Career Pulse

King Designated Fellow by Echocardiography Society

NORTHAMPTON — Arthur R. King, registered diagnostic cardiac sonographer, has been designated a fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE).

According to the society, the Fellow designation, the highest distinction available in the field, recognizes an individual’s commitment to echocardiography. The designation also recognizes the achievement of credentials that demonstrate training and performance requirements.

According to King, he is the only fellow-designated cardiac sonographer working at a Western Mass. hospital and the only cardiac sonographer who is employed at a community hospital in the state. In the Commonwealth, there are only five individuals who hold this designation.

King has worked in Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Radiology department since 2005. In 2008, he was appointed to the American Society of Echocardiography Public Relations Committee, where he worked with about 20 cardiologists and cardiac sonographers from around the country on marketing issues affecting the industry.

The ASE is an organization of almost 15,000 professionals committed to excellence in cardiovascular ultrasound and its application to patient care through education, advocacy, research, innovation,n and service to its members and the public.

Whitman Named to VP Post at Brightside

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Charles Ned Whitman, MS, has been named vice president of Services at Brightside for Families and Children. In this role, he will oversee all functions, processes, and activities relating to current and continuing programs at Brightside, with a focus on financial effectiveness.

Additionally, he will assist department heads in establishing standards of service, develop organizational plans to carry out activities, and evaluate services for compliance with regulatory and accrediting agencies.

Whitman comes to Brightside with over 30 years of experience in the field of youth services. For the past 10 years, he has served as the assistant director of the Regional Resource Center for Western Mass. at the Key Program.

He began his career a child care worker in New York, later moving to Massachusetts for a position in Outreach and Tracking Services with the Key Program. He also served as a caseworker with the Department of Youth Services (DYS) and later spent 10 years as the agency’s director of Casework Services.

Whitman received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Plattsburgh State University of New York, and his master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College.

Gross Named Chief of New Trauma Division

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Ronald I. Gross, who has more than 30 years of extensive clinical and academic experience in the field of trauma, has joined the Department of Surgery at Baystate Medical Center, where he is serving as chief of the newly formed Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery.

Before arriving at Baystate, Gross served as associate director of Trauma at Hartford Hospital. He also served as assistant professor of Traumatology and Emergency Medicine and assistant professor of Surgery at University of Connecticut Health Center School of Medicine and was assistant clinical professor of Surgery, Section of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, at Yale University School of Medicine.

Gross earned his medical degree at New York University School of Medicine and completed his general surgical residency and cardiovascular research fellowship at New York University/Bellevue Medical Center, where he also served as chief resident. He is board-certified in general surgery.

Among his many professional memberships include Fellow, American College of Surgeons, as well as the American Assoc. for the Surgery of Trauma, the Eastern Assoc. for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Trauma Society, the Pan American Trauma Society, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Gross recently served as chair of the American College of Surgeons Connecticut State Committee on Trauma and on the Advisory Committee for Bioterrorism Preparedness.

Dr. Gross is well-published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and abstracts and has authored books and contributed chapters to several publications on a variety of topics. He was also named among the 100 Top Doctors in Connecticut by Connecticut magazine and received the Millennium Commitment Award from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.

Rathlev Chairs Baystate Emergency Medicine

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Niels Kumar Rathlev, FACEP, who has 28 years of extensive clinical and academic experience in the field of emergency medicine, has been appointed chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baystate Medical Center.

“I came from the busiest emergency department in the state to Baystate Medical Center, which is the second-busiest with an equal commitment to serving the community as a Level I Trauma Center,” said Rathlev.

On the faculty at Boston City Hospital and Boston University since 1991, he was most recently executive vice chair and clinical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Boston Medical Center, and associate professor of Emergency Medicine at Boston University.

Rathlev completed his bachelor’s degree in Zoology at Duke University and received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital.

As part of his new appointment at Baystate, Dr. Rathlev also serves as chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, for which Baystate Medical Center serves as its western campus.

Rathlev is active in the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine and the American College of Physicians and has published more than 27 papers and numerous abstracts.

Beaudry Joins Staff of Mary Lane Ob/Gyn

WARE — Baystate Medical Practices – Mary Lane Ob/Gyn has announced that Lisa Beaudry, CNM, MPH, a certified nurse midwife, recently joined the practice and is now available to see patients in the Ware office located at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.

Beaudry received her bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a master’s degree in Public Health from UMass, and completed her midwifery studies through Baystate Medical Center’s Midwifery Education Program. In addition to her midwifery practice, she serves as the nurse manager of the Women’s & Infants Unit at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.

“Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, our medical director, and I spend a lot of time with our patients,” said Beaudry. “Besides providing emotional and physical support during pregnancy and delivery, we also give women tools to use against pain, including labor-management skills like breathing techniques, changing positions, walking, taking a warm shower or bath, warm compresses, or massage.” They are also qualified to prescribe pain medications when requested.

Mary Lane Ob/Gyn in Belchertown and Ware also offers the collaborative nurse midwife/physician approach for women with minor to moderate complications. If a moderate medical problem is present, the nurse midwife arranges a physician consultation to discuss the patient’s continuing care and the proper course of treatment. Often, the woman can continue to see her midwife, with some additional oversight by an obstetrician.

According to the American College of Nurse-Midwives, in 2005 CNMs attended more than 306,000 deliveries, mostly in hospitals, accounting for almost 8{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of all U.S. births.

Kugelmass Heads Baystate Division of Cardiology

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Aaron Kugelmass, who has nearly 15 years of extensive clinical and academic experience in the field of cardiology, has been appointed chief of the Division of Cardiology and medical director of the Heart and Vascular Program at Baystate Medical Center.

Before coming to Baystate, Kugelmass served as director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and associate chief of the Cardiology Division at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and was an associate professor of Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine. Prior to that, he spent seven years at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center serving as director of Interventional Cardiology and director of the Catheterization Lab.

Kugelmass received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and his medial degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and went on to complete fellowship training in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is board-certified in internal medicine, the subspecialty of cardiovascular disease, and interventional cardiology.

Among his many honors and recognitions, Kugelmass was named Top Doctor by Hour magazine in Detroit, and received the Focus on People Award, twice presented to him by the Henry Ford Health System Board of Trustees.

Active in clinical research, Kugelmass has completed research in interventional cardiology and acute coronary syndromes, as well as outcomes research. He has also authored 35 peer-reviewed publications and 93 abstracts.

Benoit Joins Baystate Regional Cancer Program

WARE — Claudia Benoit, LICSW, an oncology social worker, recently joined the Oncology Services team at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.

She will provide counseling for patients and their families through all phases of their cancer care, and will help them access needed information and resources, including social security benefits, disability benefits, and insurance coverage and financial assistance.

Prior to joining the staff at Baystate Mary Lane Benoit served as a medical social worker for Baystate Visiting Nurse Assoc. & Hospice, where she gained experience in working with individuals during their adjustment to illness.

“Meeting the psychosocial needs of our patients and their families is vital to providing quality care,” said Nancy Price, RN, supervisor of the Baystate Regional Cancer Program at Baystate Mary Lane. “We are fortunate to have someone with Claudia’s background on our staff.”

In addition to providing individual counseling, Benoit will be facilitating support groups within the community in the near future, and will be participating in the Look Good Feel Better program at the hospital.

Benoit views her role as helping patients and their families cope more effectively and adapt more readily as they deal with a cancer diagnosis and the follow-up decisions about their care.

“I find it rewarding to be part of the process of working through and normalizing feelings,” she said. “I hope that, through our work together, people will find renewed meaning in their lives, whatever course their illness may take.”