Page 55 - Healthcare News Sept.-Oct. 2020
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 Brown’s experience in the nonprofit sector includes serving as manager of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts’ Network Capacity Build- ing department and as Community Engagement coordinator, where she coordinated the develop- ment of the Springfield Food Access Project. She was also a member of the Food Bank’s manage- ment, advocacy, and diversity team.
Brown focused her early-career social-justice and community-organizing efforts on violence prevention and gang diversion. In 2005, she founded the nonprofit agency Alive with Aware- ness, Knowledge & Empowerment (AWAKE), a violence-prevention organization in Springfield. At AWAKE, she built a framework and created programs to ensure that youth of color and their families were provided access to opportunities, support systems, and basic needs to live produc- tive and successful lives.
DeWolf Joins Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Matthew DeWolf, a fellowship-trained orthopaedic sur- geon and specialist in hand and upper-extremity surgery, to the medical staff of Berkshire Medi- cal Center and the physician staff of Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates.
DeWolf is accepting new patients in need of com- prehensive orthopaedic
care and hand and upper- extremity services, and joins Drs. Jeffrey Cella, Anthony DeFelice, Jarod Goodrich, David Grygier, Christina Kane, Ashley Miller, Kevin
Mitts, James Parkinson, Daniel Sage, and Mark Sprague at Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates, an affiliate of Berkshire Health Systems.
DeWolf received his medical degree from UMass Medical School and completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.
He was fellowship-trained in hand and upper- extremity surgery at the Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center.
Rousou Joins Board of Trustees at American International College
SPRINGFIELD — Dr. John Rousou has joined the board of trustees at American International College (AIC). In a career dedicated to cardiotho- racic surgery, Rousou was chief of the Cardiac Surgery division at Baystate Medical Center until his retirement in 2018.
Graduating with an undergraduate degree in biology from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, Rousou received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut Medical School in 1970. Following an internship at the
university, he relocated to the U.S., completing a resi- dency in general surgery at the University of Rochester in New York, and a residen- cy in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Illinois
Medical Center in Chicago, where he was also an instructor.
Rousou and his associate, Dr. Richard Engel- man, initiated the Cardiac Surgery program at Baystate Medical Center in 1978. He served as chief of the division from 2001 until his retire- ment. Combined with his responsibilities at Bay- state Medical Center, Rousou served as assistant professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine and assistant clinical professor of Surgery at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
Elms Names Reske Associate Dean
CHICOPEE — Elms College announced the promotion of Teresa Kuta Reske to the position of associate dean of Graduate and Doctoral Stud- ies for the School of Nursing.
Reske was on the leadership team that devel- oped the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) pro- gram and has served as director since its incep- tion in the fall of 2014. She will continue to lead the program in this new role.
Among her accomplishments, Reske co- authored a chapter in DNP Education, Practice, and Policy: Redesigning Advanced Practice Roles for the 21st Century (2012) and is a journal
reviewer for the Journal of Professional Nursing. In addition, she has presented locally, nationally, and inter- nationally on DNP practice- related topics, patient- experience-related topics, nurse telephone triage, and nursing informatics.
Reske holds a BS in nursing from Saint Anselm College, a MPA from the University of New Ha- ven, an MSN in health systems from Vanderbilt University, and a DNP degree in executive nurse leadership from the MGH Institute of Health Professions.
AIC Doctoral Student Mu’min Wins 100 Women of Color Award
SPRINGFIELD — Aesha Mu’min, a 2019 Amer- ican International College (AIC) alumna of the clinical psychology graduate-degree program, and current doctoral student in the mental health counseling program, was recently named a 100 Women of Color class of 2020 award recipient. The gala and awards event recognizes the contributions that women in business, edu- cation, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and service have made to impact the lives of people throughout their communities in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Mu’min was selected to the 2020 cohort of awardees because of her dedication
to and innovative work
as a deputy warden in the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
The nominating commit- tee cited Mu’min’s work to ensure that fathers are able to create and main-
tain secure attachments to their children in
particular, noting that “it is no secret that chil- dren of incarcerated citizens experience trauma. Working with community partners to redesign the visitation room to be family-friendly, hold- ing parenting classes, and self-help seminars are all central to development of stronger fathers, thus stronger children. The work that she does is a model for the reform of correction facilities both near and far.”
Gomez Joins Board of Trustees
at Willie Ross School for the Deaf
LONGMEADOW — Mary Gomez, a parent of two students who attended and graduated from Willie Ross School for the Deaf, has been ap- pointed to the school’s board of trustees.
Gomez serves as a foster mother at the Treehouse Communities initiative that provides a multi-generation- al foster-care environment in a 60-home village located in Easthampton.
Both of Gomez’s chil- dren, William and Melanie,
were born deaf. She moved to Massachusetts from New York, where she was unsatisfied with deaf-education programs and schools available at the time. Her children thrived at Willie Ross, and William is a Willie Ross graduate currently attending the Rochester Institute of Technol- ogy. Melanie graduated from Willie Ross in the spring of 2020 and will be attending Holyoke Community College in the fall.
Gomez is currently enrolled in certificate programs at Holyoke Community College for English-Spanish translation and sign-language translation.
River Valley Counseling Center Welcomes Bourdon to Board
HOLYOKE — River Valley Counseling Center has welcomed Valerie Bourdon to its board of directors. She has more than 25 years of experi- ence in the mental-health field.
After completing a master’s degree in coun- seling psychology at Boston College, Bourdon began her career in behavioral health at Holyoke Medical Center. She served as a member of the original multi-disciplinary teams that developed programming for HMC’s new in-patient psychi- atric unit and RVCC’s Partial Hospitalization Program. Her developing interest in outpatient behavioral-health and employee-assistance programs led her to complete a certificate of advanced graduate study in industrial/organiza- tional psychology at Springfield College.
While working at an area employee-assistance program (EAP), Bourdon was recruited back
to RVCC to serve as CONCERN EAP’s program director. During her 13 years working in this capacity, she focused upon strengthening employee-assistance program services, enhanc- ing professional relationships, and expanding the program’s client base. She retired from CON- CERN EAP in 2019.
  MARY GOMEZ
  TERESA KUTA RESKE
  DR. MATTHEW DEWOLF
  AESHA MU’MIN
  DR. JOHN ROUSOU
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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