Page 22 - Healthcare Heroes 2025

HealthcareHEROES
A P R O G R A M O F B U S I N E S S W E S T & H E A L T H C A R E N E W S
“We needed
to figure
out how to
bring this
information
into these
communities
so they would
recognize
these
symptoms a
lot quicker
and access
what needed
to be accessed
— 911 — to
get to the
hospital a lot
quicker.”
and decisively when stroke symptoms may be in evidence.
“Time is brain when it comes to strokes and heart
attacks,” said Humason, whose efforts have led to the
creation of a detailed community resource brochure
loaded not only with information about stroke, but also a
healthcare proxy form, a guide to community resources for
seniors, and even a File of Life card with key information
ranging from emergency contacts to a list of prescriptions
that is to be updated every six months.
They have also led to community outreach efforts
that have covered nearly 300 square miles and reached
more than 1,500 participants. Working with Emergency
Department Educator Tami Wescott, Humason has
delivered interactive education sessions and health
outreach at farmers markets, senior centers, soup kitchens,
assisted living facilities, and town events such as the
Southwick Rotary Club’s concert series.
And these efforts, she noted, are starting to create
positive results.
“We’re finding that people are accessing emergency
services a lot sooner by recognizing the symptoms,”
she said, listing everything from arm weakness to face
drooping. “We have people coming in with the earliest
symptoms, and with that, they’re able to receive treatment
a lot quicker, and that can help with their symptoms for
long-term effects. And that’s our ultimate goal.”
This early success is both an indicator of the power
of outreach, and yet another example of how Humason
is collaborating with others to create a healthier, more
informed community.
Brandon Okezie, Noble’s president and chief operating
officer, summed up Humason’s contributions, and her
qualifications for the title Healthcare Hero, in effective
fashion.
“She is an excellent emerging leader in healthcare:
innovative, empathetic, collaborative, and committed to
closing gaps in care through education and outreach,” he
wrote in nominating her for the award. “Her work has left a
meaningful imprint on the communities served by Baystate
Noble and offers a model for how localized, person-centric
health education can save lives.”
Slippery Slope
As noted earlier, Humason grew up in Otis and was a
member of the Fire and Rescue Squad while still in high
school. This was a learning experience on many levels —
especially when it came to the challenges facing those
living in remote areas and those serving them — and, in
many ways, it inspired a career.
“I learned a lot being out there — you don’t have many
resources, and you’re quite a distance from any hospital,”
she recalled. “There’s a lot to do between there and here,
so I learned a lot from that time and decided I wanted to
continue and build on that experience.”
Indeed, she attended Springfield College, with the goal
of being a firefighter and paramedic, and then moved on to
BCC, earning degrees in both nursing and fire science. She
joined the Westfield Fire Department in 2006 while also
working as a per diem nurse at BMC.
She came to Noble in 2015, cutting some of her
commuting time, starting in the ER before eventually
becoming a nursing supervisor. After the hospital’s primary
stroke coordinator stepped down three years ago, she
was approached about becoming stroke and STEMI (heart
attack) coordinator and added those responsibilities to an
already lengthy list.
Her collective experience, and a desire to find new ways
to educate the public and serve rural areas, brought her to
the moment when a program administered by Borderland
Partners LLC and the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health invited institutions to apply for grants that would
enable them to bring stroke education to underserved
areas.
And Humason seized that moment, first by rallying
hospital departments around the concept and then leading
the efforts that eventually garnered $15,000 in grant
money.
“This was really a team effort,” she explained. “I went
around and spoke to everyone in the hospital; I spoke
to our case management team, to our ER team, to our
physicians, asking them what our patients are lacking when
they come to the hospital. Is it education? Is it knowledge
of recognizing stroke symptoms? Are they lacking the
resources to go back home? What can we do to help
them?”
The answers to these questions helped frame an
effective grant application — Noble partnered with the
Westfield and Southwick fire departments on the initiative
— and also helped determine how the grant funds could
best be used, Humason went on, adding that the feedback
helped inspire an ambitious updating of the community
resource brochure.
It is crammed with information for seniors on everything
from skilled nursing programs, home care services,
and assisted living facilities to senior centers, medical
equipment companies, and transportation, as well as
the File of Life card — actually two of them, one for the
refrigerator and the other for the wallet or purse — and
healthcare proxy, a document that too many people are
still lacking.
But there is also information on stroke — risk factors,
how to spot signs, and why to call 911 immediately,
especially in these rural areas.
“We needed to figure out how to bring this information
into these communities so they would recognize these
symptoms a lot quicker and access what needed to be
accessed — 911 — to get to the hospital a lot quicker,”
she noted, adding that the program partners modified the
traditional stroke-signs acronym FAST (face, arm, speech,
and time) to BE FAST, adding balance and eyes (checking
for vision loss).
And the phrase is resonating.
Peak Performance
Beyond the brochure, though, is a comprehensive
community outreach initiative, one that has been impactful
in many ways, from creating a more informed community
to giving stoke survivors an opportunity to open up and be
part of that education process.
This community outreach, as noted, has covered more
than 300 square miles, taking Humason and Wescott to
more rural communities such as Otis, Huntington, and
Russell, but also Westfield, Agawam, and Southwick.
The sessions have been informative, but also interactive,
said Humason, adding that, at several gatherings,
stroke survivors felt comfortable enough to share their
experiences, informing other attendees, but also inspiring
them.
“We had many who spoke highly of coming to Bronson
[Rehabilitation Unit at Noble] after a stroke and going from
being afraid about never making it home to getting their
strength back and going home again,” she recalled, adding
that these stories brought a needed personal element to
stroke education.
There have been roughly a dozen of these outreach
efforts, large and small, to date, she said, adding that more
will follow this fall and early winter — in Tolland, at the
Westfield Senior Center, and at the Westfield Women’s
Club, a gathering expected to draw more than 100 people.
And there have been requests to add more to the schedule.
H22
2025 << 2025 HEALTHCARE HEROES >>