Getting A Boost HMC Expands Staff, Minor Care Program In Its Emergency Department

HOLYOKE — The television series E.R. may give people the idea that emergency rooms are fast-paced, intense hives of bustling activity where patients’ very lives can sometimes hang in the balance.

If that’s the picture you get from the show, it’s an accurate one.

The Emergency Department at Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) is no different than most others in highly-populated city settings. The department provides service to more than 33,000 patients each year, making it one of the busiest emergency departments in the region. Because of this consistently buzzing atmosphere, the department has brought new staff members on board, and has also expanded its emergency minor care services during some peak periods of activity.

The staff added five new physicians during this past spring and summer. Doctors Cemil Erdem, Douglass McAdoo, Joseph Marfori, Robert Spence, and Jonathan Vacik joined the seven full-time physicians — Joseph Bass, Traci Farley, Nicholas Fay, Barry Feingold, Paul Gerstein, Brian Hession, David Neilsen, and three part-time physicians — Louis Durkin, Mark Kenton, and Morris Leibowitz.

Feingold, who heads the Emergency Department, said the new physicians are a great addition to the staff. “Our group is proud of what we do … we have always felt we had a solid team that provides quality emergency care … it’s exciting to now have five more very strong physicians.”

He said that serving as an emergency room doctor takes a special mindset.

“You have to be able to work in a chaotic environment and be skilled at multi-tasking,” he said. “It’s like being the ultimate short-order cook: You have to be able to do so many things well at once.”

Feingold also added that a good emergency department physician needs strong interpersonal skills.

“You have to have good people skills.; patients in the emergency room are under stress and may have waited a long time to see you, so you have to be a good listener, understand what their experience is like, and be caring.”

Feingold said patients and their families can give crucial assistance to the staff by providing information such as a list of medications they are taking. “It helps us and them.” he said. “And it’s always good when a family member is there to provide any information we need in case the patient can’t.”

What attracts physicians to this hectic work? Neilsen, who has been at Holyoke Medical Center since 1980, said he likes the diagnostic side of the emergency room.

“It’s really challenging, diagnostically,” he said. “Emergency room doctors pride themselves on being able to make diagnoses with limited information in short periods of time. You have to constantly and quickly refine your thinking as you rule things out.”

One of the new members of the department, Dr. Douglas McAdoo, said that he likes working in HMC’s emergency department because he gets to deal with people in a very direct, close-up manner. “I like working with the population of the city,” he said. “I like the different cultures and diversity.”

McAdoo added that the existing staff has made the new physicians feel welcome.

“The staff, the nurses, the tech people are all great. We’re like a family,” he said. “They’ve really taken us under their wings.”

Feingold echoed the sentiment that the doctors rely heavily on support staff.

“The emergency department is a team. From the nurses to the secretaries to the technicians, we all work together, and everyone is very hard-working and caring here,” he said. “It’s very much a collaborative effort. We all have the same goal, which is the best and most expeditious care for our patients.”