Career Pulse

Al-Atassi Joins Team at Berkshire Health Systems

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Borhan Al-Atassi, a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon, to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center.

Al-Atassi, who is accepting new patients, joins Dr. Laszlo Tamas in providing comprehensive neurosurgical and spinal surgery services to patients throughout the Berkshires and surrounding region. Their office is located in the BMC Medical Arts Complex, 777 North St., Pittsfield, fifth floor.

Al-Atassi was fellowship-trained in neuroendovascular surgery at Columbia University. He received his medical degree from McGill University School of Medicine and also completed his residency in Neurosurgery at McGill University. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

He specializes in trauma, tumor, neurovascular, and pediatric neurosurgery; spinal surgery; epilepsy surgery; and peripheral nerve surgery. For an appointment with Al-Atassi or Tamas, call Neurosurgical Services at BHS, (413) 447-2870.

Cardiologist Buffum Joins Noble Hospital

WESTFIELD — Noble Hospital has announced the appointment of Dr. James Buffum to the cardiology staff effective January 2011.

Buffum completed his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center.

Buffum is board-certified in internal medicine with a subspecialty in cardiovascular disease. He also has received recognition from the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Heart/Stroke Recognition Program (HSRP), recognizing clinicians who use evidence-based measures and provide excellent care to persons with cardiovascular disease or who have had a stroke. HSRP assesses key quality performance measures that are based on AHA and American College of Cardiology guidelines for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Coppola Named President of Sleep Apnea Assoc.

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Michael Coppola has been elected to serve as president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Sleep Apnea Assoc. for 2011. Coppola, who specializes in pulmonary and sleep medicine, has served on the 20-year-old association’s board of directors since 2004.

Coppola is president and CEO of the multi-specialty practice Springfield Medical Associates (SMA).

The American Sleep Apnea Assoc. (ASAA) was founded in 1990 as a nonprofit organization by people with apnea and concerned health care providers and researchers. People with sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer. Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes.

The ASAA is dedicated to reducing injury, disability, and death from sleep apnea and to enhancing the well-being of those affected by this common disorder. The ASAA promotes education and awarenessa network of voluntary mutual support groups, research, and continuous improvement of care.

Coppola is recognized locally and nationally not only as a leader of the ASAA but as a practitioner of pulmonary and sleep medicine. A 1978 graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine, he has practiced in Springfield since 1985. Coppola has served as president and CEO of SMA since 2002. He also serves as an associate clinical professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Rosanio Brings Cardiac Device Specialty to BHS

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems has announced the appointment of Dr. Salvatore Rosanio, a board-certified and fellowship-trained specialist in cardiovascular disease and cardiac devices, to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the physician staff of Cardiology Services at BHS. Rosanio provides general cardiology services, cardiac device implantation, and diagnostic cardiac catheterization.

Rosanio joins Drs. Kyle Cooper, Kristen Currie, David Finck, Peter Hahn, Douglas Herr, Jeffery Leppo, William Levy, Lisa Massie, J. Mark Peterman, Mara Slawsky, and Georgianne Valli-Harwood at Cardiology Services at BHS. Rosanio will join Hahn in the implantation and management of cardiac devices, as well as Peterman, Currie, and Herr in the Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization Lab at BMC.

Rosanio comes to the Berkshires from the Cardiology Division at the University of Texas Medical Branch, in Galveston. He is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease, and was fellowship-trained in cardiology at Hospital Umberto I, La Sapienza University of Rome School of Medicine, where he also received his medical degree. He is certified by the International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners in cardiac device implantation. He completed his residency in Cardiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

Rosanio’s clinical interests include heart-failure management; pacemaker, implantable loop recorder, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, and cardiac resynchronization therapy device implantation; left and right heart catheterization and coronary angiography; and clinical echocardiography.

For an appointment with Rosanio or one of his colleagues at Cardiology Services at BHS, call (413) 395-7580.