McKeesport Hospital Foundation holds 33rd annual Invitational ...

38 | Issue No. 5wpahospitalnews.comBlackwood Named WPAHS SystemDirector for Radiation Physics, SafetyWest Penn Allegheny Health System has named Margaret(Peggy) Blackwood system director for Radiation Physicsand Radiation Safety, a new role responsible for all administrativeand managerial aspects of radiation safety, imagingand diagnostic radiological physics, and imaging physics educationalsupport.Blackwood will serve as Radiation Safety Officer for allWPAHS entities, maintaining and supervising state radioactivematerials and linear accelerator licenses, X-ray registrationsand regulatory records. She will also serve as the physicistof record and will establish and oversee the accreditationand testing of all diagnostic imaging equipment at WPAHSPeggy Blackwood facilities.Blackwood holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physicsand a Master of Science degree in Radiation Health from the University of Pittsburgh. Sheis board-certified in Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiology Physics from the AmericanBoard of Radiology.She has more than 30 years of experience in radiation physics and safety, and has providedradiation services for WPAHS hospitals for the past 20 years. She has also givenmore than 50 national presentations on topics including radiation safety, imaging and radiationtherapy physics.Tressler Memorial’s First Cameosof Caring winnerElizabeth Tressler, Cameo of Caringaward winner, with Claudia Rager,vice president, Patient Care Services,Memorial Medical Center.Excela CMO receivesATHENA AwardAs part of National Nurses Week (May3-7), Elizabeth Tressler, a nurse on MemorialMedical Center’s Palliative Care Unit,was selected as Memorial’s first-everCameos of Caring award winner. TheCameos of Caring program honors exceptionalbedside nurses who work at acutecare hospitals. Proceeds from the Cameosof Caring Program & Awards Gala benefitthe Cameos of Caring Endowed NursingScholarship Fund, established in 2000,to offer financial support for nurses toenhance their education.This year, Carol Fox, M.D., Interim Chief Medical Officerfor Excela Health, is the recipient of the ATHENA Award, oneof the Westmoreland County Winners Circle Awards presentedby Seton Hill University’s E-Magnify women’s businesscenter. The awards are presented for recipients’ commitmentin advocating for women, women owned businesses and thecommunity at large. Fox is also a family physician at MountainView Family Medicine, where she has practiced for 20years. Countless patients have benefited from her kind, professionalbedside manner, philosophies of prevention andhealthy lifestyles, and dedication to managing diseases andconditions.A mentor at heart and an advocate for continuing medical Carol Foxeducation, Fox was appointed acting program director ofLatrobe Hospital’s Family Medicine Residency Program (of which she was also a graduate)in May 2003. By June 2007, she ascended to program director, a position she helduntil May 2009 when she was appointed Interim chief medical officer of Excela Health.Through an informal mentoring approach, she works with female family medicine residentsin understanding and getting the most out of residency training, blending family andcareer, considering different medical specialties and looking to other women in medicalleadership positions as role models. Whenever possible, she promotes connectionsbetween female medical students and physician role models and offers students time withfemale physicians in different medical specialties and clinical settings.Fox has served as the Captain of Excela Health’s Medical Staff Team for the AmericanHeart Association, raising funds to support medical research. She also serves on the AdvisoryBoard for Westmoreland County Mental Health/Mental Retardation. Fox’s love ofeducation extends to her spiritual life as she has been a Sunday school teacher and memberof the Board of Religious Education, First Reformed United Church of Christ, for morethan 10 years. Fox also has been a featured speaker for the United Way of Westmoreland’sWomen’s Leadership Council, empowering women to take charge of their health.Healthcare Professionalsin the NewsMedical Associates of Erie’s DiMarcoReceives POMA DistinguishedService AwardCarlo J. DiMarco, D.O., M.Sc., F.O.C.O.O., ophthalmologistwith Medical Associates of Erie, recently received the2010 Distinguished Service Award from the PennsylvaniaOsteopathic Medical Association, a statewide organizationfor physicians holding the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine(D.O.) degree. DiMarco received the association’s highesthonor in recognition of his countless contributions to theosteopathic profession and the POMA.A past president of the POMA, and the American OsteopathicCollege of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology(AOCOO), and immediate past president of the American Carlo J. DiMarcoOsteopathic Association (AOA), DiMarco has served in manyand various capacities for each organization. A fellow of the AOCOO, he is also a clinicalprofessor and regional dean of clinical medicine at the Lake Erie College of OsteopathicMedicine. He is also director of the ophthalmology residency program at Millcreek CommunityHospital in Erie.DiMarco is a graduate of LaSalle College in Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Collegeof Osteopathic Medicine, where he also received a master of science degree. He completedan internship and ophthalmology residency at PCOM. He is in residence at SterrettaniaOphthalmology, 4000 Sterrettania Road.Heilman wins first Eric W. SpringerProfessionalism AwardLaw firm Cohen & Grigsby announces that attorneyNancy Heilman was recently honored with the inauguralEric W. Springer Professionalism Award. (Springer co-foundedHorty, Springer and Mattern in Pittsburgh, one of the firsthealthcare law firms in the country, and was the first African-American to lead the Allegheny County Bar Association. Hehas also served on the board of numerous hospitals, healthcare facilities, corporations and foundations.) Established torecognize outstanding members of the W. Edward Sell AmericanInn of Court, (formerly the University of Pittsburgh Inn),this award honors deserving lawyers or judges in the regionwhose life and practice display sterling character and unquestionedintegrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the high-Nancy Heilmanest standards of the legal profession and the rule of the law.As a founding member of the W. Edward Sell American Inn of Court, Heilman servedas president from 2002-2004 and as vice president from 2000-2002. She remains a memberof the organization's executive committee. Heilman also served on the committee thatwas charged with selecting the first recipient of the Eric W. Springer ProfessionalismAward. Without Heilman's knowledge, the other committee members concluded thatHeilman should become the inaugural recipient.An attorney for more than 20 years, Nancy Heilman is a director and a member of theLabor and Employment and Litigation Groups at Cohen & Grigsby.LECOM professor earnsdoctoral degreeLake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School ofPharmacy faculty member Michael Madden recently completedthe requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in MedicinalChemistry from the Department of Chemistry at the Universityof Buffalo. Dr. Madden recently joined LECOM as aninstructor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and with his degreewill earn the title of Assistant Professor in the School of Pharmacy.Michael Madden