CAREER PULSE – JAN 19

 

SPRINGFIELD — Hanger Clinic, a leading provider of prosthetic and orthotic solutions, recently announced the promotion of Maggie Baumer, former business development manager for the state of Massachusetts, to clinic manager of the Hanger Clinic location at the Northgate Center, 1985 Main St., Springfield.

In addition to providing custom prostheses to amputee patients and custom orthoses like spinal bracing, knee-ankle-foot orthotics, ankle-foot orthotics, and cranial helmets for infants with plagiocephaly, Hanger Clinic also runs AMPOWER, a national peer-support program for people with limb loss or limb difference, including a peer-to-peer mentorship network that facilitates in-person peer visits, as well as an online, password-protected platform for sharing resources.

 

In addition, Baumer facilitates a support group for amputees through the AMPOWER program, open to anyone with limb loss or limb difference, which meets twice a month. The first meeting occurs on the second Thursday of the month at Baystate Medical Center in Chestnut 3 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The second takes place on the fourth Thursday of the month in the conference room at the Pioneer Valley Family Medicine office, 325B King St., Northampton, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

 

Baumer earned her bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology from Tufts University and her juris doctor degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She has served in advocacy positions for several healthcare organizations, including the Long Term Care Community Coalition and the Office of the New York State Attorney General (Health Care Bureau) in New York City. Most recently, she became a member of the National Assoc. for the Advancement of Prosthetics & Orthotics, the American Trauma Society’s board of directors, and the Trauma Survivors Network advisory board.

 

 

 

 

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. David Oelberg, a board-certified and fellowship-trained pulmonologist, to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the physician staff of Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC. He is accepting new patients in need of pulmonary and sleep medicine services, and is partnered with Drs. Hafez Alsmaan, Kashif Aslam, Cynthia Callahan, Julio Miranda, Michael Mortelliti, and Jack Ringler at Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC. 

Oelberg is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care, and sleep medicine. He received his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal and completed his residency in internal medicine at Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, where he served as chief resident. He was fellowship-trained in pulmonary and critical-care medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University.

 

Oelberg comes to the Berkshires after serving for two decades with Western Connecticut Medical Group, part of the Western Connecticut Health Network. He has served as a clinical instructor in Medicine at Yale University and clinical assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont.

 

 

 

 

LONGMEADOW — Glenmeadow recently hired two new members of its staff team. Meaghan Carrier serves as director of Glenmeadow at Home, which provides caregiving and a range of other services to older adults in Greater Springfield who live in their own homes. Chris Einhaus serves as executive chef and director of dining.

Carrier launched her career at Redstone Rehab and Nursing Center in East Longmeadow after earning a bachelor’s degree in social work from Western New England University in 2012. She was a graduate student at Westfield State University at the time, working toward the master’s degree she earned there in 2013.

 

Since then, Carrier has served as director of Social Services at the Calvin Coolidge Nursing and Rehab Center for Northampton and as short-term rehab director at Linda Manor in Leeds. While in these roles, she had a close look at the gaps that exist in services for older adults.

 

In her role, Carrier oversees staff who provide client services to residents at Glenmeadow as well as to clients throughout Greater Springfield. Glenmeadow at Home offers daily help with such tasks as getting dressed, taking a shower, cleaning house, and managing medications. 

 

As executive chef and director of dining, Einhaus draws on his 35 years of food-service experience at local restaurants, hotels, and hospitals. He became interested in food service while in high school on the Jersey Shore, when he chose culinary arts as the vocational offering in his junior and senior years.

Einhaus earned his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University in 1981 and has held a variety of jobs since then. He’s been employed with Marriott’s corporate dining services; as food service director in the Brattleboro, Vt. public-school system; as manager at Fitzwilly’s in Northampton; and as food-service production supervisor for Baystate Medical Center.

 

 

 

 

SPRINGFIELD — The Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM) recently welcomed three new employees: Kim Gilhuly, Research and Population Health manager; Samantha Hamilton, LiveWell Springfield manager, and Victoria Ramos, research associate. It also named three new board members: Nikki Burnett, Frances Gomes Marthone, and Jennifer Lee.

