welcomes Dr. Aaron Lee to the team. The Division is excited to announce that Dr. Aaron Lee has joined the team. Dr. Lee is a well-respected and experienced GI physician with over 5 years of ERCP experience and general GI/hepatology practice. In addition to contributing to Dr. Lee will be spearheading the launch of our ERCP service at Highland Hospital.
8/14/23. Launch of the inpatient GI/Liver Consultation Service at San Leandro Hospital. The Division is proud to launch its inpatient GI/Liver Consultation Service At San Leandro Hospital (SLH) today. With this expansion, the Division now covers all three of the general hospitals in Alameda Health System (AHS) - Alameda Hospital, Highland Hospital, and San Leandro Hospital. The service will provide inpatient consultation on GI/Liver cases and offer general endoscopy services based out of the SLH Operating Room. The Division gives great thanks and appreciation to Dr. Vin Sawhney who has provided GI coverage to SLH for over 30 years. We are pleased to note that Dr. Sawhney will be staying on staff.
6/17/23: The California Pacific Medical Center celebrates graduating GI Fellows Drs. Farah Kassamali and Ann Robinson and AHS GI Division faculty Drs. Benny Liu and Christina Chou. The California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) GI Fellowship held their annual graduation dinner to celebrate graduating GI Fellows Drs. Farah Kassamali and Ann Robinson. At this dinner, Dr. Benny Liu was awarded the CPMC GI Fellowship's "Endoscopy Teacher of the Year Award" and Dr. Christina Chou was awarded the "Outstanding Service Award." Congratulations to our graduating fellows Drs. Farah Kassamali and Ann Robinson. And congratulations to Drs. Benny Liu and Christina Chou. We are very proud of you.
(L-R) Farah Shirazi MD (2nd year), Frances Lee MD (2nd year), Aly Caplan MD (1st year), Jesse Liu MD (Program Director), Omar Alshuwaykh MD (1st year), Farah Kassamali MD (3rd year), Ann Robinson (3rd year)
6/3/23: The Division's Highland Inpatient Consult Service wins "Rotation of the Year" from the Highland Department of Medicine Housestaff.
January 2023. The Highland Endoscopy Unit wins an Alameda Health System 2022 Culture of Safety Innovation Award. The AHS culture of safety survey assesses teams for their teamwork, safety, and communication. The Highland Endoscopy Unit was one of the top 10 scoring units across Alameda Health System. Congratulations to the entire team!
6/4/22: The Division's Highland Inpatient Consult Service wins "Rotation of the Year" from the Highland Department of Medicine Housestaff.
6/5/21: The Division's Highland Inpatient Consult Service wins "Rotation of the Year" from the Highland Department of Medicine Housestaff.
11/2/20: Launch of the inpatient GI/Liver Consultation Service at Alameda Hospital. The Division is proud to launch inpatient GI/Liver Consultation Service at Alameda Hospital (AH) today. With this expansion, the Division now covers two of the three general hospitals in Alameda Health System (AHS) - Alameda Hospital and Highland Hospital. The service will provide inpatient consultation on GI/Liver cases and offer general endoscopy services based out of the AH Operating Room.
5/7/20: Dr. Robert Wong departs for Stanford VA GI. We are very sad to report that Dr. Robert Wong is leaving Highland GI to join the faculty of Stanford GI. At Stanford, he will have an appointment at the Palo Alto VA. Dr. Wong joined our faculty in 2015 right out of Stanford GI Fellowship. During his 5 years here, he has developed into an outstanding clinician and helped refine our systems of GI/Liver care. More notably, he has evolved into an enormously productive clinical investigator, publishing over 100 peer-reviewed articles during his time at Highland GI and presenting over 100 posters/ presentations at national and international conferences. Dr. Wong will be missed. Big congratulations to him on this next chapter. We look forward to seeing what he does next.
3/2/20: The Division welcomes Dr. Christina Chou to the team. We are very, very pleased to announce the return of Dr. Christina Chou to our team! Dr. Chou has important history with Highland GI. During her 3 years as a California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) GI Fellow, she spent almost 6 months rotating on our endoscopy service. After completing her fellowship, she stayed with us as a service-as-needed (SAN) faculty member before moving on to a permanent position at CPMC. We are happy to have recruited her back to Highland. Dr. Chou will be providing general GI/Liver consultation on our Highland Inpatient Service and in our GI/Liver Clinics, and she will have a regular, general endoscopic practice at Highland Endoscopy. She has a strong interest in clinical education and a focused clinical interest in motility disorders.
3/7/18: The Department of Anesthesiology begins anesthesia support for endoscopic services at the Highland Endoscopy Unit.
2/7/18: The Highland Endoscopy Unit has go-live for Provation Endoscopy reporting.
1/25/18: The Alameda Health System Board of Trustees unanimously approved the acquisition of Epic as the system electronic health record. Projected go-live for Epic will be the end of 2019.
1/2/18: Our HCV Clinic Physician Assistant Amy Smith will be transitioning roles within our Division. Amy will move from her part-time HCV Clinic position to a full-time position in our Gastroenterology & Hepatology Clinics. We are very pleased to have Amy take on this new and expanded position with us.
12/29/17: Today is the last day at AHS for our own Sharon Torres, PA. Sharon joined our Division in 2012 and she quickly became an integral part of our team. We are better for having had Sharon and we will miss her dearly. Sharon will be joining Kaiser Permanente to lead a cancer survivorship program. Thanks for everything, Sharon!!!!
