Page 19 - Healthcare Heroes 2022

PATIENT/RESIDENT/CLIENT CARE PROVIDER
Dr. Philip Glynn
Director of Medical Oncology, Sister Mary Caritas Cancer Center, Mercy Medical Center
This Physician
photo — but really Mukherjee and his widely acclaimed book — on several occasions.
He did so to indicate everything from his great fondness for the book and general agreement its author on the progress made to date to the promise of great advancements in the future, to the fact that cancer, treating patients diagnosed with it, and providing them and their families with an all-important support system has in many ways defined his life and career.
Indeed, for more than 35 years now, Glynn has been at the forefront of cancer treatment in this region, touching the lives of several generations of area residents, and in many different ways — but mostly by providing quality of life, however it is to be defined by each patient, a subject we’ll return to later.
While he is being honored as a Healthcare Hero in the Provider category, Glynn could be a recipient in almost every one of the others, with the notable exception
of Emerging Leader, which would have been an apt description a few decades ago.
He has been an effective administrator and leader, having been instrumental in creating a comprehensive oncology program at Mercy that rivals anything that can be found in much larger cities such as Boston and New York.
Meanwhile, he has been innovative on many fronts, from the telehealth program he piloted in 2017 that allows Mercy cancer patients to get a second opinion on treatment from physicians at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, to his leadership role in creation of a new palliative-care unit that at Mercy will that take the name of one of Glynn’s patients, the late restaurateur
Leah Martin Photography
“It’s such a
challenging balance
— the human side
and the science side.
We are all disciplined
to make sure that we
stay abreast of the
science side — that’s
our fundamental
responsibility, and
it all starts with
knowledge; there’s
no substitute for that.
How you integrate
that into what
patients need on a
daily basis ... that’s
”
HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Provides a
Needed Blend
of Science
and Humanity OBy George O’Brien
n one wall of Dr. Philip Glynn’s office at the Sister Mary Caritas Cancer Center, sharing space with some diplomas and a few other photographs, is a framed, signed picture of Glynn standing beside Dr. Siddhartha
Mukherjee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.
Glynn was instrumental in bringing Mukherjee to Springfield several years ago for a talk at CityStage, and prevailed upon the author, and fellow oncologist, for a photo that would become a treasured keepsake.
As he talked about his career and being chosen as the Healthcare Hero for 2022 in the Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider category, Glynn gestured toward the
the art of it.
2022 HEALTHCARE HEROES
2022 A19