Career Pulse

PITTSFIELD — Dr. Peter Hahn has joined Cardiology Services at Berkshire Health Systems as director of cardiac electrophysiology and pacing. Hahn is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology. He has advanced fellowship training in the diagnosis and management of cardiac arrhythmias, or electrical disturbances of the heart rhythm.

Hahn will expand the range of cardiac services at BHS to include device-based therapies, including pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, and cardiac-resynchronization therapy. He will also head the cardiac electrophysiology lab, where patients may undergo catheter-based procedures for the diagnosis and curative treatment of a wide variety of arrhythmias, including supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter and fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia.

Hahn most recently served as a staff cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston. He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College and completed his internal medicine residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He completed his fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, Conn., and an advanced fellowship in clinical cardiac electrophysiology at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis.

Cardiology Services at BHS provides a broad range of cardiology services, with offices in the BMC Medical Arts Complex in Pittsfield, at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, and in the Doctor’s Building at North Adams Regional Hospital.

Fleitman Announces Additional Credentials, New Partnership

NORTHAMPTON — Recently, Dr. Jay Fleitman became certified in a third medical specialty, sleep medicine.

Fleitman also holds board certification in internal medicine and pulmonology as awarded by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the credentialing agency with which he also passed the sleep medicine exam.

To become certified in sleep medicine, Fleitman successfully completed an exam that is designed, according to the ABIM Web site, “to evaluate the extent of the candidate’s knowledge and clinical judgment in the clinical areas in which a sleep medicine physician should demonstrate a high level of competence.”

In addition to demonstrating that he has met vigorous standards through intensive study, self-assessment, and evaluation, Fleitman demonstrated competency in advanced objective studies such as polysomnography (sleep studies) and actigraphy (a non-invasive method of monitoring human rest and activity cycles.) Fleitman said he is one of only two specialists in Hampshire and Franklin counties who are sleep-medicine-certified by the ABIM.

In addition, Fleitman has partnered with Dr. Katherine Walsh to provide comprehensive and specialized care to patients who suffer from insomnia.

Fleitman is president of Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s medical staff and has practiced locally since 1984. Trained as an internal-medicine provider, Fleitman has provided pulmonary and sleep medicine for more than 20 years. In 2007, he opened the Sleep Disorders Laboratory in Northampton.

HMC Names Mitchell Director of Development

HOLYOKE — Sean Mitchell has been named director of Development at Holyoke Medical Center. He has nearly 10 years of experience in fund-raising for local nonprofit agencies, most recently as director of Development with the Greater Springfield Habitat For Humanity. Prior to that, he held positions with the Enfield Catholic Schools, the American Heart Assoc., and the Muscular Dystrophy Assoc.

Mitchell holds a master’s degree in Non-Profit Man-agement, as well as a bachelor’s in Political Science and Philosophy, both from Americ-an International College in Springfield. He also received his certificate in Fund Raising Management from Indiana University.

He is a member of the Assoc. of Fundraising Professionals, the Assoc. of Hospital Philanthropy, and the Northeast Assoc. of Hospital Philanthropy.

Auerbach Elected President of Mass. Medical Society

WALTHAM — Dr. Bruce Auerbach, vice president and chief for Emergency and Ambulatory Services at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, was elected president of the Mass. Medical Society at the organization’s annual meeting on May 9. A long-time member of the society, Auerbach has served as president-elect and vice president for the past two years.

Also elected to officer posts were: president-elect, Dr. Mario Motta, a cardiologist with North Shore Cardiovascular Associates in Salem; vice president, Dr. Alice Tolbert Coombs, a critical-care specialist at South Shore Hospital and anesthesiologist with South Shore Anesthesia Associates; secretary-treasurer, Dr. Richard Aghababian, associate dean of Continuing Medical Education at UMass Medical School; assistant secretary-treasurer, Dr. Deanna Ricker, Needham ophthalmologist; speaker of the House of Delegates, Dr. Lee Perrin, anesthesiologist at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; and vice speaker of the House, Dr. Richard Pieters, radiation oncologist at UMass Medical Center.

The Mass. Medical Society, with more than 20,000 physician and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The society publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s leading medical journals; the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters, covering 11 specialties; and AIDS Clinical Care. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts.

Courtney, Sachs Honored as Top Community Clinicians

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield physicians Dr. Richard Courtney and Dr. Barry Sachs have been named 2008 Community Clinicians of the Year by their physician peers at the Hampden District Medical Society.

The Community Clinician of the Year award was established in 1998 by the Mass. Medical Society to recognize a physician from each of the society’s 20 district medical societies who has made significant contributions to patients and the community.

The doctors received their awards at the Hampden District Society’s annual meeting in Holyoke on April 29 and were recognized at the Mass. Medical Society’s annual meeting on May 8 in Boston

Courtney and Sachs are physicians at Pediatric Surgical Services in Springfield. Courtney was the first pediatric surgeon to come to Hampden County in 1969 and was joined by Sachs in 1973. Both are board-certified in surgery and pediatric surgery, are Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and are published authors and lecturers on many aspects of pediatric health and patient care. They are actively involved in the residency training programs in pediatrics and surgery at Baystate Medical Center on a daily basis.

In nominating them for the award, members of the district called them “pioneers in the surgical community and staunch advocates for children. Dr. Courtney and Dr. Sachs have taken care of generations of children in the community, often operating on the children of their former patients.”

Courtney is a graduate of the Tufts University School of Medicine and trained in pediatric surgery at Boston Floating Hospital. He is a clinical professor of Surgery at the Tufts University School of Medicine and is the senior teacher for the Baystate Medical Center Surgical residency program for pediatric surgery and pediatric urology.

Sachs is a graduate of the New York University School of Medicine and trained in pediatric surgery at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He is a clinical professor of Surgery at the Tufts University School of Medicine and chief of Pediatric Surgery at Baystate Medical Center.

Null to Head Patient Safety at Holyoke Medical Center

HOLYOKE — Tina Null, RN, BSN, has been appointed director of Patient Safety in Holyoke Medical Center’s Department of Quality Improvement and Innovation.

Null has more than a decade of nursing experience, much of it working in emergency medicine. Most recently, she was employed at Milford Hospital in Connecticut where she worked in several positions, ultimately as director for Quality and Case Management.

She is a graduate of the Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing, holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Mu Delta Chapter).

Rodriguez Named Diversity Officer at Baystate Health

SPRINGFIELD — Visael “Bobby” Rodriguez has been named Baystate Health’s first chief diversity officer, a new position created to help the area’s largest health system attract, develop, and retain an exceptional and diverse workforce and to ensure that Baystate’s work environment reflects the organization’s values, its commitment to its employees, and the cultures of the communities it serves.

Rodriguez, who brings with him a long track record of promoting diversity in health care settings, says improving Baystate’s cultural competencies means better patient experiences and the highest-quality care.

“Diversity is about realizing that every single person is different and then striving to understand those differences,” said Rodriguez, who joins Baystate from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, where he was director of the Office of Cultural Competence and Diversity Systems. “We must understand patients and know how to communicate with them, and for that we need a diverse workforce, which translates into better patient care.”

Rodriguez is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico.