in this issue...
HMS and BIDMC Teaching Awards
For Your Health: Ask Be Well!
Waltham Cancer Center Offers Quality Care Close to Home
In the News
Around BIDMC
Moments That Matter
Honors
Calendar

Previous Issues


"Why I Am Walking"


Heart Walk co-chairs Levy (left) and Dee with Wally the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

BIDMC and the Boston Red Sox are teaming up to support the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Boston Heart Walk on Sept. 20. Here, several team captains share their reasons for walking:

Deb Schoenthaler, director of contracts and finance, BIDPO: “My dad died of heart disease when he was 44. He had undergone heart surgery five years previous. It was still a shock that he did not survive his second heart attack. I remember the ER doc asking my mother if they could use a new drug on my dad — Coumadin, now routinely available because of AHA research funding. My husband and kids never met my dad — I think of him every day. By raising funds for research and education, other families may not have to feel the same void.”

Paul Levy, president and CEO, BIDMC, and co-chair, Boston Heart Walk: “Last year my wife, Barb, had a stroke. Fortunately my daughters got her to BIDMC in 20 minutes. She received clot-busting medication that allowed blood flow to her brain to be restored quickly, and today she has made a complete recovery. These medications are one example of progress in treating heart disease and stroke. My wife always led a very healthy lifestyle. The stroke drove the point home that heart disease and stroke can affect anyone.”

Mike Dee, executive VP, business affairs, Boston Red Sox: “My mother underwent aorta valve replacement surgery and angioplasty last year. The treatments and technology left a lasting impression on me as to how far medicine has come in this important pursuit to eradicate our nation’s #1 killer. I have seen professionals whose research efforts are making our goal of stamping out heart disease a reality. We can make a difference!”

Marie Pierson, R.N., nurse case manager, psychiatry: “My dad had a heart attack when he was 51. I was in nursing school here. I remember the resident telling me that if he did not have surgery, he would die within a year. My father had a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG). We all felt very blessed that he was given many more years to be with us. BIDMC means a lot to me. I would love to help in the fight against heart disease.”

- Peggy Egan

You can help!
Support the Heart Walk by being a team captain, walking, or sponsoring a co-worker.

Sat., Sept. 20, 2003
MDC Lederman Field,
Charles River Esplanade
10 a.m. (registration 9 a.m.)
Information: Deb Schoenthaler at dschoent@bidmc.harvard.edu.


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Published monthly for the people of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to build community, communicate direction, foster pride and recognize accomplishments.

Produced by Beth Israel Deaconess communications, (66)7-7300

managing editor:
   Valerie Hope Goldstein
print layout & design:
   Jen McGrath
web layout & design:
   Jim Dwyer
contributing writers:
Lori Howley, Lisa Linden,
Jaclyn Tammaro
contributing photographers:
Oran Barber, Bruce Wahl



© BIDMC, Boston, MA, USA, 2003. All rights reserved. Material may be reproduced only with the express written consent of communications.

 

 

 














BID-Needham
Marks First Anniversary
Expanded Services, New Staff Added
It has been a year since BID-Needham (above) became a direct affiliate of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The new “Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham” signage going up at the community hospital in August is only the most visible symbol of the one-year direct affiliation between BID-Needham (formerly Deaconess-Glover Hospital) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

“At the one-year anniversary, there are a wide range of initiatives that are delivering upon our commitment to bring leading-edge health care services to Needham and surrounding communities,” says BID-Needham CEO John Dalton.

The two hospitals’ direct affiliation has grown from a foundation created three years ago, when BIDMC’s emergency room physicians started to manage Needham’s emergency department. Today, it is an alliance where physicians hold joint appointments, the renovation of facilities is underway, and staff and back office operations from both hospitals are becoming integrated in key areas.

Among them:

- BID-Needham’s cardiology department is growing under the direction of Joseph Kannam, M.D., who added the duties of chief of Needham’s cardiology department to his ongoing practice at BIDMC. Renovations underway now will both increase clinical space and relocate all cardiac services together, thereby enhancing patient convenience. New electrophysiologist Michael McLaughlin, M.D., brings advanced expertise in cardiac arrhythmia, enhanced pacemaker implantation and defibrillator assessment skills to Needham, while also continuing to work at BIDMC. He complements Needham’s other cardiology team members, including Randy Joyce Averback, M.D., and Benet S. Kolman, M.D.

-  Needham’s surgery department added Christopher Boyd, M.D., a general surgeon at BIDMC, to its staff. Other BIDMC surgeons also perform highly specialized surgeries in Needham.

-  Needham’s hospitalist program completed its first year under the direction of Joseph Li., M.D. The program is well-utilized by referring primary care physicians, and the program’s physician staffing has increased by 33 percent.

-  New Needham Chief of Radiology Zarrin Salimi, M.D., with appointments at both BID-Needham and BIDMC, oversees a clinically integrated department that features the rotation of BIDMC interventional specialists in Needham. In late August, the department will install a state-of-the-art, 16-slice computed tomography (CT) scan — one of the fastest diagnostic technologies of its type that dramatically improves physicians’ ability to see finite detail, leading to faster, more accurate detection and diagnosis.

-  BID-Needham Chief of Oncology Mark Huberman, M.D., now directs Needham’s medical oncology service. Along with certified oncology nurses from BIDMC, they provide clinically and technically advanced cancer care in the community.

-  Deborah Fleischhacker, M.D., chief of pathology at BID-Needham, recently joined the Harvard Medical Faculty Physician group of more than 75 attending pathologists, principal research investigators, fellows and resident physicians at BIDMC. This integration of BID-Needham's and BIDMC’s pathology departments gives Fleischhacker access to highly specialized resources only available to academic pathology departments.

- Jerry Berger