The Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands based in Sandwich has a new medical director and the particulars of his specialty provide an indication of new directions in the field of rehabilitation.
The new director is Dr. David M. Lowell and he’s a neurologist, which fits right in with new innovations at RHCI, such as the NESS H200 “bionic arm,” to restore function. (RHCI is the first in New England to use this device and plans are underway to explore similar technology for the leg as well as implants.)
Dr. Lowell comes to RHCI from Texas where he served as medical director of a residential facility for persons with brain injury and complex rehabilitation needs.
Dr. Lowell also has regional ties, however, and attended Boston University School of Medicine. He is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. Lowell has particular interest in the behavioral and psychiatric issues associated with stroke, brain injury and other neurological conditions.
Previous medical directors in the 10-year history of RHCI have all been physiatrists, including Dr. Andrew Judelson, who had been serving as interim medical director following the death of Dr. David Berkin. Dr. Robert Monighetti was RHCI’s first medical director, serving on an interim basis until the appointment of Dr. Jay Rosenfeld, who, in turn was succeeded by Dr. Berkin. Doctors Monighetti, Rosenfeld and Judelson all preferred to concentrate on clinical careers and remain on the RHCI staff.
Behavioral Health Services of Cape Cod Healthcare-the mental health arm of Cape Cod Healthcare-has named Carol Plotkin, MSW, LICSW, as Administrative Director and Dr. Natalie Belkin as Interim Medical Director.
Ms. Plotkin will be responsible for managing all Behavioral Health Services operations, including Cape Cod Human Services and the Cape Cod Hospital Psychiatric Center. Dr. Belkin will be responsible for leading the clinical care components of the organization.
They replace Dr. Nicholas Abid, who had served in the dual role of Administrative and Medical Director. Don Chamberlain, who had served as Director of Operations, also was replaced.
Ms. Plotkin has 25 years of experience in behavioral health care delivery systems, including hospitals, outpatient services, and managed care. Prior to joining Cape Cod Healthcare, she was Vice President of Program Management for Health Partners New England, Inc. and had been responsible for overall operations for a wide variety of programs, including adult and child inpatient units, crisis assessment teams, and outpatient clinics throughout New England. She has held positions in managed care, physician education and clinical practice.
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Rutgers University Graduate School of Social Work, Ms. Plotkin is an active volunteer with the American Red Cross as a Mental Health Disaster Specialist.
Dr. Belkin, who joined Behavioral Health Services of Cape Cod Healthcare three years ago, is board-certified in both Child/Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She attended Medical School at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and graduated from the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program. In addition, she graduated from Children's Hospital of Boston's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Behavioral Health Services of Cape Cod Healthcare-a partnership of Cape Cod Human Services and the Cape Cod Hospital Psychiatric Center-is a leading mental health and substance abuse provider on Cape Cod, with offices in Hyannis, Orleans, Falmouth and Provincetown. BHS provides a wide range of mental health services, substance abuse services, and community services at multiple Cape locations and in a variety of settings.
Meanwhile, as this was written, Cape Cod Healthcare was grappling over a decision whether to close its mental health clinic for low-income and disabled clients in Falmouth along with its four contract psychiatrists because of rising costs.
The disclosure in November that this was a possibility created a major outcry in the community and among mental health advocates Capewide. Since then CCHC officials have been striving to find ways to keep the service open.
Dr. Steven T. Lacy, who scores the medical equivalent of a double-triple in qualifications, has been named to the position of Medical Director at Outer Cape Health Services.
A clinical instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Lacy is both an internist and pediatrician and also has experience in geriatric medicine. Plus he’s tri-lingual, counting English as well as fluency in Spanish and Portuguese.
This varied background should serve Dr. Lacy well with the Outer Cape’s diverse population, according to OCHS Executive Director/CEO Henry N. Tuttle.
Dr. Lacy succeeds Dr. Mark Krivopal, who had been filling that position on an interim basis ever since Dr. Leonard Alberts voluntarily surrendered his license to practice a year ago. Dr. Alberts has since left the Cape. Dr. Krivopal, who had come on board strictly as an interim replacement for Dr. Alberts, will return to his former duties in Boston.
Dr. Lacy graduated from medical school at Washington University in St. Louis and completed his double residency successively at Cambridge and Boston City Hospitals. In addition to his clinical experience, Dr. Lacy served at Medical Director at Cambridge Family Health from 1993 to 2002. He previously had served as president of that organization’s medical staff.
In a major change in leadership, Dr. Lisa Zandonella-Huhta has been named Medical Director of the Florence and Mary E. Duffy Health Center in Hyannis. Formerly Assistant Medical Director, Dr. Zandonella-Huhta replaces Dr. Arthur F. Bickford, who had served in that position since the Duffy center was founded in 1997 as the Cape’s only medical facility dedicated to care for the homeless population.
Dr. Bickford was named Chief Physician. Although ratcheting down his activities at Duffy, Dr. Bickford, honored as 2005 Senior Volunteer Physician of the Year by the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Committee on Senior Volunteer Physicians, told friends he planned “to keep working.”
In announcing the changes, Dr. Neil Ringler, chairman of the Duffy Board of Directors, said, “Dr. Lisa, as she’s known at the center, has shown an uncommon dedication to serving the medical needs of the least fortunate among us.” He also lauded the new director’s “administrative capabilities.”
Dr. Zandonella-Huhta, certified in ambulatory medicine, is a graduate of New Jersey Medical School. She has been employed at Duffy Health Center since 2001.
Dr. Bickford was a founder of the Duffy Health Center in 1997. His career as a volunteer began in India at a hospital in the Nandi Hills north of Bangalore. In the early nineties, he and Dr. Herbert (Hub) Mathewson, then medical director of Cape Cod Hospital, began to see patients one evening per week at the NOAH Homeless Shelter using a rotating staff of volunteer physicians. Dr. James J. A. Cavanaugh wrote in his Medical Society nomination letter, “Dr. Bickford has been a tireless worker for the homeless and underserved populations of Cape Cod. He has worked during the past 10 years in many capacities serving the needs of the disenfranchised in our society.”