McGraw Is The First Hospitalist On Franklin Medical Staff

GREENFIELD – Kathleen McGraw, MD, an internist specializing in hospital-based medicine, has joined the medical staff at Franklin Medical Center as the first hospitalist in FMC’s newly established Hospital Medicine Program.

Hospitalists are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of seriously ill patients, and because they are based in the hospital, they can respond quickly to patients’ needs as they arise. McGraw will be providing weekday-daytime coverage for several primary care practices, including Drs. Grandison, Gieg, Miller and Warner from West County and Drs. McGinn and Iverson from Greenfield. By attending to their patients during these hours, she will enable the primary care physicians to focus greater time and attention on their outpatient practices.

McGraw comes to her new position from Baystate Medical Center, where she recently completed her residency in Internal Medicine, with a concentration in Community Health. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, and then moved east to complete a master’s degree in Geography at UMass/Amherst. She spent the next six years working in the employment and training field, where she applied her expertise in industrial geography to projects throughout the state of Mass-achusetts. Later, she used many of the same skills as co-founder of the Com-munity Health Center in Turners Falls, which she served as founding President of the Board.

Within the next year, Franklin Medical Center will be bringing in another two or three hospitalists, eventually staffing its Hospital Medicine program 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The hospitalist-primary care physician model for inpatient care has been growing in popularity across the country, but only recently has it been adopted by smaller hospitals,” said Jeffrey Blomstedt, MD, FMC’s director of Medical Affairs. “It’s exciting to bring this type of program to Franklin Medical Center, with the full support of our medical staff and Baystate Health System. As patients get to know Dr. McGraw and the other hospitalists, we believe they will also appreciate the advantages of having an attending physician so readily available to address their questions, adjust treatment plans, and coordinate their inpatient stay with other specialists and services.”