Cline, Liu to be honored by Sonoma Hospital Foundation

Nancy Cline and Dr. Yong Liu have the “pulse” of the Sonoma Valley’s health needs at their fingertips. That’s why the two have been named as recipients of this year’s Pulse Awards, given annually by the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation to recognize outstanding Sonoma Valley women who have made significant contributions to the community through their volunteerism, community involvement and philanthropy.

Cline and Liu will be honored at the Foundation’s 15th annual Celebration of Women luncheon on Thursday, May 14 beginning at 11 a.m. at Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma.

Dave Pier, executive director of the Hospital Foundation, said both women represent the “generous and strong community spirit” that makes Sonoma Valley special.

“Both Nancy and Yong are being honored in recognition of the tremendous impact they have had on the community,” said Pier in a press release announcing the awards. “Nancy through her long-term volunteer engagement and philanthropy, and Dr. Liu through her commitment to her patients, the hospital and the healthcare community.”

Cline and her husband Fred moved to Sonoma in 1989. They raised their seven children on the family ranch in southern Sonoma which now is best known as Cline Cellars Winery, Jacuzzi Family Vineyards and the Olive Press. Cline is President of the John Christopher Bunting Foundation and has been active in supporting numerous nonprofits in Sonoma Valley as well as Sonoma County, including Sonoma Valley Hospital, Vintage House senior center, the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Sonoma Sister Cities, the Vintners & Growers Alliance, the Boys & Girls Club and the Sonoma Community Center, among others.

Liu immigrated to the U.S. in 1984 after graduating from medical school in Shanghai, China. She then earned a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of California, San Francisco. She practiced as a clinical pharmacist for several years at San Francisco General Hospital, but says she felt she could better serve her patients as a physician. She then completed internal medicine residency at St. Mary’s Medical Center and has practiced as a board-certified internist in Sonoma since 2001.

“As a longstanding, caring physician who is loved by her patients, she finds the connections she has built supporting her patients immensely meaningful,” foundation officials wrote in the release.

Tickets for the luncheon are $125 and are available at svhfoundation.com. Proceeds from the event benefit women’s health and wellness programs at Sonoma Valley Hospital, including Project Pink which funds mammograms for uninsured women each October.