Dr. James Dewar, board-certified family medicine physician and a Johnstown native, has returned to practice in his hometown. Dr. Dewar joined Conemaugh Physician Group – East Hills Primary Care and is now caring for patients of all ages at the new Conemaugh East Hills Outpatient Center.

Dr. Dewar is a graduate of Westminster College in Wilmington, PA, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his family practice internship at the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, and a family practice residency at St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center in Youngstown, Ohio. As part of a navy career, Dr. Dewar served as Chief Medical Officer of Destroyer Squadron 24 at the Naval Station in Mayport, Florida and as a General Medical Officer with Branch Medical Clinic at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville.

For the past ten years, Dr. Dewar has been practicing at UPMC in Pittsburgh where his duties included serving as Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Dewar chose to return to the area to be closer to family. “I’ve been in and around this area for my entire life,” says Dr. Dewar. “The Laurel Highlands region is a great place to live. It is so nice to be back here for this next step in my career.” 

Dr. Dewar joins Conemaugh Physician Group – East Hills, the practice of Drs. Geraldine Amper, David Johns, Kavitha Manjunath, Lisa Wirfel and certified registered nurse practitioner (CRNP) Julie Lesneski.  “The Conemaugh East Hills practice is in a gorgeous new facility,” says Dr. Dewar. “It is laid out really well for patients and the facility has just about every service under one roof so it is very convenient.”

Dr. Dewar’s wife is also a physician. They are the proud parents of three adult children.

To learn more, visit www.conemaugh.org.

 St. Clair Hospital today announced the appointment of John T. Sullivan, M.D. as the Hospital’s new Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Sullivan joins St. Clair Hospital from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he served for 17 years in a number of clinical, academic and management positions, most recently as Associate Chief Medical Officer for Academic Affairs, and as Professor of Anesthesiology in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  He is also the immediate past-president of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology.

“I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Sullivan to Pittsburgh,” says James M. Collins, President and Chief Executive Officer, St. Clair Hospital. “He is uniquely qualified to lead St. Clair’s continued ascent as one of the nation’s leaders in patient safety, quality, patient satisfaction, and value.”

Dr. Sullivan earned his medical degree at the University of Michigan Medical School.  He completed a residency in anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School.  More recently, he received an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Dr. Sullivan has also held a series of progressively responsible positions with the Navy, and currently serves as a Commander in the Naval Reserve.

At St. Clair Dr. Sullivan is responsible for clinical program development, best-in-class performance, and leveraging technology to better serve patients and the community.

About St. Clair Hospital

St. Clair Hospital is a nationally recognized integrated health system with more than 2,500 employees and 600 physicians serving 500,000 residents of southwestern Pennsylvania. In 2016, it became a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.  As the region’s largest independent hospital, St. Clair participates with all major insurers.

For more information, please visit stclair.org.

By Kim Bassett

As a hospital executive, I am both blessed and cursed with the responsibility to take a 20,000-foot view of the healthcare industry. It’s easy to get immersed in managing the details of a healthcare organization day-to-day, but these are some of the bigger questions about the future of healthcare that keep me up at night.

1. Who is going to care for our aging population?

Baby boomers are going to need healthcare, but there may be no one to take care of them. Boomers make up such a large proportion (76.4 million) of our population that things are becoming unbalanced very quickly.    As Boomers age and require more and more medical care, the healthcare industry will struggle to find and keep a qualified workforce.

2. How are we going to pay for healthcare?

Everyone believes healthcare is a right, not a privilege.  The business of healthcare is expensive.  With the advancements in technology, the costs of healthcare continue to rise.  These advancements result in strong competition among hospitals.  Everyone wants to have the latest and greatest equipment.  This equipment is incredibly expensive resulting in smaller hospitals being unable to compete with the larger hospitals.  People with insurance or with money travel to the larger tertiary hospitals resulting in smaller, community hospitals providing a majority of their care to those with Medicaid or to patients that lack the ability to pay. How do we provide quality care to everyone when you have companies that provide healthcare to the wealthy, and others that are left to only provide care to the lower income? [Read more…]

By Kim Bassett

I interview people all the time. It comes with the job. Over the years I’ve learned to look at more than just credentials and what’s on a CV. Other qualities make a person a good candidate. What makes one person a perfect fit for a job with Xyz Company, may not work for our organization. This is true for any organization. I look at total fit. Where the person has been. Where they want to go. It wouldn’t do either of us any favors if I hired based solely on what a person’s resume said. In a year’s time the hire would be looking for another job and I’d be likewise looking for their replacement.  You can’t determine whether someone will compliment the team from a CV.   A new employee needs to have goals, values and ideals that will match those of the organization. 

Have a customer service outlook.

