Career Pulse

SPRINGFIELD — Praised for her leadership and for using her skills in geriatrics and palliative care to help Spanish-speaking and other immigrant populations in Springfield, Dr. Laura Iglesias Lino has been named a recipient of the 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award.

Iglesias Lino, medical director for Geriatrics and Palliative Care at Baystate Brightwood Health Center/Centro de Salud and associate medical director for Hospice at Baystate Medical Center, is one of five physicians nationwide recognized with the award. The awards program honors leaders who advance palliative care in underserved areas and forge ties with various medical specialists to help people with cancer.

“This cohort of physicians demonstrates that compassion, competency, and a healing presence are cherished by patients and their families and admired and respected by their colleagues,” said Dr. Richard Payne, chairman of the selection committee and the Esther Colliflower Professor of Medicine and Divinity at Duke University and the John B. Francis Chair in Bioethics at the Center for Practical Bioethics. “The awards will make a difference for their careers, and will assist them in building palliative-care programs in their communities.”

Each of the five recipients was noted as being exemplary in one or more of four areas: medical practice, teaching, research, and community. Awards were made in three categories: senior, mid-career, and early-career. Recognized in the early-career category, Iglesias Lino will receive $15,000 to further her work in palliative care in Springfield.

“Although I was her teacher and am decades older, I hope to match her dedication to patients one day,” said Dr. Maura Brennan, chief of the Division of Geriatrics, Palliative Care & Post-acute Medicine at Baystate Medical Center, and hospice medical director for the Baystate Visiting Nurse Assoc. & Hospice. “Dr. Iglesias Lino has an unassuming, gentle nature and is more likely to design programs for patents in need than write scholarly articles for publication. She has a beautiful soul and is precisely the type of physician our aging society needs. Dr. Iglesias Lino combines the best parts of a geriatrician and a palliative-care physician and is eminently worthy of this prestigious award.”

Iglesias Lino received her medical degree from the Universidad Nacional San Agustin de Arequipa in Peru. She completed her internal medicine residency at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital/Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, followed by a geriatrics fellowship at Baystate Medical Center. She is board-certified in both geriatrics and palliative care.

While at Baystate Brightwood Health Center, Iglesias Lino has developed a team-based program to ease caregiver stress and provide quality of life for patients with advanced dementias. Her knowledge, diagnostic abilities, and treatment plans put her in high demand as a primary care physician and consultant. Her teaching and caregiving skills have generated culture change in a clinic with little previous experience in geriatric or palliative care.

The Cunniff-Dixon Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the doctor-patient relationship near the end of life, funds the awards. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute that has done groundbreaking work on end-of-life decision-making, co-sponsors the awards. Duke University Divinity School’s Program in Medicine, Theology, and Culture oversees the selection process.

“All these award winners share a commitment to reaching special populations, from children with cancer to veterans to underserved minority communities,” said Mildred Solomon, president of the Hastings Center. “They are outstanding clinicians who provide exquisite patient care, but who also have the skill and commitment to create durable organizational structures that will ensure that the work succeeds over time.”

HOLYOKE — Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Valley Health Systems and Holyoke Medical Center, announced the promotion of Tina Lesser to corporate director of Quality and Patient Safety for Valley Health Systems, the parent company of Holyoke Medical Center. She will oversee quality-improvement initiatives for Holyoke Medical Center, the Holyoke Visiting Nurses Assoc., and River Valley Counseling Center.

“Tina Lesser brings leadership in overseeing healthcare-quality programs, which are integral in our ability to continually deliver the highest levels of patient care and satisfaction,” said Hatiras. Lesser’s appointment comes after Holyoke Medical Center received prestigious national recognition this past November for its outstanding record in patient safety by the Leapfrog Group, an independent industry watchdog group.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to be part of the process of improving the care that we deliver to our patients and families. Quality is an attitude and culture, not a department. It’s about being engaged and present, focused on the needs and wishes of our patients and families,” said Lesser. “Simply put, Holyoke is the best place to come for the highest quality of care — and a great place to work as well.”

