Career Pulse

NORTHAMPTON — Cooley Dickinson Hospital welcomes Dr. George Hartnell to the hospital’s medical staff.

Hartnell, a cardiovascular specialist with more than 25 years experience in vascular and interventional radiology, is board-certified in diagnostic radiology and holds a certificate of additional qualification in vascular and interventional radiology. He is also a fellow of the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology and of the American College of Cardiology.

Hartnell earned his medical degree from the University of Bristol Medical School in the United Kingdom. He completed internships, residencies, and fellowships in the U.K.

Following training and hospital experience, Hartnell relocated to Boston, where he was the director of Cardiac Radiology, Departments of Radiology and Cardiology at New England Deaconess Hospital, and also served as the director of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Later, he was the associate director of the Cardiovascular Diagnostic Laboratory at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He comes to Cooley Dickinson from Baystate Medical Center, where he was the director of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology in the Department of Radiology and professor of Radiology at Tufts University School of Medicine.

At Cooley Dickinson, Hartnell specializes in the treatment of vascular diseases as well as minimally invasive treatment of cancers of the liver and kidney.

Baystate Rehabilitation Welcomes Powers to Staff

WARE — Baystate Rehabilitation Care at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware welcomes a new speech therapist, Natalie Powers, to the department.

Powers earned her bachelor’s degree in Communicative Disorders/ Rehabilitation from Springfield College, and her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Rhode Island.

A speech therapist is a medical professional who specializes in the evaluation and treatment of speech language, fluency, voice, cognitive, and swallowing disorders for both pediatric and adult patients. Powers recommends seeing a speech therapist for patients that have experienced a stroke or a traumatic brain injury, or have any functional or neurological disorder affecting their ability to communicate effectively.

“Patients who have dysphasia, difficulty swallowing, children with speech-articulation delays, language impairment for both use and understanding of language, and stuttering-fluency disorders would also benefit from treatment by a speech therapist,” said Powers. Swallowing disorders can be assessed by clinical exam and in combination with a radiologist via modified barium swallows exams, both of which Powers will provide onsite at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.

Baystate Rehabilitation Care provides a full range of rehabilitation services to help patients regain function and achieve recovery. Services provided through Baystate Rehabilitation Care include audiology, occupational therapy, speech services, and physical therapy.

Patel Joins Staff of Baystate Medical Practices

GREENFIELD — Dr. Pikeshkumar Patel, a gastroenterologist, is now in practice at Baystate Medical Practices – Greenfield Gastroenterology, and on the medical staff at Baystate Franklin Medical Center.

He comes to the area from Bronx, New York, where he recently completed a fellowship in gastroenterology through the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to his fellowship, he had served as chief resident in Internal Medicine, also through Albert Einstein College of Medicine, at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center.

Born in India, Patel and his family moved to Trinidad when he was 2 years old. Patel completed his undergraduate studies in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, graduating with distinction from St. Mary’s College in Trinidad, an affiliate of Cambridge University. He was awarded a national scholarship to continue his medical studies at the University of the West Indies, and later went on to the Royal College of Physicians in London, England, for his residency in Internal Medicine.

Patel spent three years working in England and Wales. “In the U.K., it’s traditional to move around during the course of a residency so you gain a wide variety of experiences, from large city hospitals to small communities,” he said. “I had always been attracted to the U.S. system as well, and my father, who is a psychiatrist, had relocated to New Jersey in 1992, so my family connection was here. During my internal medicine residency in the Bronx, I was most drawn to the field of gastroenterology, and especially to the endoscopic part of the work; it’s always been exciting and interesting to me.”

Jacelon Receives Award from National Association

AMHERST — Dr. Cynthia Jacelon, associate professor in the School of Nursing at UMass Amherst, received the Excellence in Research and Education Award from the American Assoc. of Homes and Services for the Aging during its 2008 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Philadelphia.

Jacelon was nominated by Lois White, director of Jewish Geriatric Services (JGS) of Longmeadow, who recognized her ongoing commitment to quality service for the aging through evidence-based research and dissemination of research through internal and external shared learning experiences.

Jacelon contributes to workforce excellence by working with nursing research students on the JGS campus, recruiting nursing students into elder care, training staff, coordinating the annual JGS Research Days, and guiding JGS toward the ‘Chronic Care Model,’ in which educated involvement in one’s own medical care is a major principle.

She is the current President of Beta Zeta at Large chapter, Sigma Theta Tau International, the honor society for nurses.

Planeta Welcomed to Mercy Breast Care Center

SPRINGFIELD — The Breast Care Center at Mercy Medical Center has welcomed a new physician and moved to a new location.

Dr. Lisa Planeta has extensive breast-surgery experience. A graduate of the University of Vermont College of Medicine, she completed her internship and residency in general surgery at New England Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Planeta treats patients with a variety of breast disorders and counsels them about the risks, diagnosis, and treatment of benign, pre-malignant, and malignant lesions.

The Breast Care Center is now serving patients in its new location in Suite 226 in the 299 Carew Street Medical Office Building at Mercy Medical Center. The new center has more patient-care space, is convenient to the patient parking area, and is close to the all-digital Mammography Center located in the lobby at Mercy Medical Center.

The Breast Care Center is a multidisciplinary treatment center that provides state-of the-art diagnostic technology and advanced treatment options in one centralized location, to provide women with complete, accurate, and prompt diagnosis and treatment. Services at the Breast Care Center are designed to assist a woman from the time of her initial symptoms or abnormal mammogram throughout the entire treatment process.