Page 28 - HealthcareNews Jan_Feb 2021

CAREER PULSE
Marqusee to Step Down as
ment of operations, including transportation, food service, and IT.
Kagan, who led the agency for 17 years, announced her retirement plans last summer. She continues to serve as an advisor to the leadership team during the transition.
DiStefano serves on the boards of directors for the Mas- sachusetts Council on Gaming Health, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, the Springfield Regional Chamber, the Baystate Community Benefits Advisory Committee, and Businesses to End Human Trafficking. She also serves as a commissioner on the Hampden County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
She received her bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst and her master’s degree in public administration and non- profit management from Westfield State University.
Holyoke Medical Center Welcomes Vitarisi as CFO
HOLYOKE — Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems, announced the appointment of Dean Vitarisi as chief finan- cial officer (CFO) at Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems.
Vitarisi’s prior experience included executive-level finance positions with Essen Health Care, Trinity Health Of New England, Yale New Haven Health, St. Mary’s Health System, and St. Raphael Healthcare System. He received his bachelor’s degree in business ad- ministration with a concentration
in accounting from Bryant University. He then completed an MBA from Quinnipiac University, followed by a master certificate in healthcare leadership from Cornell University School of Human Ecology.
“I am excited to join this organization, with its strong culture and commitment in providing the highest standards of quality, safety, and cost-effective care for all patients,” Vitarisi said. “One of my first goals will be to focus on the revenue cycle and reimbursement strategies, which are ever-changing due to legislation, regulation, and marketplace reform.”
WNEU’s Pezzuto Listed Among Top 2% of World’s Scientists
SPRINGFIELD — Western New England University (WNEU) announced that Dr. John Pezzuto, dean of
the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, has been recognized in Stanford University’s recently released list of “Top 2% of Scientists in the World.” The list names an elite group of scientists with criteria based on the citation impact of their publications.
In the overall category of career impact, Pezzuto is ranked in the top 4% of the top 2% of scientists. His place- ment is even more remarkable in the discipline-specific ranking of medicinal and biomolecular chemistry, where he is placed 21st among 80,622 researchers in that field — the top 0.02% of the top 2%.
Pezzuto joined Western New England University in August 2020 as professor and dean. Over the years, he has investigated natural products as drugs, with special empha- sis on cancer therapy and prevention. He is well-known for his pioneering work concerning resveratrol, a component of grapes and grape products, that has been shown to medi-
ate a raft of biological responses. His work on investigating the effect of grapes on health and longevity continues at WNEU.
“Nature provides many clues for the treatment and pre- vention of human disease. I have been blessed to work with many icons in the field, and to continue being active in research and discovery at WNE,” Pezzuto said. “It is heart- ening that my work has been recognized by colleagues and become integrated with the continuum of science searching for the truth. Academia provides the perfect environment for scholarship, and this is imbued by the spirit of WNE.”
HCC Hires Brandt as Dean of Health Sciences and Culinary Arts
HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) recently welcomed Amy Brandt as its new dean of Health Sciences and Culinary Arts.
Brandt most recently worked
as associate vice president and dean of Health Sciences at Broome Community College in Bingham- ton, N.Y., which is part of the State University of New York system.
At SUNY Broome, she focused on developing partnerships with local area hospitals to address health-
care-worker shortages and advocated for enhanced use
of simulation to improve clinical education and position programs to remain current with emerging national trends in healthcare education.
At HCC, she will oversee seven academic programs: Foundations of Health, Medical Assisting, Medical Billing and Coding, Nursing (associate of science and practical), Radiologic Technology, Veterinary and Animal Science, and Culinary Arts.
Brandt holds a master’s degree in social work from Cali- fornia State University, Sacramento, and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of California Los Angeles. After earning her Ph.D., she began working in education, initially at the University of California Berkeley in the School of So- cial Welfare, where she focused on program administration and teaching introductory social-work courses. In 2007, she transitioned to the community-college setting in California, focusing on allied-health education, and she has worked on allied-health program development in California, Florida, Texas, and New York.
Brandt has extensive experience working with state regulatory agencies, as well as developing self-studies for programmatic accreditation. She has served as a site visitor for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, reviewing institutions for compliance with general educa- tion and educational-effectiveness standards.
She has collaborated with multiple programs on de- veloping assessment plans to assess educational quality and delivery and has co-led a variety of different campus committees related to program review, general education, professional development, COVID-19 reopening, and student retention and equity initiatives.
Miarecki Joins Team at Christo- pher Heights of Northampton
NORTHAMPTON — Christopher Heights of Northampton, an assisted-living community, recently wel- comed Amie Miarecki as its new marketing and admission director.
Cooley Dickinson President, CEO
NORTHAMPTON — Joanne Marqusee, president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson since 2014, announced she will leave that role to become chief integration officer for Well- force, a growing healthcare system in Eastern Mass. that includes Tufts Medical Center, four community hospital sites, a broad provider network, and a homecare/hospice agency.
At Wellforce, she will be respon- sible for developing and enhancing system-wide services to support operational excellence and growth. Marqusee joined Cooley Dickinson following its affiliation with Massa- chusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the larger Mass General Brigham (MGB) system.
During her tenure at Cooley Dickinson, Marqusee oversaw the creation of a behavioral-health pod in the Emergency Department, the opening of a new Breast Center, and substantial expansion in provider practices across a range of locations and specialties. She will also
be remembered for her diversity, equity, and inclusion work, starting with LGBTQ programs and more recently launching a comprehensive anti-racism plan. In addition, she has frequently spoken out on important public-health and policy issues, particularly those that affect marginalized communities.
Prior to her tenure at Cooley Dickinson, Marqusee, a graduate of Cornell University and the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, was COO of Melrose- Wakefield Healthcare (formerly Hallmark Health) and spent 16 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she consistently was promoted to positions of great- er responsibility, including vice president of Access; vice president of Ancillary, Support and Community Services; and senior vice president of Operations.
Marqusee is a board member of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Assoc. and serves on the steering com- mittee of Extraordinary Women Advancing Health Care. In addition to her roles in Massachusetts, she previously worked for the New York State Department of Health in the Division of Health Care Financing, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., and the New York City Office of the Mayor.
Forbes DiStefano Named President, CEO of Square One
SPRINGFIELD — On the heels of the recent retirement of Joan Kagan, Square One named Dawn Forbes DiStefano its new president and CEO.
Following a 25-year career with the YWCA of Western Massachu- setts, DiStefano joined the Square One team in 2016 to lead the agency’s grant-research, grant- writing, and program-compliance efforts. She was quickly promoted to chief finance and grants officer, where she added oversight of the
agency’s financial team to her list of responsibilities. In 2019, she was promoted to executive vice president and took on oversight of the agency’s early-education and care programs and family-support services, as well as manage-
JOANNE MARQUSEE
AMYBRANDT
DEAN VITARISI
DAWN FORBES DISTEFANO
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