Career Pulse

HMC Names Picard ER Nurse Manager

HOLYOKE – Debra Picard has been appointed to the position of Emergency Department Nurse Manager at Holyoke Medical Center.

An employee of HMC since 1984, when she began as a phlebotomist, Picard earned her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Elms College in 1993. She had previously worked as a medical/surgical nurse at HMC, transferred to the Emergency Department in 1996, and for the past year has worked as clinical coordinator in the ER.

She has also been a public health nurse for the town of South Hadley, and worked in the town’s school system.

Chadbourne Elected Chair of SPHS Board of Trustees

SPRINGFIELD – Dr. David Chadbourne has been elected chair of the board of trustees of the Sisters of Providence Health System (SPHS), making him the first physician named to that leadership position.

Chadbourne is a board-certified urologist based in Springfield. A graduate of Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, he continued his residency training at the University of Chicago Hospitals. He also serves as a clinical instructor of Urology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

“Not only is Dr. Chadbourne a respected physician who delivers exceptional medical care, he has long supported the mission of the Sisters of Providence Health System,” said Vincent McCorkle, president and CEO of SPHS. “His unparalleled expertise, guidance, and vision for the future of local health care would benefit any organization, and we are fortunate that he is willing to share those attributes with us.”

Chadbourne took over the chairmanship from Carla Newton, Esq., a partner in the law firm of Robinson Donovan of Springfield, who served as board chair from 2005 to 2008. Chadbourne has served on the board since 2005.

“The Sisters of Providence Health System is known for its commitment to providing a transforming, healing presence in the local community, and it is a privilege to assist efforts to further that mission,” he said.

Cameron to Lead Two Departments at HMC

HOLYOKE – Carl Cameron has been named director of the Information Systems and Biomedical departments at Holyoke Medical Center.

Previously, Cameron had been the manager of Information Technology and Biomedical at HMC for a period of five years. His responsibilities there included help-desk services, the network infrastructure, and also telecommunications.

Cameron holds a master’s degree in Information Systems and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, both from Western New England College, and ‘Lean Certification’ from the University of Michigan. He is currently pursuing certification with the Healthcare Information and Management Society.

Coderre Directs Nursing at Heritage Hall South

AGAWAM – Genesis Health Care’s Heritage Hall South has appointed Stacey Coderre, RN, as its new director of Nursing Services. Heritage Hall South is a 122-bed skilled nursing center that provides short-term rehabilitation and also long-term care, and is part of the Heritage Hall Campus in Aga-wam.

Coderre has been with Genesis Health Care for five years, most recently at Heritage Hall North, as a nursing unit manager.

She is a graduate of Holyoke Community College, and has been a nurse in both acute care and long-term care for 17 years.

SPHS Names Whitcomb VP of Quality Improvement

SPRINGFIELD – Dr. Winthrop Whitcomb has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president of Quality Improvement for the Sisters of Providence Health System (SPHS).

In this role, Whitcomb is responsible for leading all quality and performance-improvement initiatives throughout SPHS. Dr. Whitcomb also serves as member of the health system’s Senior Leadership Team.

“Dr. Whitcomb has a national reputation for his commitment to the importance of quality in health care, in addition to tremendous hospitalist experience,” said Vincent McCorkle, president and CEO of SPHS. “We are very pleased that he will oversee continuing efforts to achieve and maintain the highest standards of quality of care within our health system.”

Said Whitcomb, “patients and their families come to our facilities with the expectation that they will receive high quality care, and rightfully so. SPHS has long been dedicated to meeting and exceeding that expectation. I look forward to shaping the policies and procedures that will enhance clinical excellence and patient care at Mercy Medical Center and the entire health system.”

Whitcomb has been a practicing hospitalist at Mercy Medical Center since 1994, and served as director of the Mercy Inpatient Medicine Service, the nation’s first and most widely emulated program with 24/7 on-site hospitalist staffing, until 2004. He also serves as an assistant professor of Medicine at UMass Medical School in Worcester.

As a co-founder of the Society of Hospital Medicine, Whitcomb has been nationally recognized as a leader in the U.S. hospitalist movement and the field of hospital medicine. Additionally, he co-authored Hospitalists: A Guide to Building and Sustaining a Successful Program, and served as an editor for Comprehensive Hospital Medicine, a 1,000-page resource designed for hospitalists, residents, and medical students.

Vig Tapped to Head HMC’s Emergency Department

HOLYOKE – Dr. Manish Vig, Holyoke Medical Center’s new Emergency Department medical director, has a vision, and with his evolving background in emergency medicine and business management, he is implementing significant improvements to this community hospital’s most visited and most visible asset, hospital officials said.

Vig is working toward the creation of a new Emergency Department that will be staffed by a core of full-time physicians and practitioners, standardized treatment protocols, and a commitment to the highest quality of compassionate care, in a positive working environment.

“It’s a facility that patients can trust for efficient and proper state-of-the-art care, right here in their community,” said Vig, a native of Delhi, India who grew up in Queens, N.Y. and graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He also recently earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Within two or three years, HMC plans to break ground on a new, expanded ER facility. “This will be an ER that has the capacity to meet the needs, now and in the future, of our diverse patient population,” said Vig. Annually, close to 40,000 patients are seen in this ER, more than the average for local community hospitals. We can either fight or ignore this fact, or face it head on by increasing capacity to meet that need and challenge. And we’re not going to fail at this.”

Vig completed his residency and was chief resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. For 10 years he worked at Virtua-Memorial Hospital of Burlington County in Mt. Holly, N.J. and as attending ER physician at Methodist Hospital and St. Agnes Hospital in Philadelphia.

Nursing Professor ‘Top Faculty Member’ at STCC

SPRINGFIELD — Theresa Glanville of Belchertown, professor of nursing at Springfield Technical Community College, was named the Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year at the college’s 41st commencement exercises. The annual award recognizes continued outstanding service to the college and its students.

Glanville is herself the graduate of a community college, having earned an associate’s degree in Nursing from Cape Cod Community College, a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from American International College, and a master’s degree in Nursing from UMass. She began full-time teaching in the School of Nursing at STCC in 1994, having previously been a part-time member of the clinical faculty.

STCC President Ira H. Rubenzahl, in presenting the award, said, “Terry is a very dedicated teacher. She has the ability to impart to her students the knowledge, sense of professionalism, and critical thinking ability so necessary to be a success in the nursing profession. She spends hours with many of her students individually, assisting them in overcoming difficulties and challenges.”

Bush Joins Counseling & Gynecology Group

EAST LONGMEADOW — Amanda Bush, LSWA has joined the Counseling & Gynecology Group in East Longmeadow as a psychotherapist working alongside Dr. Max Chorowski.

Bush’s approach is to assist her clients in finding empowerment to improve their quality of life in a supportive, solution-focused, and motivational fashion. She has experience with a wide range of populations, including women, men, adolescents, children, couples, and families. Her areas of expertise include depression, anxiety, panic disorders, domestic violence, and other women-specific issues and post-traumatic-stress disorder.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Baypath College and her master’s of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Springfield College.