Gifford celebrated Halloween yesterday with staff dressing up, a pumpkin-decorating contest, The Robin’s Nest kids parading through the hospital, and Menig Extended Care Facility members welcoming trick or treaters at night.
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott arrives at Gifford on Tuesday (Photo provided by Robin Palmer)
In the final day of his “Cycling Vermont’s 14” 500-mile bicycle tour of the state’s 14 counties, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott stopped at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph early Tuesday afternoon.
Scott, who is seeking re-election next month, was met by a small group of Gifford employees and community supporters. Scott briefly talked fitness as vital to good health, and safety. On the first day of his journey he encountered railroad tracks and cracked his helmet, he said.
On the last day, with a new helmet securely in place, his visit to Gifford led to an impromptu tour of the medical center’s Menig Extended Care Facility nursing home, which Gifford is trying to rebuild in Randolph Center as part of a senior living community.
Scott, riding with John Connor, was scheduled to conclude his eight-day journey on the chilly Tuesday in Barre at 5:30 p.m. Continue reading →
The National Health Service Corps’ Corps Community Day is this Thursday, October 11th. Click hereto find out more.
RANDOLPH – When Dr. Josh Plavin was in medical school, a federal program supporting primary care providers, the National Health Service Corps, helped pay for some of his education costs.
“I was a National Health Service Corps scholar,” Dr. Plavin notes.
Upon graduation, the program required that he work two years at a National Health Service Corps approved site in a designated primary care shortage area. Dr. Plavin looked to rural Vermont.
“At the time there were no designated sites in Vermont with job openings,” says Dr. Plavin, who worked with his employer of choice – Gifford Medical Center – to have the Chelsea Health Center designated as an approved site. The site was approved in part because neighboring Tunbridge was, and still is, defined as a primary care shortage area.
That was in 2001 and Dr. Plavin served the Chelsea area as both a pediatrician and internal medicine provider for the next seven years.
Today, Dr. Plavin serves as medical director of all of Gifford’s primary care practice locations – in Berlin, Bethel, Chelsea, Randolph and Rochester. As such, he sees the benefit of the federal program from new eyes – that of a hospital administrator trying to staff primary care practices in rural areas.
“Medical school is so expensive that there are fewer and fewer doctors going into primary care because the simple math is it is not viable without loan repayment. It’s certainly not viable in a rural area,” says Dr. Plavin on what nationally is Corps Community Day, held today during National Primary Care Week.
We held our Autumn Harvest Festival earlier this week. Gifford employees enjoyed apple crisp and competed in a pumpkin recipe contest. The first place winner was Ralph Herrick (well, OK, Ralph’s wife).
RANDOLPH – Chiropractor Dr. Andrea Kannas has joined the Sharon Health Center’s sports medicine team part-time.
Dr. Kannas, who is also in private practice in Woodstock, is a Rutland native and Middlebury College graduate who went on to Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minn., for her doctor of chiropractic (D.C.) degree.
She completed her internship at Bloom Chiropractic, Bloomington Natural Care Center and University Health Services, part of Northwestern Health Sciences University, all in Minnesota.
She previously worked at Lakes Region Chiropractic in Bristol, N.H., before opening her own practice, The Chiropractic & Wellness Studio, last year.
It was through volunteer work with the Woodstock Union High School track team that Dr. Kannas connected with Sharon Health Center chiropractor Dr. Hank Glass. The health center, renowned for its sports medicine practice, was in need of more chiropractic help.
Dr. Kannas excitedly joined the team, which includes Dr. Glass, two podiatrists, a sports medicine physician, a nurse practitioner, an athletic trainer and physical therapists, this month. “I’m really excited to work with the other doctors and staff and, most importantly, the patients. I really love what I do.”
Chiropractic adjustments, said Dr. Kannas, are part of a healthy lifestyle, helping people perform at an optimal level. They support wellness and balance, and can benefit both acute and chronic injuries.
Dr. Kannas is board certified by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.
Her clinical interests include sports medicine and women’s health and wellness. “I also love working with kids,” says Dr. Kannas, who lives in Quechee with her husband, John, and their 1-year-old daughter, Addison.
In her free time, Dr. Kannas enjoys spending time with her family, the outdoors and athletics, including skiing and cycling. In high school and college, she participated in soccer, track and ski racing.
Like Sharon’s other health care providers, who are also athletes, Dr. Kannas’ experience with sports has left her committed to working to achieve athletes’ goals and to being compassionate to their needs, she says.
Dr. Kannas is at the Sharon Health Center on Mondays and Wednesdays. Call her in Sharon at (802) 763-8000. The Sharon Health Center is part of Gifford Medical Center.
Free concert featuring country, blues, gospel, folk
RANDOLPH – Gifford Medical Center employees and volunteer Karen Warner showcase their talents on Thursday, Aug. 30 for a multi-act, multi-style concert.