 

Gilhuly is part of the research and evaluation team at PHIWM. She has 30 years of nonprofit experience, with more than 11 years at Human Impact Partners as a national leader in the field of health impact assessment, bringing health data, frame, and voice to public policy and practice change discussions.

 

Hamilton was formerly the director of Operations at Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services (MLKFS). Before that, she was director of the Public Health Initiative at MLKFS. She has 14 years of experience working with residents in the Mason Square Community and with youth ages 5 to 24. 

 

Ramos is working on various research and evaluation projects at PHIWM, such as the ROADS (Research on Active Design in Springfield) study, the Age-Friendly City Project, as well as the evaluation of the Go Fresh Mobile Market.

 

Nikki Burnett is the regional vice president for Collective Impact and Multicultural Initiatives for the New England Region for the American Heart Assoc. She has been with that organization for 15 years.

 

Marthone serves as the chief Nursing officer and vice president of Patient Care Services for Mercy Medical Center. She is responsible for ensuring compliance with patient-care quality standards and ensuring that clinical and staffing standards are met, promoting best practices in nursing and patient care, and serving as a liaison for communication between leadership and the nursing staff. 

 

Lee currently serves as the systems advocate for Stavros, where she assists the agency in promoting and protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities. Her major responsibilities include advocating for policy and serving as a community organizer. She has a commitment to bringing a disability perspective to various dialogues, including that of housing, healthcare, transportation, and policy. For years, she has served as an advocate for people with disabilities.

 

 

 

 

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems has further expanded its Rheumatology services with the appointment of Dr. Liana Fraenkel, a board-certified and fellowship-trained rheumatologist. She is accepting new patients in need of rheumatology care and is partnered with Drs. Lauren Dudley and Leonard Sigal at Rheumatology Professional Services of BMC. She also joins the Berkshire Medical Center medical staff.

 

Fraenkel is board-certified in internal medicine and rheumatology and was fellowship-trained in rheumatology at Boston Medical Center. She received her medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, and completed her residency in internal medicine at Montreal General Hospital. She comes to the Berkshires after serving since 1998 as section chief for Rheumatology at the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System and professor at Yale School of Medicine, Yale University. 

 

For an appointment with Fraenkel or one of her colleagues, ask your physician for a referral or call Rheumatology Professional Services of BMC at (413) 499-8551.

 

 

 

 

GREENFIELD — Richard Venne, CEO of Viability, announced that Patty Morey Walker, former mayoral candidate in Greenfield, has accepted the position of program manager in Viability’s Greenfield office.

 

Morey Walker was also president and CEO of Walker, West and Associates. As founder of this insurance consulting firm, she oversaw program development, product development, and marketing. She received her bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation from Springfield College and master’s degree in rehabilitation from Boston University, and was a 2014 graduate of Western Massachusetts Women’s Fund’s Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact.

 

In addition to her multiple years of experience in the insurance-technology field, Morey Walker has several years of experience in the human-services field, including positions working in residential homes for individuals with intellectual disabilities, a residential treatment center for girls in the Department of Youth and Family System, a recreational program for children with development disabilities, and a work center for adults with intellectual challenges. She looks forward to returning to the human-services industry and aims to utilize her skills from past experiences in both the public and private sector to help Viability achieve its mission of supporting individuals with disabilities and other societal disadvantages in reaching their full potential.

 

Venne also announced the recent promotion of three current staff members: Kristin Rotas, director (Holyoke); Jennifer Pisano, associate vice president (Connecticut, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island), and Gregg Thompson, vice president (Connecticut, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island).

 

 

 

 

SPRINGFIELD — Judith Ward, an accomplished healthcare marketing professional, has been named vice president of Marketing & Communications for Baystate Health.

In her new role, Ward will oversee marketing, digital/web, communications, public affairs, social media, creative services, loyalty programs, and special events at the Springfield-based health system, which includes hospitals in Springfield, Greenfield, Palmer, and Westfield, along with more than 100 medical practices at some 80 locations throughout Western Mass.

 

Among the strategic marketing executive’s past accomplishments include conceiving and executing strategies that define, differentiate, and drive increased brand recognition, preference, customer loyalty, and market share.