A recipient of the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, Lesser previously served as director of Patient Safety and brings more than 10 years of clinical nursing experience to this role. This includes nursing experience in the emergency departments of Milford Hospital in Milford, Conn.; Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn.; and Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn. She also served as director of Quality at Milford Hospital before coming to Holyoke Medical Center.

Lesser is a graduate of the Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing (1995) and Sacred Heart University (2005). She is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, of the Mass. Assoc. of Healthcare Quality, and the Mass. Society of Healthcare Risk Management.

WARE — Jennifer Cashorali has joined the staff at Baystate Medical Practices – Quabbin Pediatrics, located at 83 South St. in Ware.

Cashorali earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from UMass Amherst, and her master’s degree in nursing from Regis College, with a concentration in pediatric primary care.

“Jennifer is a wonderful addition to our pediatric practice,” said Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, chief operating officer and chief medical officer of the Baystate Health Eastern Region, which includes Baystate Wing Hospital and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital. “She brings her passion for caring for children and a great understanding of the value of collaborative, family-centered care to our pediatric practice.”

Cashorali is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner and a member of the National Assoc. of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Pi Epsilon-at-Large Chapter, and a volunteer for Big Brother Big Sisters of Hampshire County.

She joins Dr. Jeannette Tokarz and Dr. Scott Siege at the practice, which is located on the campus of Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware. Office hours are scheduled to accommodate the needs of working families, including evening hours Monday through Wednesday, and priority is given to same-day sick visits. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (413) 967-2040.

CAMBRIDGE — The American Red Cross of Massachusetts announced Juliette Kayyem’s election to its regional board of directors.

 “We could not be happier to welcome Juliette to our board of directors,” said Ralph Boyd, CEO of the Massachusetts Chapter. “Her government and business experience on security issues and her commitment to our mission make her a valuable asset to our team as we prepare communities in Massachusetts to respond to disasters big and small.”

Kayyem has spent more than 15 years managing complex policy initiatives and organizing government responses to major crises in both state and federal government. Kayyem served as President Obama’s assistant secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to that, she served as Homeland Security advisor to former Gov. Deval Patrick, where she guided regional planning and the state’s first interoperability plan, and oversaw the Massachusetts National Guard.

“We are always looking to add sharp and insightful members to ensure we guide the Red Cross in Massachusetts in a way that maximizes its success, and Juliette is the perfect addition to the team,” said John Stadler, board chair.

The regional board of directors is the governing body for the Red Cross of Massachusetts, and is composed of representatives from many different community sectors. This group develops the vision for the chapter and determines the policies that guide its decisions. The board also ensures that the chapter is an effective steward of donors’ contributions.

“Juliette’s wide-ranging background complements the existing board members’ experience, which will help us continue to provide big-picture thinking, new ideas, and innovative approaches to the Red Cross mission,” said Geri Denterlein, board governance and nominating committee chair.

Kayyem founded one of the nation’s only female-owned security business, Kayyem Solutions, LLC, which provides strategic advice to a range of companies in technology, risk management, mega-event planning, and venture capital. As a faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, she teaches new leaders in emergency management and national security and has authored several books on homeland security.

Kayyem is also a well-known journalist and commentator on CNN and WGBH Radio. She was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2013 for her editorial columns in the Boston Globe focused on ending the Pentagon’s combat-exclusion rule against women, a policy that was changed that year. She also serves a board member of Mass Inc., the Boston 2024 Olympic Committee, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

PALMER — Dr. Mohammad Abdul Maleque Khan has joined the medical staff at Baystate Wing Hospital. He will provide primary-care services at Palmer Medical Center.

“We are proud to have Dr. Khan join the staff of the Palmer Medical Center,” said Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, chief operating officer and chief medical officer of the Baystate Health Eastern Region, which includes Baystate Wing Hospital and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital. “Dr. Khan is dedicated to offering health promotion, preventive medicine, and wellness to our community members.”

Khan completed his residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and his internal-medicine residency Program at James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y., and received his medical degree from the Sylet MAG Osmani Medical College, Bangladesh.

 “Our medical providers throughout the Eastern Region have a rich history of caring for the health of people throughout the many communities we serve,” Ahmed said. “It is with great enthusiasm that Dr. Khan joins the Palmer Medical Center.”