CAREER PULSE – July 2018

 

 

Taylor Street Dental Welcomes Velastegui

SPRINGFIELD — Taylor Street Dental announced the addition of Dr. Pablo Velastegui to its dental practice at 41 Taylor St.

Velastegui was born and raised in Ecuador, where his father practiced as a general dentist. In 2006, he moved to New York to attend Queens College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and then enrolled in a master’s program in biology with a microbiology emphasis. 

Soon after moving to New York, he began working as an assistant to master sculptor Greg Wyatt. For more than 11 years, he learned and improved his crafting abilities, which contributed immensely to his manual dexterity and visual acuity — two key components of the artistry of dentistry.

Velastegui received his doctor of dental medicine degree from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. He is a member of the American Dental Assoc., the Academy of General Dentistry, and the Massachusetts Dental Society. Throughout his career, he has made it a priority to provide dental care to patients in underserved populations. He has traveled to Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico on dental-service trips and participated in many different community-service programs in Connecticut. 

Velastegui is welcoming new patients. Appointments can be made by calling (413) 781-7645.

Belden Receives MHA Trustee Excellence in Leadership Award

NORTHAMPTON — Sanford Belden, a member of the Cooley Dickinson Healthcare board of trustees, has been awarded the 2018 Trustee Excellence in Leadership Award from the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Assoc. (MHA).

Each year at the association’s annual meeting, MHA honors the significant contributions of a trustee leader whose professional achievements have been of exceptional value to the healthcare community. This year’s awards went to Belden and Christoph Hoffmann, who served on the board of directors at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham.

Belden joined the Cooley Dickinson board of trustees in 2008, and served as board chair from 2015 to 2017.

“Sandy’s commitment to community service is long-standing. Before returning a decade ago to Western Massachusetts, where he grew up — in fact, where 12 generations of Beldens lived — Sandy served in multiple volunteer roles,” said Joanne Marqusee, president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson Health Care, who presented Belden with the award. “A decade on the Cooley board, Sandy has been on every board committee and many task forces. He chaired several, not because he seeks the limelight, but because his peers look to him for wise and effective leadership. As an officer, including two years as board chair, he continues to be unwavering in his commitment to the organization and to our community.”

Miranda Joins Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Julio Miranda, a board-certified and fellowship-trained pulmonary and critical-care specialist to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the physician staff of Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC.

Miranda is accepting new patients in need of pulmonary care and is partnered with Drs. Hafez Alsmaan, Kashif Aslam, Cynthia Callahan, Twinkle Chandak, Daniel Doyle, Michael Mortelliti, and Jack Ringler; physician assistant Colleen Halvorsen Sinclair; and registered nurse Rebecca Schaffrick at Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC.

Miranda is board-certified in internal medicine, critical-care medicine, and pulmonary disease, and was fellowship-trained in pulmonary and critical-care medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He received his medical degree from Universidad de Panama, Panama City, and completed his residency in internal medicine at Cook County Hospital, Chicago.

For an appointment with Miranda or one of his colleagues, ask your physician for a referral. For more information, call Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC at (413) 447-2695.

Ostrowski-Ireland Named COO of Viability Inc.

NORTHAMPTON — Viability Inc. announced that Lynn Ostrowski-Ireland has been appointed chief operating officer, a new position within Viability, reporting directly to President and CEO Dick Venne. She will be responsible for overseeing the operation of Viability’s programs and services across the 36 locations in five states in which it currently operates.

Ostrowski-Ireland is the former executive director of the National Aetna Foundation, where she led strategic grants and programs and enterprise-wide corporate social-responsibility strategy and reporting. She also held numerous leadership positions at Health New England, including director of Marketing, Communications and Brand, director of Community Relations and Health Programs, and director of Corporate Responsibility & Government Affairs. She is recognized for her expertise in population health and addressing social determinants of health, and has addressed national audiences on many public-health topics, most recently keynoting at the National Cancer Foundation and the National Oncology Nurses Congress.

Ostrowski-Ireland has achieved several certificates of advanced study from Harvard Business School of Executive Education as well as Johns Hopkins University. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Springfield College, and a Ph.D. from Capella University. She was honored at the 2017 Bay Path University Women’s Leadership Conference and inducted into the Bay Path University Women’s Leadership Hall of Fame.

