Awards, Board Business Highlight Cooley Dickinson’s Annual Meetings

NORTHAMPTON — Awards and new members made headlines at two Cooley Dickinson annual meetings held in October.

More than 150 people attended the 127th annual meeting of the Cooley Dickinson board of trustees, while the 350-member auxiliary also hosted its annual meeting.

Craig Melin, Cooley Dickinson president and CEO, received the William E. Dwyer Distinguished Service Award. The Dwyer award is given each year to outstanding individuals whose service on behalf of Cooley Dickinson exemplifies loyalty, leadership, and dedication to improving the health of the community.

Cooley Dickinson board chair Matthew Pitoniak told annual meeting attendees that “there are not a lot of board chairs who have the privilege of recognizing a CEO for 25 years of service, as the average tenure of a hospital CEO is around five and a half years. Fortunately for Cooley Dickinson and our community, Craig is in his 26th. Our health system is much different and far better than what he found when he arrived in 1998.”

Dr. James Donnelly said Melin effectively led the change for improvement on all fronts. “Cooley Dickinson now stands as the only hospital in Massachusetts to achieve five consecutive years of the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, putting us in the top 5{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} in the nation for patient safety. And twice I’ve witnessed Craig chart the course for Cooley Dickinson with two top academic medical centers, first Dartmouth-Hitchcock and this year with Massachusetts General Hospital.”

Nominated by her colleagues, Robin Kline, director of volunteer services, received the BECOME award, a recognition that celebrates an employee who models Cooley Dickinson’s values.

Recipients of the inaugural Medical Staff Awards were also nominated by their colleagues. The Medical Staff Clinical Excellence Award is given by the CDH medical staff to the physician who has achieved significant improvement in clinical outcomes. Dr. George Hartnell, interventional radiologist, has done that by, in the words of one nomination, “improving patients’ quality of life and providing medical interventions that are rarely found at community hospitals.” Hartnell specializes in the treatment of vascular diseases as well as minimally invasive treatment of cancers of the liver and kidney.

The Medical staff gives the Teamwork Award to the physician who demonstrates a highly developed ability to bring teams of clinicians together to improve care. In nominating Dr. Dirk Stanley, colleagues pointed out that he demonstrates a true commitment to clinical care and information technology. Stanley is a hospitalist, a physician who takes care of hospitalized patients, and the chief medical informatics Officer.

Dr. Jay Sprong received the Medical Staff Patient-Centered Care Award. The medical staff makes this award to a physician who demonstrates a high level of empathic care and always looks to the patient’s values to guide decisions. Sprong is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology.

The Medical Staff Nursing Care Excellence Award is given by the CDH medical staff to the nurse who best represents teamwork with physicians to drive best clinical outcomes. Cindy Baecher, ICU and Telemetry clinical nurse specialist, was commended by a nominator as championing life-saving outcomes for unstable and critically ill patients.

In addition, the nominating committee of the board voted its officers for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2014: Matthew Pitoniak, chair; Sanford Belden, vice chair; Kevin Lake, secretary; Charles Staelin, treasurer; Edith Peter, assistant treasurer; and Craig Melin, assistant secretary. Board members include Sanford Belden, Kenneth Bordewieck, Stephen Cavanagh, Dr. James Donnelly, William Gorth, Kevin Lake, Craig Melin, John Nunnelly, Matthew Pitoniak, Danielle Ramdath, Nancy Reeves, Dr. Henry Rosenberg, Dr. Margaret Russo, Kathleen Scoble, Dr. Peter Siersma, Charles Staelin, John Todd, Margo Welch, and Dr. Geoffrey Zucker.

In addition, five Massachusetts General Hospital trustees became part of the Cooley Dickinson board of trustees when the acquisition of Cooley Dickinson became official on July 1. Appointed are Dr. Michael Blute, Dr. David Brown, Tony James, Dr. Elizabeth Mort, and Dr. Peter Slavin.

The auxiliary also elected the following officers for two-year terms: Pauline Marney, president; Lisa Ducharme, vice president; John Favaro Jr., treasurer; Hazel Waller, assistant treasurer; Marianne Gambaro, recording secretary; and Susan Myers, corresponding secretary.

The mission of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Auxiliary is to support patient services, support volunteer services, advocate for the hospital, provide educational programs, and raise funds through such projects as the hospital’s coffee and gift shops, corridor art galleries, and the fashion show.