9/11/17: Maneey Sharma joins Alameda Health System as the Manager of the Highland Care Pavilion's 5th Floor. Maneey will have oversight over the Infusion Center, HCP-5 Specialty Clinics, and the Endoscopy Unit. Welcome, Maneey!!!!
8/21/17: Our GI clinics Go-Live on Nextgen Electronic Medical Record.
8/2/17: IM Resident Ann Robinson, MD has been selected to receive a Young Investigator Travel Award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD). Ann will be presenting her abstract "Less Than Half of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Among the 1945-1965 Birth Cohort in the U.S. Were Within Milan Criteria at Time of Diagnosis" at this year's annual AASLD meeting. Congrats to Ann!!!
7/31/17: After working on a part-time basis for the past year, Betty Cheung, RN will now join our Endoscopy Unit as a full-time Endoscopy Nurse. We are very happy to have Betty on the team!!
7/28/19: Endoscopy Nurse Mel Castaneda, RN retires today after over 20 years of service to Highland Hospital. The Endoscopy Unit will miss her dearly. Congratulations to Mel on a spectacular career!!!
7/20/17: Dr. Emma Shak joins our Division as a part-time provider working in the HCV Clinic on Thursday mornings. Dr. Shak is an internist and full-time member of the Department's Primary Care Division. She has an expressed interest in HCV and health disparities/social justice. Dr. Shak completed medical school at Emory and her residency at UCSF. Welcome, Dr. Shak!!!
7/18/17: Alameda Health System now offers adult H. pylori breath testing at its outpatient blood draw stations.
6/30/17: The Highland Endoscopy Unit has "gifted" approximately $100,000 in endoscopic equipment to the Highland OR/ Dept of Surgery towards the development of their own surgical endoscopy program.
6/22/17: Alameda Health System announces that Epic is the "lead vendor" candidate for the future system electronic medical record.
6/19/17: Highland Hospital go-live today for inpatient progress notes on Soarian.
5/9/17: Dr. Wong has been selected to receive a 2017 Clinical and Translational Research Award in Liver Diseases from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation (AASLD Foundation). This prestigious and extremely competitive, two-year, $150,000 award will fund Dr. Wong’s research project entitled Impact of Provider-Centered and Patient-Centered Targeted Educational Interventions to Improve Hepatitis B Virus Management and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Screening Among At-Risk Underserved Populations. Congratulations to Dr. Wong!!!
3/27/17: NextGen EMR rollout for GI Clinics has been moved back to MON AUG 21, 2017. To accomodate the rollout, templates will be reduced for 50% for 1 month, then 25% for 2 weeks, then 10% for 2 weeks.
2/7/17: NextGen Electronic Medical Record is scheduled to launch in GI/Liver Clinics on MON APR 17, 2017. There will be short term clinic template reductions to accomodate this new EMR platform launch.
2/1/17: Sarah Farzinkou has joined us as the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology's Research Coordinator.
1/23/17: Sharon Torres, PA-C has been promoted to Associate Medical Director of GI/Liver Clinics.
10/3/16: Maria Aguilar, MD (Highland Medicine Class of 2016) has been accepted to the Mayo Scottsdale Gastroenterology Fellowship Program. Congrats to Maria!
6/4/16: Dr. Benny Liu wins the California Pacific Medical Center GI Fellowship's Endoscopy Teacher of the Year Award. Congrats to Dr. Liu!!!
5/12/16: Sasan Mosadeghi, MD (Highland Medicine Class of 2013) has been accepted to the University of Arizona Gastroenterology Fellowship Program. Congrats to Sasan!
5/2/16: Dr. Taft Bhuket is one of five recipients of the UCSF Class of 2016 Teaching Awards for Clinical Faculty. Congrats to Dr. Bhuket!!!
4/4/16: A great new day for Highland Hospital!! The new Highland Hospital a.k.a. the Acute Care Tower (ACT) opened today. Old Highland Hospital will close at the end of today. Link to a video of the new Highland Hospital.
4/1/16: GI tech Rueben Phill wins one of the "Employee of the Quarter" award. Here is the award recognition: "Rueben has gone above and beyond since mid-December, when after the other GI tech went on maternity leave, he has covered each and every night, often setting up for emergency endoscopy in the wee hours. When he is called, he is amiable and professional, no matter what time it may be. I am impressed with his ability to put patients at ease in what is often an anxiety-laden situation. He is held in high regard by everyone in the department, and is a valuable asset to the GI Lab. His enthusiasm is infectious. He even set up an informal basketball tournament for employees and house staff, providing food and prizes. In fact, he set up the basketball court outside the old buildings several years ago for all to enjoy.
For the past 6 months Rueben has been taking on the responsibility and workload of 2 people since one of our GI techs was on leave and we could not find a temporary replacement. He would often have to stay late given the increased workload. Our GI techs also take call for emergent GI procedures that come in overnight and on weekends and Rueben took call every day for 6 months straight!! He is the hardest working employee that I have ever worked with! He always works with a smile. He is cheerful, hardworking, professional, and friendly."
Congrats to Rueben!!
1/14/16: Viral Hepatitis Clinic launches. This new clinic is designed to care for patients with non-cirrhotic viral hepatitis B or C. Department of Medicine Chair Dr. Rachel Baden will lead this new clinic for the Division. Dr. Baden is in Infectious Disease specialist who has a long track record of research and care of patients with viral hepatitis. Welcome to Dr. Baden.
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