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Grand Opening

Cooley Dickinson Hospital recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open its $50 million New Patient Building and Kittredge Surgery Center. Clockwise from top: CDH President and CEO Craig Melin, fourth from left, joins employees, donors, dignitaries, and special guests; community members cut commemorative ribbons hanging to the right of the new building’s main entrance; and community members check out one of the new operating rooms as part of a self-guided tour following the ceremony. “Cooley Dickinson Hospital is doing great things, but we are not done yet,” Melin said. “Until now, the organization has had great staff working around facility issues rather than having a facility that helps staff provide the best of care. This new facility will provide easier flow in our operating rooms, easier placement of patients, and it will provide a state-of-the-art facility for our specialists. Patients will benefit from increased privacy, more streamlined nursing care, and a more pleasant environment for their loved ones and relatives.”

Everyday Heroism

The fifth annual Hometown Heroes breakfast, a program of the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter, was held recently at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield and catered by Max’s Tavern. Newscaster Sy Becker and recording artist Ashley Gearing co-hosted the event, which honored everyday people who performed heroic, selfless, and often life-saving actions this past year. Top left: Wilbraham police officer Christopher Doyle, left and honoree Bruce Westcott of East Longmeadow, who aided Doyle following a car accident. Top right: Betti Boggis, left, one of the event’s Big Y volunteers and a 2005 honoree, with Dana Smolokoff, Westfield State College intern for the Pioneer Valley Chapter. Bottom: from left, Frank Anderson, Red Cross board chair; Jack Robinson of Longmeadow; honoree Jared Bertuzzi, Robinson’s grandson, who cared for him after a stroke; and Gerry Fitzgerald, Red Cross board member.