Page 34 - 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
Dr. Yannis
Raftopoulos
is relentless
when it comes
to establishing
solid lines of
communication
with his patients.
something he stresses to
patients as he implores them
to set the bar high and keep
it there by changing their
lifestyle.
His approach to his work,
and his impact on his patients,
was perhaps best summed
up by HMC President Spiros
Hatiras.
“He makes himself very
accessible to his patients, and
that truly sets him apart from
other physicians,” Hatiras
said. “Once a person becomes
a patient of Dr. Raftopoulos,
they remain his patient for as
long as needed and are not
discharged from the program.”
It Weighs on Him
“I am no longer a diabetic,
and I don’t have high blood
pressure. I thank God first and
then Dr. Raftopoulos for the
new me.”
That’s another of those
testimonials, which collectively describe a physician who could be
a Healthcare Hero in many categories: Healthcare Administrator,
because he oversees and built this program, which now includes
do before, or get into a relationship, or stop taking medication for
diabetes or high blood pressure ... all of this makes my day.”
As he talked about his work, he came back repeatedly to the
importance of communication between himself and his patients,
noting that this is perhaps the most important factor in achieving a
successful outcome.
And successful, to him, means not merely losing some weight,
but, as he said, achieving a normal weight and maintaining it,
“Sometimes,
they’ll say ‘any
weight loss is
great. And I’ll
say, ‘wait a
minute, it’s not
great.’ I tell
them that, if
they’re going
to go under the
knife and under
anesthesia for
the sole reason
to lose weight,
they need to do
awesome, and
awesome, to me,
means getting
back to a normal
weight.”
Raftopoulos
Continued on page H36 >>
A Dedication to
Improving Lives.
Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. congratulates
Dr. Yannis Raftopoulos—Director of the Holyoke
Medical Center Weight Management Program—on
being named a Healthcare Heroes honoree. We also
salute all of this year’s Healthcare Heroes for their
contributions to our community!
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2025 << 2025 HEALTHCARE HEROES >>