Career Pulse

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Wilfred Carney Jr., a board-certified vascular surgeon, as director of Vascular Services for Berkshire Medical Center.

Carney comes to the Berkshires after serving for many years as an associate clinical professor of Surgery at Brown University and vascular surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

He is accepting new patients in need of vascular procedures and is practicing in the offices of Berkshire Surgical Associates, in collaboration with Drs. Eugene Curletti, Michael Cohn, Jose Heisecke, and Christian Galvez-Padilla, who are also providing vascular-surgery services.

Carney provides comprehensive vascular surgery services and has a special interest in minimal incision carotid endarterectomy for prevention of stroke. He performs bypass procedures, balloon angioplasty, and stent placement for prevention of limb amputation. He also provides minimally invasive endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm with the latest stent grafts. For varicose veins, he uses outpatient saphenous vein radiofrequency ablation. He also provides sclerotherapy for spider veins of the lower extremities, dialysis-access surgery, and first-rib resection for thoracic outlet syndrome.

Carney was fellowship-trained in peripheral vascular surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University Medical School in Philadelphia and completed his residency in general surgery at Tufts – New England Medical Center in Boston. He also served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Philadelphia.

He comes from a family with a long medical history. His father and three siblings were involved in medicine, and his grandfather, Philemon Truesdale, founded the Truesdale Hospital in Fall River. For an appointment with Carney, call Berkshire Surgical Associates at (413) 445-6420.

Hampshire Practice Welcomes Berge

BELCHERTOWN — Drs. Lisa Levheim and Joshua Mintz welcome Eileen Berge, a family nurse practitioner, to Hampshire Family Physicians.

Berge earned her bachelor’s degree in Nursing at UMass Amherst, and also completed her master’s degree in Nursing at UMass, with a Family Nurse Practitioner specialty.

She has 25 years of nursing experience and has worked at practices that provide adult, pediatric, and women’s health care; wellness care; and chronic disease management. Berge is accepting new patients at Hampshire Family Physicians, which provides the services of general practitioners who treat most family members, from children to adults. For more information about the practice or to make an appointment, call (413) 323-7700.

Hyder Joins CDH Cancer Care Team

NORTHAMPTON — Radiation oncologist Dr. Jennifer Hyder has joined Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Cancer Care Program. She previously worked at the Sr. Caritas Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center.

Hyder received her medical doctorate from Eastern Virginia Medical School, a master’s degree in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in Physics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She completed an internship in internal medicine at UMass Worcester and a residency in radiation oncology at Drexel University College of Medicine and Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Hyder says she is pleased to offer her patients access to state-of-the-art radiation-oncology treatment, including the Elekta Synergy. For patients undergoing radiation-oncology treatments, the Elekta Synergy can significantly shorten daily treatment times. It also delivers the radiation dose more precisely to the tumor while minimizing the impact to the surrounding healthy tissue, treating cancer more precisely and aggressively than with other treatment machines.

In addition, Hyder has experience with technologically advanced procedures such as 3-D conformal techniques, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and linear-accelerator-based stereotactic radiosurgery, as well as CT simulation and Pinnacle treatment planning.

Hyder joins the team of Cancer Care Program physicians who collaborate with the Mass General Cancer Care Program. Since early 2009, CDH and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Care Program have been in collaboration, allowing cancer patients in the Pioneer Valley to receive top-notch care in the comfort of their own community.

Hyder is a member of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American College of Radiation Oncology, the American Medical Assoc., and the Mass. Medical Society.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call the Cancer Care Program/Radiation Oncology Suite at (413) 582-2107.

Wing Medical Center Welcomes Noble
WILBRAHAM — Dr. Charles Cavagnaro III, president and CEO of Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers, announces that Dr. Victoria Noble has joined Wing Memorial Hospital’s medical staff and is providing internal-medicine services at Wing Medical Center in Wilbraham.

Noble received her medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and completed her residency at Baystate Medical Center. Prior to joining Wing Memorial, she was a general and ICU hospitalist at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and provided primary-care services at South Hadley Medical Associates.

Noble has daily office hours and is currently accepting new patients. To schedule an appointment, call (413) 596-3455. Most major insurance plans are accepted.

HMC Names Szczepanek Laboratory Manager

HOLYOKE — John Szczepanek of Ware has been appointed manager of the Laboratory at Holyoke Medical Center. He had formerly been Chemistry supervisor at the facility.

Szczepanek received his bachelor’s degree from UMass and performed his internship in medical technology at Baystate Medical Center. He began his career at HMC in 1979 as a medical technologist in Chemistry, eventually working his way to the position of supervisor.

He has also had experience through the years working at King Fahd Military Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and with Abbott Diagnostics Field Service.

Zhang Joins Cardiology Staff at Noble Hospital

WESTFIELD — Noble Hospital has announced the appointment of Dr. Yufeng Zhang to the cardiology staff.

Zhang, a board-certified cardiologist, is one of three Pioneer Valley Cardiology physicians, along with Drs. James Buffum and Robert Chircop, joining Noble Hospital cardiologist Dr. Mehdi Pajouh in scheduling appointments for new and existing patients preferring to be seen at their new location in the Cardiac Center located in the hospital.

Zhang completed her medical degree at China Medical University in Shenyang. She also earned a master’s degree in Medical Science from China Medical University, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from St. George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, in England.

She is board-certified in cardiology and internal medicine, completing her residency in internal medicine at UMass Medical Center in Worcester. She completed a fellowship in cardiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. In addition to professional memberships with the American Heart Assoc., the American College of Cardiology, and the American Medical Assoc., Zhang is also an adjunct faculty member at Tufts School of Medicine.

Providence Names Fisher Medical Director of Child and Adolescent Services

HOLYOKE — Dr. Caroline Fisher has been appointed to the post of medical director of Child and Adolescent Services at Providence Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke.

In addition to her responsibilities at Providence, Fisher serves as medical director of Pediatric Behavioral Health, LLC in West Boylston, and as editor-in-chief of the Carlat Child Psychiatry Report. She has also served as the associate director of Residency Training in Psychiatry at UMass Medical School in Worcester.

Fisher earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in psychiatry at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester, where she also received fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry. She is board-certified in both psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

“Providence Behavioral Health Hospital is known for providing high-quality, comprehensive services and compassionate care,” Fisher said. “My goal is to further that reputation throughout New England by making Providence the premier provider for inpatient behavioral-health services for children and adolescents, acute residential treatment, and wraparound services.”