NEW LONDON — Former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court John Broderick will speak about mental illness during a free lecture this week hosted by New London Hospital.
Broderick, who is now senior director of external affairs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, is scheduled to deliver a talk, “Changing the Culture of Mental Illness: It’s Way Past Time,” on Thursday as part of the sixth Annual John H. Ohler M.D. Lecture Series. The event is held in memory of Dr. Ohler, who practiced in New London for 35 years.
The talk is slated to take place at 5:30 p.m. in Wheeler Hall, Ware Student Center, at Colby-Sawyer College. For more information, visit newlondonhospital.org/ohler.
HANOVER — The HERO, an annual fundraiser for Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, is set to take place next Sunday, Oct. 20, on the Dartmouth College Green.
The event features a half-marathon run, competitive 5K run and walk, 1-mile family fun run, 25- or 50-mile bike ride, and 5-mile hike. All events end on the Dartmouth Green in downtown Hanover. Participants wear superhero costumes.
The HERO festival on the Green includes food vendors, a KidZone with mechanical animal rides, face painting and live entertainment.
This year’s Kid HERO is Finn Webster, a 3-year-old from Hanover, who is a regular patient at CHaD due to a congenital heart defect related to Down syndrome. Because of his heart defect, he will see a pediatric cardiologist throughout his life.
For more information or to register, visit CHaDHERO.org.
NORWICH — A former state health official and current CEO of a federally qualified health center in northern Vermont has joined the board of OneCare Vermont.
Norwich resident Michael Costa, who has been CEO of the St. Johnsbury, Vt.-based Northern Counties Health Care since March, is now a member of the board of OneCare Vermont, an accountable care organization founded in 2013 by Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Vermont Medical Center. OneCare works with government and commercial insurers to pay providers fixed monthly payments based on the number of patients they care for, instead of the traditional fee-for-service model.
Before becoming CEO of Northern Counties, Costa served as deputy commissioner of the Department of Vermont Heath Access, which administers Vermont’s public health insurance system.
Other Upper Valley-based members of OneCare’s board include Dan Bennett, CEO of Randolph’s Gifford Medical Center; Dr. Sally Kraft and Stephen LeBlanc from D-H; and Dr. Joseph Perras, CEO of Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor.
RANDOLPH CENTER — Gifford Health Care’s Menig Nursing Home at Morgan Orchards Senior Living Community received a Nursing Home Quality Award at the annual meeting of the Vermont Health Care Association last month.
Menig is one of five of Vermont’s 36 Medicaid-participating homes to receive the award from the Vermont Division of Licensing and Protection in the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living that recognizes “outstanding nursing homes which have met high standards of quality of care for Vermont’s nursing home residents,” according to a Gifford news release.
Homes were selected for the award following review of data related to providing and sustaining superior quality of care, including outcomes from recent health and satisfaction surveys.
“We are proud of our colleagues and appreciate the state recognition, which includes a financial award to further enhance the quality of service provided to our residents,” Menig Administrator Ursula Margazano said in the release.
At the same meeting, Menig staff member Claudette Goad was named the 2019 VHCA Executive Assistant of the Year. Goad, who has worked at Menig for the last four of her 43 years with Gifford, was recognized for her “significant contributions and personal dedication to the long-term care profession.”
LEBANON — The medical director of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s Acute Pain Medicine Service has been selected to serve as editor-in-chief of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine beginning at the end of the year, according to a news release.
Dr. Brian Sites, who also directs orthopedic anesthesiology and is vice chairman of research in the department of anesthesiology, has been an active member of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine for many years. He resigned from his position on the ASRA Board of Directors in September to take on the new role.
Dr. Sites, who received his medical degree from Brown University School of Medicine and holds a master’s degree in clinical and health services research from The Dartmouth Institute, plans to expand the journal to adjust to changes in the practice of medicine, according to the release.
Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine, which was founded in 1975, is available at rapm.org.
WINDSOR — Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center has named Tyson Taft as its new director of plant operations, according to a news release.
Taft, a Bellows Falls, Vt., resident and an employee of Mt. Ascutney since 2016, is responsible for ensuring the maintenance, safety and security of the hospital’s buildings, grounds, telecommunications, security and HVAC systems. He manages the planning and coordination of all repairs, renovations and new construction projects at the Windsor and Woodstock facilities.
“Tyson understands that operating a hospital is an intensely challenging experience and that quality care depends on everyone performing their responsibilities with the utmost care, accuracy and professionalism,” Joe Martaniuk, outgoing director of plant operations, said in the release. “We have an extraordinary staff of medical experts to serve our community. But their expertise can only be fully utilized if the physical plant in which they practice is operating flawlessly.”
— Compiled by Nora Doyle-Burr