Baptist Homes Society’s Al Allison, Jr. was named CEO of the Year at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Affiliated Healthcare and Living Communities (PACAH) held September 26, 2018 at Kalahari Resort in the Poconos. PACAH represents over 143 diverse long-term living and supports providers and associated businesses, including both county, veterans, private, and non-profit nursing facilities. The CEO of the Year award recognizes administrators and/or CEOs from member facilities who have shown innovation, dedication and commitment to their facilities, residents and staff, as well as the advancement of long-term care in general.

At the award celebration, Mr. Allison’s long-term commitment to PACAH was one of several achievements that were recounted. In his role at Baptist Homes Society for the last nine years, Mr. Allison has guided the organization to meaningful growth and recently broke ground for an expansion of Providence Point. Under Al’s direction, Baptist Senior Services also created Providence Home Care and Baptist Management Services. Providence Home Care is a licensed home care company with its office at Providence Point. Through this company, the independent living and personal care residents of the community can receive high-quality, reliable services when needed. Baptist Management Services now allows the organization to partner with other senior living organizations to offer BHS expertise in an effort to help them improve care and incorporate solid business practices in times of transition and change. [Read more…]

Conemaugh Physician Group welcomes Muhammad Imtiaz, MD to its Critical Care and Pulmonology practices. Dr. Imtiaz is board-certified in internal medicine, critical care medicine, and pulmonary medicine. He will see inpatients at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, and outpatients at Conemaugh Physician Group – Pulmonary, 1111 Franklin Street, Johnstown.

Dr. Imtiaz earned his medical degree at Allama Iqbal Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan, followed by an internal medicine residency at New York Medical College, Montefiore Medical Center. He completed two fellowships – Pulmonary Medicine fellowship at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine; and Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Dr. Imtiaz was most recently an Assistant Professor of Medicine of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. [Read more…]

Genesis Medical Associates, the largest independent primary care physicians group serving the Greater North Hills, is adding gynecology to its medical services with the addition of Dr. Nicole M. Waltrip to the group.

“The addition of Dr. Waltrip to the Genesis Family,” said Mark Kissinger, Genesis executive director, “is part of our ongoing efforts to provide a broad range of service to our patients.”

Dr. Waltrip will split her time between the Genesis Grob, Scheri, Woodburn & Griffin offices in Wexford and the Genesis Northern Area Family Practice office in McCandless. She will be at the Wexford office Mondays and Wednesdays and the McCandless office Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dr. Waltrip will offer personalized quality health care to women throughout the many phases of their lives.

[Read more…]

Sharon Regional Medical Center and Steward Medical Group are pleased to welcome the practice of Richard A. Papa and Associates, with offices in Neshannock Township in Lawrence County, to the Steward Health Care System.

The pediatric group consists of Richard Papa, D.O., Walter Bender, D.O., Jennifer Presnar, M.D., and Erika Cialella, PA-C. Dr. Papa has practiced pediatric medicine for more than 20 years and combined with members of the medical team, have more than 55 years of experience in treating pediatric patients in Lawrence County and surrounding communities.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Papa and his experienced team to Sharon Regional,” stated Joseph Hugar, President of Sharon Regional Medical Center. The addition of their practice means that families now have access to an expanded continuum of pediatric services across communities in both Mercer and Lawrence counties.” Hugar continued, “This expansion is essential to meeting the increasing number of deliveries we are experiencing in our Women’s Care Center at Sharon Regional. We anticipate that those numbers will continue to increase over the foreseeable future.”

Additional recent recruitment initiatives for Sharon Regional include; a cardiothoracic surgeon, general surgeon, cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon and women’s health nurse practitioner. This will enable Sharon Regional to expand its service offerings, eliminate the need for patients to travel to Pittsburgh or Cleveland for care, and provide important patient choice for those seeking health care services.

[Read more…]

Mount Nittany Health is pleased to announce Cathy Hunter as its director of finance for Mount Nittany Physician Group. Hunter brings more than 30 years of finance and healthcare experience that includes project management and financial data analysis skills.

Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center recently welcomed board-certified pediatrician Kaylee Keiper, MD to its medical staff. Dr. Keiper will treat patients at Laurel Pediatric Associates in Johnstown.

Originally from Windber, PA, Dr. Keiper is excited to return home to provide care for young patients in the community. “Both my husband and I have family locally,” she says. “With the addition of our new baby, coming home and being near family was the best decision for us. We’re excited to be back.”

Dr. Keiper knew early in life that she wanted to be a pediatrician. “I taught dance classes in high school and really loved working with the children,” she says. “Then I found that I love science and health as I learned more about those topics. Everything came together and pediatrics was the perfect fit for my interests.” [Read more…]

Chimento is FEMA certified in NIMS and has worked as part of several Hospital Incident Command Centers teams to support emergency efforts in Central Florida.

Genesis Medical Associates is the largest still independent primary care physicians group in the Greater North Hills with 11 offices stretching from the city of Pittsburgh north to Cranberry Township in Butler County.

Highmark Health announced today that Dennis P. Brenckle has been named to its board of directors effective immediately.

Brenckle is the retired president of PNC Bank’s Central Pennsylvania Region, where his career spanned 40 years, culminating in his 13-year role as president.  Brenckle is also chair of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s board of directors, where he led its highly successful “For the Future” campaign that raised nearly $307 million to support patient care, education, research and community outreach.

He has also held leadership positions with the center’s Four Diamonds Advisory Board and Cancer Institute Advisory Board. [Read more…]

Conemaugh Physician Group – Medical Oncology recently welcomed Katie Fisher, Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner, to its team. She will treat outpatients at the Conemaugh Cancer Care Center.

Originally from Johnstown, Fisher is glad to be able to serve patients in the local community. “Working with this patient population is very rewarding,” says Fisher. “We work with individuals during some of the most vulnerable times in their lives. It’s a great feeling to see the impact we can make on these patients and their families through proper treatment and providing a positive experience.”

Fisher earned her bachelor of science degree in Nursing from Mount Aloysius College, followed by her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She provided services to various family medicine practices in the area for adult and pediatric patients.

“It’s nice to know about each patient and their family,” Fisher adds. “Each person becomes special and together we create a unique experience focused on their care.”

In addition to providing patient care, Fisher is an advocate for bullying prevention and suicide prevention.

To learn more about Conemaugh Health System, visit www.conemaugh.org.

Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center recently welcomed radiologist Damian Clossin, MD to its medical staff. Dr. Clossin joins Cambria Somerset Radiology group, and will provide services for inpatient and outpatients treated at Conemaugh.

“Radiology has become a cornerstone of medicine and plays a key role in diagnosing and fighting illness in virtually every patient,” says Dr. Clossin.  Originally from Cresson, PA, Dr. Clossin looks forward to providing care near his hometown. “Coming back home is incredibly rewarding,” he says. “It is truly an honor to serve the hardworking individuals I grew up around and helped me become who I am today.”  

Dr. Clossin earned his bachelor of science degree in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, followed by his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and a residency in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Dr. Clossin recently completed his fellowship in musculoskeletal imaging at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Clossin is a member of the Radiological Society of North America and the American College of Radiology. He has special interest in sports medicine, PET-CT, and MRI.

To learn more about Conemaugh Health System, visit www.conemaugh.org.