Page 33 - 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
Healthcare Administrator
He Helps
Patients Regain
Their Health —
and Their Lives
Yannis
Raftopoulos
Director, Holyoke Medical Center
Weight Management Program
By George O’Brien
obrien@businesswest.com
He takes his time to help you, he gives
“This doctor really puts his time into it.
you his phone number, you can text
him anytime with questions. He is with
you there through the whole process.
When I felt something was not right, I could just text him.”
“It’s because of him that I’m doing so well. He is caring,
knowledgeable — the most supportive doctor I have
ever had. He was in contact with me by phone daily for
the first week or two after my surgery and is always
available by email. Even at almost three years post-op, he
still responds immediately to any emails concerning my
health.”
“It stuck with me when he said, ‘you will be a patient
of mine forever, as long as you want to be.’ I feel he has
stuck to that 100%.”
These are just three of the many testimonials from
patients regarding Dr. Yannis Raftopoulos, director of
“It makes my day, even today, after
doing this for almost 25 years, when I
see a patient succeed.”
<< 2025 HEALTHCARE HEROES >> the Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) Weight Management
Program, and they help explain why he is one of two
Healthcare Heroes for 2025 in the category of Healthcare
Provider. But even more importantly, they explain his
personal approach to patient care and an unrelenting
focus on communicating with them as they start and then
continue on a difficult but often very rewarding journey.
Indeed, weight management is a journey, one that
starts with a desire to do something about one’s weight,
and it never really ends, not with surgery, medication,
or a combination of the two, said Raftopoulos, who told
BusinessWest that this specialty, which chose him as
much as he chose it, is extremely rewarding.
And not just because of the pounds shed and then, in
many cases, kept off, but because of what patients gain
in the process — improved health, for example, with
everything from diabetes to hypertension, sleep apnea,
and more, but also the ability to do things they were not
able to do previously.
“It makes my day, even today, after doing this for
almost 25 years, when I see a patient succeed,” said
Raftopoulos, who launched HMC’s Weight Management
Program in 2016 and since then has helped more than
4,000 patients. “And success means to get a normal
weight, which might help them find a job they couldn’t
2025
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