 

Ward comes to Baystate Health from Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, Calif., where she led the organization’s strategic marketing efforts, developed award-winning advertising campaigns, and executed engaging Facebook Live strategies.

 

Prior to her role at Stanford, she served as vice president of Network Marketing for Danbury Hospital and Western Connecticut Health Network, where she led the brand creation and strategy for the newly formed health network. She also served as principal of Judith Ward Associates, providing consulting services centered on the development and execution of strategic digital marketing plans.

 

Ward holds an MBA with a marketing concentration from University of Connecticut and a bachelor’s degree from University of New Hampshire. She has served as an adjunct professor in the Master of Health Administration program at Western Connecticut State University and Marlboro College in Vermont. She is a member of American College of Healthcare Executives, the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development, the Healthcare Executives Forum, and the California Assoc. of Healthcare Leaders.

 

 

 

 

AGAWAM — Valerie Romano Dumais has been appointed executive director of Agawam Healthcare.

A native from Enfield, Conn., she graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a bachelor’s degree in public health. She then went on to attend UConn School of Business and obtained a certification in long-term healthcare management.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STOCKBRIDGE — Katie Lewis, research psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center, has received the competitive Young Investigator Innovation Grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) for her study, “Impact of Interpersonal Experiences on Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors.” Her study was one of fewer than 10 chosen out of 175 applications.

 

Lewis’ study seeks to understand the ways in which daily interpersonal experiences and momentary interpersonal ruptures influence the development of suicidal ideation and engagement in self-destructive behaviors, in individuals diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness. As part of this grant, she will have the opportunity to work with Dr. Thomas Joiner, a leading expert on suicide.

 

Despite ongoing research and the development of intervention programs, suicide rates have consistently increased over the last 15 years. The presence of identified risk factors alone has been shown to carry poor predictive value for suicidal behavior when considered at the individual level. There have been few studies of how daily interpersonal interactions affect suicidal ideation and behavior, and little is known about whether momentary interpersonal ruptures in daily life are associated with proximal increases in suicide risk. 

 

For these reasons, achieving a greater understanding of the immediate impact of interpersonal experiences on suicidal thoughts and behaviors is essential, as interpersonal interactions are ubiquitous, and the quality of interpersonal relationships is highly amenable to improvement through psychiatric treatment.

 

“The proposed study will be the first of its kind to examine the impact of interpersonal experiences and momentary interpersonal ruptures on the development of suicidal ideation and self-destructive behavior, in real time over the course of 14 consecutive days,” Lewis said. “Findings from this study will contribute to knowledge about the influence of daily interpersonal exchanges on risk and resilience in suicidal individuals.”

 

 

 

 

LONGMEADOW — At Glenmeadow’s annual meeting, attorney David Carlson, chair of the nonprofit’s Governance Committee, announced four new members of the Glenmeadow board of directors and seven new corporators.

 

Amy Corsetti, Kelly Koch, Paul Marchese, and Aaron Mendelson are the new board members and corporators. Lawrence Bernstein, Susan Megas, Paul Nicholson, and David Carlson stepped down from the board but will stay on as corporators. 

 

The new board members join officers Dusty Hoyt, chair; Dennis Fitzpatrick, vice chair; Amy Santarelli, treasurer; Norm Smith, clerk; as well as members Paul Barden, Naren Dhadmodharan, Crystal Diamond, John Gallup, Richard Goldstein, Rabbi Jerome Gurland, and Annette Lerner.

 

New corporators include Deborah Epstein, Brooks Fitch, and Michael Tremble.

 

Corsetti is a nurse practitioner with a specialty in cardiac care. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Vermont, a master’s degree in nursing from Boston College, and nurse practitioner certification from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Koch is an attorney with Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas in Springfield. She holds a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Brandeis University and a law degree from Western New England College School of Law.

 

Marchese is senior vice president and principal, client services, with St. Germain Investment Management in Springfield. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in business administration and marketing from Boston College Carroll School of Management. 

 

Mendelson is a retired investment and insurance advisor with Northwestern Mutual. He is a founding and current trustee of Veritas Prep Charter School in Springfield and a member of Springfield Business Leaders for Education.