Warner will sing to new and classic country tracks. Sanie Bly, who performed earlier in the month, will join Gifford employees Thom Goodwin and Joe Pelletier in a group called the “Mood Stabilizers,” singing and playing folk and ’70s rock.
And Gifford’s Greg McConnell, Claudette Goad and Mike Berry as well as Berry’s brother, Jim, make up “Diamonds in the Rough,” a blue grass and gospel group.
“Diamonds in the Rough” often sing together at church and have performed for Gifford events. Bly is part of experienced group “Two for the Show.” Goodwin and Pelletier both sing and play guitar.
And Warner has performed for several community events, including at the Randolph gazebo and following the Randolph Fourth of July parade.
“We hope to offer something for everyone and bring together the community for an enjoyable, relaxing evening with good friends and good music,” said Mike Berry, who is organizing the collaboration.
Hear this eclectic group of performers in the Gifford park from 6:30-8 p.m.
The concert is free and open to the public.
The Gifford park is located between the hospital and the Thrift Shop on South Main Street (Route 12), south of Randolph village. Ample parking is available onsite.
The concert is weather-dependent. If the weather is questionable, check Gifford’s new and improved Website, www.giffordmed.org, for an update.
The following is a complete list of current Gifford medical staff as taken from our 2011 Annual Report published a few months ago.
Anesthesiology
Lee Balaklaw, MD
Anthony Fazzone, MD
Dennis Henzig, MD
Eric Kent, MD
Jon-Richard Knoff, MD
Nina Sharp, MD
Cardiology
Bruce Andrus, MD
Timothy Beaver, MD
Chiropractic Sports Medicine
Hank Glass, DC
Emergency Medicine
Steven Fisher, MD
Marc Keller, MD
Todd Morrell, MD
Saul Nurok, MD
Kevin Rodgers, MD
Scott Rodi, MD
Brian Sargent, DO
Wendell Smith, MD
Joshua White, MD
Lucy Wollaeger, MD
Endocrinology
Susanne Trost, MD
Family Medicine
Kenneth Borie, DO
Terry Cantlin, DO
Marcus Coxon, MD
Jonna Goulding, MD
Robert Kiess, MD
Brian Sargent, DO
Mark Seymour, DO
Sheri Brown, FNP-BC
Maria Cabri, FNP, CNM
Tammy Gerdes, PA-C
Patrick Kearney, PA-C
Kim Ladue, FNP-BC
Megan O’Brien, FNP-BC
Starr Strong, PA-C
Gastroenterology
Eric Ganguly, MD
General Surgery
Edward Borrazzo, MD
Ovleto Ciccarelli, MD
Nikki Gewirz, PA-C
Maury Smith, MD
Laurie Spaulding, MD
Hospitalist Medicine
Mandeep Hundal, MD
Martin Johns, MD
Joshua Plavin, MD, MPH
Wendell Smith, MD
Sheri Brown, FNP-BC
Sue Burgos, PA-C
Joshua Gleiner, PA-C
Patrick Kearney, PA-C
Megan O’Brien, FNP-BC
Fred Staples, PA-C
Internal Medicine
James Currie, MD
Milton Fowler, MD
Mark Jewett, MD
Cristine Maloney, MD
Mary LaBrecque, ANP-BC
Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
David Pattison, MD, MPH
Joshua Plavin, MD, MPH
Mental Health
Cory Gould, MA
Robert Vaillancourt, MA
Physician assistant Kate Clemente joins Gifford practices in Randolph, Rochester
RANDOLPH – Kate Clemente didn’t have to look far to find her role model.
The Montpelier native’s mother has been a physician assistant for 35 years, dedicating herself to her profession and her community.
Now Clemente is doing the same. A certified physician assistant, Clemente has joined Gifford Medical Center’s family practice in Randolph and will be seeing patients at the Rochester Health Center in the coming months as well.
A graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Clemente went on to get her master’s degree in physician assistant studies at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H.
“I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to practice close to home at such a wonderful and supportive hospital,” says Clemente of joining Gifford, which she describes as one of the state’s beloved community hospitals.
The chance to practice in family medicine was also appealing.
“You become part of people’s daily lives. You become integrated with the community. It’s special. It’s from a different era of medicine,” says Clemente, who has a special interest in women’s health, encouraging healthy lifestyles, nutrition, wellness and obesity prevention.
Clemente has previously volunteered for the Central Vermont Battered Women’s Shelter, The People’s Health and Wellness Clinic and Two Rivers Farm.
A warm and empathetic caregiver, Clemente is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
She now lives in Middlesex in a straw bale home. She enjoys athletics and the outdoors in her spare time, including mountain biking in the summer as well as skiing and ice climbing in the winter.
Contact Clemente in Randolph at Gifford family practice at (802) 728-2445.