HCC Honors Palames with Distinguished Service Award

HOLYOKE — Disability-rights activist Chris Palames is the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Service Award from Holyoke Community College.

Palames is the founder of the Stavros Center for Independent Living in Amherst, executive director of Independent Living Resources in Florence, and a retired consultant for the Massachusetts Division of Capital and Asset Management, which manages construction projects for publicly owned facilities in the state. He has served on the Northampton Commission on Disability and the Massachusetts Disability Policy Consortium, and frequently advises the staff in HCC’s Office for Students with Disabilities and Deaf Services. 

HCC President Christina Royal presented the Distinguished Service Award to Palames at HCC’s 71st commencement ceremony at the MassMutual Center in Springfield on June 2.

Palames began his life as an activist as a freshman at Wesleyan University in the 1960s, demonstrating for civil rights on the White House lawn. A spinal-cord injury left him a quadriplegic, but, after a year recuperating, he was back, protesting the Vietnam War and completing his bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Keroack Named Chair of Board of Trustees of Mass. Health & Hospital Assoc.

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, is the 78th chair of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Assoc. board of trustees. He succeeds Kate Walsh, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center.

In his inaugural address, Keroack discussed his deep interest in the major policy proposals and other efforts now underway to advance healthcare both statewide and nationally. He also acknowledged that many of these endeavors are currently overshadowed by disruptive challenges buffeting hospitals, health systems, and other care providers. 

“We must reconnect with our core purpose, to remind both our team members and our communities of who we are and what we have always been,” he said. “We need to remind ourselves of our history of being there for our communities for generations, reliably serving all those who need our help, innovating, and caring for the person and not just the disease. And as we step up, as we find our voice, I believe we will learn something about ourselves and what we share in common.” 

Hadley Family Medicine Welcomes Luttinger

HADLEY — Cooley Dickinson Medical Group recently welcomed Dr. Tanya Luttinger to its primary-care practice at 234 Russell St. in Hadley. Luttinger, a native of New York City whose medical-school career took her to the West Coast for some years, returned to the region to complete a residency at Dartmouth Family Medicine in Lebanon, N.H.

“My goal is to help patients become as healthy as possible through preventive care, lifestyle choices, and optimal management of chronic diseases,” Luttinger said. “Integral to this goal is a collaborative approach that incorporates shared decision making to individualize care for each patient.”

Luttinger completed her medical degree at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. She is licensed in Vermont, New Hampshire, and now Massachusetts, and practiced family medicine for 17 years at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She is accepting new patients starting June 6. To schedule an appointment, call (413) 586-6020.

Dono de Quiusky Joins Hillcrest Family Health of BMC

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Esther Dono de Quiusky, a board-certified internal medicine specialist, to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the physician staff of Hillcrest Family Health of BMC.

Dono de Quiusky is accepting new patients in need of primary-care services and provides care at Hillcrest Family Health with Drs. Maxim Bitunov and Artsiom Tsyrkunou and physician assistants Vicki Burgess and Jennifer Votruba. 

Dono de Quiusky is board-certified in internal medicine and received her medical degree from Universidad Evangelica de El Salvador. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Woodhull Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.

To schedule an appointment with Dono de Quiusky, call Hillcrest Family Health of BMC at (413) 499-2051.

Elms Students Present Research on Autism at International Conference

CHICOPEE — Two master’s students from Elms College contributed to the growing body of global research in autism-spectrum disorders by presenting posters at the recent annual meeting for the Assoc. of Behavior Analysis International in San Diego.

Alyssa Clark and Miranda Fogg are in the master of science in applied behavior analysis program at Elms, and both have been working with children with autism on research projects with Laura Hanratty, director of applied behavior analysis and ASD graduate programs assistant professor.

The three collaborated on two posters to present at the conference. The first poster was titled “Evaluating Efficacy of Varied Reinforcers on Learning New Skills.” For this project, the students taught three children with autism 30 to 40 new academic skills, using different reward strategies.

“Using reinforcers is a hallmark in early intervention for autism, and the students were able to share how to make early intervention even more effective for kids who are struggling with academics,” Hanratty explained. “The children in this study were able to master many academic skills to help with communication.”