My interviews focus on customer service and ease of conversation. In a hospital, you have to be able to listen and have a conversation with all of our customers—patients, families, physicians and everyone else that walk through our doors.  Excellence in customer service is an absolute necessity. I have found some of the best employees while out at dinner or an event and interacting with someone that gave me great customer service.  Healthcare is very challenging.  Our patients are not usually in the best of moods so empathy and awareness of others’ needs and customer service is a requirement.    [Read more…]

Conemaugh Meyersdale Medical Center recently announced the hire of Emergency Medicine physician, Vishwanath Khajuri, MD.

Dr. Khajuri earned his medical degree at M.R. Medical College, and was a resident intern at Government General Hospital, both in Gulbarga, India. He completed one year as a surgical resident at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in Bronx, NY. He then completed an internal medicine residency at St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA. He is board certified in internal medicine.

Most recently, Dr. Khajuri held the position of Chief Administrative Physician at LifeCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh, a long-term acute care hospital. He has 25 years of experience as an Emergency Medicine physician and is excited to join Conemaugh’s team. “I have a lot of friends at Conemaugh,” he said. “It is a great place to work and care for patients.”

“Emergency Medicine offers a variety of patients, and you never know what’s coming next,” said Dr. Khajuri. “I have the opportunity to provide excellent care and help patients when they are at a very vulnerable moment in their lives. It’s very rewarding.”

Conemaugh Meyersdale’s Department of Emergency Medicine is backed by the resources of Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center’s Level One Trauma Center, the only Level One trauma center between Pittsburgh and Hershey.

When not providing care to patients, Dr. Khajuri enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing ping pong, traveling, and participating in social activities.

To learn more about Conemaugh Meyersdale Medical Center or Conemaugh Memorial’s Level One Trauma Center, visit www.conemaugh.org.

Genesis Medical Associates, Inc., the largest still independent primary care physicians practice serving the Greater North Hills, has named Richard C. Stevenson, Jr. as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer.

Stevenson, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with an MBA from Seton Hill University, joins Genesis after a 13-year career with Gateway Health Plan in Pittsburgh.  He started his career at Gateway as a Staff Accountant eventually rising to the position of Director, Operational Accounting.

“Richard,” noted Mark Kissinger, Executive Director of Genesis Medical Associates, Inc., “has extensive experience in financial accounting and reporting for Medicaid and Medicare and a variety of additional Regulatory Financial Reporting areas so vital to our operations.”

Stevenson resides with his family in Mars, PA.  A member of the Masonic Lodge, he also coaches the amateur ice hockey Arctic Foxes 9 and 10 year olds, where home ice is the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center on Neville Island.

Genesis Medical Associates, Inc. has 10 physician offices stretching north from the city of Pittsburgh to Cranberry Township in Butler County.  Genesis in partnership with Preferred Primary Care Physicians of the South Hills formed Keystone Clinical Partners, LLC. a year ago, to become the first physicians-owned organization in Western Pennsylvania to achieve recognition by Medicare as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO).

Dr. Ronald Pellegrini, a board certified, fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon has joined Conemaugh Physician Group – Cardiothoracic Surgery and is now part of the team treating patients at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center.

“This is an excellent program with great results,” says Dr. Pellegrini. “I look forward to being part of the team working to expand the capabilities of the program by providing new options for patients in need of mitral valve repair.”

Last year Conemaugh Memorial introduced the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) program which gives new hope to patients who were deemed too sick or too high risk for open heart surgery. “The TAVR program is one of only a little over 500 programs nationwide,” says Dr. Savas Mavridis, Medical Director of Cardiovascular Services and Chief Cardiac Surgeon at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center. “Now with Dr. Pellegrini onboard to offer guidance, we are excited to expand into mitral valve repair, another much needed service for our community.”

Dr. Pellegrini says his interest in mitral valve repair began early in his career. He brings great experience to Conemaugh Memorial’s program. “Many of my professional goals center around teaching,” says Dr. Pellegrini. “I am excited to work with Dr. Mavridis and Dr. Sherwal, to share my knowledge and experience. I anticipate great results for our patients.” [Read more…]

Patricia Stegman, PA-C, joins Cole Memorial Medical Group’s Pediatrics team comprised of Mary Ann Rigas, MD; Marlene Wust-Smith, MD; Linette Jackson, CRNP, and Korin Trumpie, PA-C.

Patricia completed her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Degrees for Physician Assistants from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

The dedicated team of board-certified pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistant, public health dental hygiene practitioner, licensed clinical social worker, care coordinator, nurses and office staff at Cole Memorial Medical Group’s Pediatrics Department provide comprehensive health care from birth through young adulthood with offices in Coudersport, Emporium and Port Allegany.

For more information, visit www.colememorial.org.