Page 23 - Healthcare News Jan/Feb 2023

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Second Chance Dinner Auction
vaccines to lifesaving surgeries. Second Chance takes in sick or injured pets that may be turned away from other shelters due to the cost of providing their veterinary care.
For anyone interested in sponsoring, donating an item, or attending the 24th annual dinner auction, complete in- formation and tickets can be found at www.secondchance- animals.org/dinner-auction.
Mobile Blood Donation at Baystate Wing Hospital
April 5, June 7, Aug. 2, Oct. 4, Dec. 6: Due to the holi- day season and a surge in winter illnesses, Baystate Health’s blood supply has dwindled, and there is an urgent need for blood donors. The Baystate Health Blood Donation team will host blood drives at Baystate Wing Hospital on the first Wednesday of every other month throughout the year. “When you donate blood to Baystate Health, your pre- cious gift remains in our local communities,” said Nicole VanZandt, supervisor of BRL Blood Donor Services. “Please help us to ensure a safe and adequate blood supply is available by donating blood with the Baystate Health Blood Donor Program.
“There is no substitute for human blood,” she added. “Blood donations take approximately one hour to com- plete, including the interview, donation, and refreshments.
BMC, was honored for his compas- sion and above and beyond care he provided for a renal patient who was facing end of life.
According to one of the nominations submitted for Tessier, “recently a patient who receives dialysis in North Adams was admit- ted to the main hospital. After full
diagnosis, it was realized that he had reached a time to make end-of-life decisions. Dr. David Albert helped the patient to make a decision to stop dialysis and go home with hospice support. When Mike Tessier, nurse, heard this news, he was deeply saddened and took it upon himself to visit the patient, on his day off, prior to the patient’s discharge from BMC.”
The nomination went on, “the patient relayed that Mike sat with him while preparing for his discharge and let him talk about his decision and how he felt. Mike supported him in his bravery and even offered to take him fishing the following day if he felt up to it as they had talked about sharing this activity at some point but had never made a firm plan. Mike walked with the patient to the main en- trance and assisted him into his family member’s car. Mike was deeply impacted by this interaction and later received a message from the patient’s sister informing him of her brother’s passing and thanking him for taking the time to visit and expressing how much it had meant to her brother and to all of her family.”
AdCare Hospital Promotes Walker to Assistant Director of Nursing
WORCESTER — AdCare Hospital has promoted Kim Walker, RN to the newly created position of assistant direc- tor of Nursing.
Walker has been with AdCare for more eight years, starting as an LPN staff nurse and coming up through the
To donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, have a photo ID, be in good health (no colds or sore throat), and have not donated blood within the past eight weeks.”
Blood drives will be held at Baystate Wing Hospital, 40 Wright St., Palmer, in Snow Conference Room C. In appre- ciation, all eligible donors will receive a $10 gift card. For more information or to book an appointment to donate blood, call the Blood Donor Center at (413) 794-4600, and note the hospital location where you would like to make your donation when making the appointment.
Difference Makers Gala
April 27: The 15th annual Difference Makers Gala will be held at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.
Since 2009, BusinessWest has been recognizing the work of individuals, groups, businesses, and institutions through this recognition program. The 2023 Difference Makers was announced, and their stories told, in the Feb. 20 issue of BusinessWest and at businesswest.com.
Tickets cost $85 each, and tables of 10-12 are available. To purchase tickets, visit businesswest.com/difference- makers. Partner sponsors for this year’s program include Burkhart Pizzanelli, P.C., the Royal Law Firm, TommyCar Auto Group, and Westfield Bank.
ranks to a nurse manager. AdCare recognized her with its 2022 Excellence in Patient Care Award bestowed for treat- ing every patient with respect and empathy and fostering a positive and supportive work environment.
Walker joined AdCare with extensive psychiatric, behavioral health, and skilled-nursing experience. She is an honors graduate of North Shore Community College in Danvers and Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester.
Massachusetts Health Connector Taps Gasteier as Acting Executive Director
BOSTON — Marylou Sudders, secretary of Health and Human Services and board chair of the Massachusetts Health Connector, announced that Audrey Morse Gasteier, current deputy executive director and chief of Policy and Strategy of the Massachusetts Health Connector, has been appointed acting executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector. Gasteier will succeed Louis Gutierrez, who retired from public service after having served as execu- tive director of the Health Connector since February 2015.
Gasteier has served at the Massachusetts Health Con- nector since 2012, leading policy development and strategy related to the Health Connector’s role as the state’s Afford- able Care Act health-insurance marketplace. She is also
an instructor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Prior to joining the Health Connector in 2012, Gasteier served as director of Health Systems Policy at the Massa- chusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, where she led health-coverage research initiatives and directed implementation of employer-related elements of state health reform. She also served as a policy analyst at the Assoc. of Community Human Service Agencies in Los Angeles. She holds a master’s degree in health policy and management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College.
to Benefit Homeless Shelter Pets
March 25: Tickets are now on sale for Second Chance Animal Services’ 24th annual dinner auction. The fundrais- er will take place at the Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center, and all proceeds will help homeless shelter pets get the veterinary care they need to begin their new lives.
Animal lovers are invited to enjoy an evening of fun helping pets. As is tradition, the event begins with cocktails at 4 p.m. with the opportunity to view and bid on auction items and take a chance on raffle prizes. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m., followed by the auction.
This year, a selection of gift cards and small, easy-to-ship items donated for the auction will be available for advance online bidding in the week prior to the event, with advance bidding ending the evening before the event. Second Chance is welcoming sponsors and item donations to help make the dinner auction a success.
In addition, Second Chance is once again asking sup- porters to consider purchasing a local restaurant gift certificate for donation to the event, an appeal called Plates for Pets it started during the pandemic.
The annual dinner auction is Second Chance’s largest and most important fundraiser. This year’s event will help medically needy shelter pets get the care they need, from
Pulse
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The Mental Health Matters: National Task Force on Workforce Mental Health Policy is being convened by CSG and NCSL in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor’s State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED). The task force consists of 40 legislative, executive, and judicial state policymakers and subject-matter experts who have championed solutions and support for mental health, disability, and workforce issues.
The goal of the task force is to identify, discuss, and develop a policy framework to support job seekers and em- ployees with mental-health conditions, as well as address the behavioral-healthcare workforce shortage. The SEED team will then produce a series of policy briefs based on the task force’s work to circulate across states and cities. Areas of focus for the task force include non-discrimination in care; workplace supports; underserved racial, ethnic, and rural communities; behavioral-health workforce shortages; and state behavioral-health resource systems.
The second conference of the task force will occur in the early spring. Velis noted that he hopes to bring some of the best practices developed with the task force back to Mas- sachusetts to implement in the new legislative session.
Renal Dialysis Nurse Tessier Earns DAISY Award
NORTH ADAMS — Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) Renal Dialysis nurse Michael Tessier, RN has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, a national nursing recognition program that has been adopted by thousands of hospitals to honor individual nurses who have had a tremendous impact on patient care. Tessier, who serves in the Renal Dialysis Center at the North Adams campus of
MICHAEL TESSIER
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
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