The second poster was titled “Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior Without Extinction.” In this project, the students worked with a young child with severe problem behavior, including aggression and destroying property.

“The research team completely decreased problem behavior, while teaching the young child communication skills and how to follow adult instruction,” Hanratty said. “By the time they were done, the child was completing up to 15 instructions with multiple steps and completing his academic skills.”

 

Providence Ministries Names Four New Board Members

HOLYOKE — Providence Ministries for the Needy Inc. recently announced four new board members: Lew Rudolph, the Rev. Marisa Egerstrom, Jeannie Filomeno, and Marvin Gonzalez.

Egerstrom is currently the priest-in-charge at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Holyoke. Her past experience includes serving as Christian education coordinator at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Boston, as a chaplain in hospital and street settings, and as a spiritual director for young adults. She is completing a Ph.D. in American studies at Harvard University.

Rudolph is currently the director of Government and Foundation Grants and Contracts for Trinity Health in Springfield. His past experience includes roles as program director and psychotherapist for ServiceNet Inc. in Northampton, and president and CEO of Hampshire Community United Way.

Filomeno currently serves as the Human Resource manager at her family-operated business, Marcotte Ford. With her family, she has dedicated years of support to Providence Ministries, including preparing and serving monthly at Kate’s Kitchen, organizing clothing, food, and school-supply drives distributed to the community through Margaret’s Pantry; and donating more than 100 holiday gifts and Easter baskets. Outside of working at Marcotte Ford, Jeannie serves on the board of the Professional Women’s Chamber.

Gonzalez currently serves as an outreach specialist with Eliot Community Human Services. As part of his role, he performs daily street outreach in Holyoke and Chicopee. At Kate’s Kitchen, he not only greets guests and records vital daily census data, but also serves as an advisor and troubleshooter on topics including access and information related to housing, detox, mental health, and food support. He has dedicated more than 30 years to working in human services as an advocate for the most vulnerable.

 

Sawtelle Named Clinical Educator of the Year

SPRINGFIELD — Kathleen Sawtelle, a clinical and lab instructor in the Surgical Technology program at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), received the Clinical Educator of the Year Award during the Assoc. of Surgical Technologists 2018 conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on May 31. She was at the conference as a delegate for the organization.

The award recognizes one clinical educator who has gone above and beyond the call of duty for students. Sawtelle received a $500 award, a trophy, and recognition at the annual conference.

A 1976 graduate of STCC’s Surgical Technology program, Sawtelle has worked in the field for 42 years. She has been coordinator of clinical education for the program at STCC for the past three years, and has taught at the college for 11 years. She has worked as a certified surgical technologist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for 28 years and on a per diem basis for 10 years.

She previously received the designation of Fellow of the Assoc. of Surgical Technologists, which recognizes surgical technologists who have upheld the highest professional, ethical, and moral standards and traditions of the profession.

Surgical technologists are responsible for preparing the operating room and protecting patients from harmful bacteria. They arrange equipment and hand instruments to the surgeon, among other operating-room responsibilities.

Toner, Lee Receive Rotary Pins for Foundation Donations

SPRINGFIELD — Lamont Clemons, President of the Rotary Club of Springfield, recently presented Rotarians Jack Toner and Rick Lee with Rotary pins to acknowledge their donations to the Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation supports clean-water projects, maternal and child health, education, and the promotion of peace throughout the world.

Toner’s pin has one blue sapphire stone for his $2,000 to the foundation, and Lee’s has three sapphire stones for his $4,000 donation made over a period of time.

“The global impact of the Rotary Foundation is extraordinary,” Toner said. “My small monthly gift pays itself forward over and over again. Each dollar given is multiplied through grants and various partnerships, mostly notably with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Rotary’s effort to eradicate polio worldwide. I feel privileged to wear a different lapel pin each day to represent the various and diverse ongoing activities Rotary initiatives are involved with around the globe.”

Lee also feels strongly about the Rotary and its foundation. “When I served as club president in 2014, I became acutely aware of the important work done worldwide through the Rotary Foundation,” he said. “ I am convinced that supporting these efforts should be job one for any Rotarian. For me, Rotary’s unique blend of local fellowship and service, coupled with its global reach, makes the experience truly special.” v