Dennis Welsh

Dennis Welsh has been named vice president, Rural Health Transformation and executive director, Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, and joined the UM Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) leadership team in early April 2021. Supporting Welsh in leading rural health transformation initiatives for UM SRH is Lara Wilson, who has been named director, Rural Health Care Transformation, UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, will begin in her new role in May 2021.

Welsh brings two decades of senior leadership experience in rural health care settings, including strategic planning, operations management, organizational transformation, change management, technology implementation, lean management, corporate compliance, data security/privacy, grant/capital funding and healthcare consulting.

Welsh served three years as president and chief executive officer of Down East Community Hospital, a full-service, independent rural hospital located in Machias, Maine. During his tenure, the hospital enjoyed significant growth in several areas, including family practice and laboratory services. He also planned and led a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the Emergency Department and implemented effective, long-term strategic plans for the hospital.

Previously, Welsh spent 13 years at Eastern Maine Health Care Systems’ Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital, a full-service critical access hospital with off-site rural health clinics in Greenville, Maine, including nine years as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Welsh’s educational credentials include a Master of Health Care Administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and a bachelor’s degree from Point Park College in Pittsburgh. He is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives, and holds multiple health care specialty certifications.

Lara Wilson

Wilson also is a proven health leader, bringing experience in the non-profit, hospital and community health industries to her role. She comes to UM SRH after serving six years as executive director of the Maryland Rural Health Association, based in Centreville, Maryland. In that capacity, with the goal of improving the health of Maryland’s rural communities, Wilson provided leadership and advocacy, program and strategic planning, financial management and personnel management, communications and marketing, and membership development and services.

Since 2017, Wilson also has served as an independent consultant for Merchant McIntyre in Washington, D.C., providing grant support to rural hospitals and health care organizations across the country and strategizing with top rural health care organization leadership to brainstorm new ways to increase funding for the rural communities.

Wilson’s prior experience includes two years as senior director, Grant Development, and administrator for Hospital Owned Physician Practices at Garrett Regional Medical Center in Oakland, Maryland; three years as practice manager, Maryland Primary Care Physicians, based in Annapolis; and four years as project director for the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Wilson holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Maryland, an M.S. in Health Systems Administration from Georgetown University and multiple, specialized certifications, including Lean Six Sigma – Yellow Belt.

“Dennis Welsh and Lara Wilson are a fantastic team who will lead the development and implementation of a new model of rural health care for the region,” said Ken Kozel, president and CEO, UM SRH. “Dennis brings two decades of experience leading critical access hospitals and has a real passion for rural health care. His expertise will be complemented by Lara’s skills in working with community partners to build the programs in the Aging & Wellness Center of Excellence and her in-depth knowledge of the Maryland health care landscape, our key community partners and our legislators. I am so grateful to have them joining our team.”

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) is operating a new Infusion Center at Shore Medical Center at Easton to provide monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment for certain individuals with COVID-19.

When administered within 10 days of the onset of symptoms, mAb treatment has been shown to reduce severe illness related to COVID-19 and an increased risk of patients’ hospitalization and death. The new COVID Infusion Center at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton provides Ab treatment to eligible COVID-19 patients over age 18 with mild-to-moderate symptoms who are deemed to be at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or the need for hospitalization, and who are referred as possible candidates for infusion by a physician or other provider.

All referrals are reviewed and evaluated by Rosa Mateo, MD, infectious disease specialist.“We recommend referrals be made as soon as possible – and definitely within seven days of symptom onset –to allow time for review and scheduling before the patient reaches the 10-day ‘time out’ for receiving the treatment,” said Dr. William Huffner, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president for Medical Affairs at UM SRH.

Photo: Shown in UM Shore Regional Health’s Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Center are (front) infusion nurses Mary Scott and Stacy Dion, and (back) Debbie Henson, infection prevention nurse, and Ron Lewis, director, Security/Emergency Management.

The Infusion Center is operating on Wednesday and Friday mornings by appointment only, and referred patients who meet the eligibility criteria are contacted and scheduled for the infusion treatment based on timeliness of treatment, the availability of medications, and other logistics.

In addition to being over 18 and within 10 days of symptom onset, patients likely to be eligible for monoclonal antibody infusion treatment include those who are high-risk, meaning 65 years of age or older and/or with certain chronic medical conditions. High-risk patients include those who have conditions such as obesity (body mass index greater than 35); chronic kidney disease; diabetes;or immunosuppressive disease (with or without treatment). Patients over age 55 with cardiovascular disease, hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or other chronic respiratory disease also are considered high risk.

Monoclonal antibody treatment is not authorized for use in patients who are hospitalized due to COVID-19, require oxygen therapy due to COVID-19, or for those who are on chronic oxygen therapy due to an underlying non-COVID-19 comorbidity and require an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate due to COVID-19.

UM SRH is authorized by the Maryland Department of Health to administer the EUA approved mAb treatment for COVID-19. These investigational treatments are authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and currently include products made by Eli Lilly and Regeneron.

“While there is continued focus on access to the COVID-19 vaccines for people in our communities, it is critical that we keep utilizing all available tools in our COVID-19 response,” said Dr. Huffner. “Offering mAb treatment to patients is an important part of our plan to continue providing patients with the most appropriate and effective care, and also to alleviate additional strain on our hospitals.”

Healthcare providers and county health department officials throughout the five county region served by UM SRHhave been informed of the treatment availability, eligibility criteria and the referral process. Individuals with COVID-19 or their caregivers interested in seeking monoclonal antibody treatment are encouraged to contact their primary care or urgent care provider to request a referral.

The Infusion Center is located at 219 South Washington Street, in the advanced medical tent building behind the Emergency Department, Patient parking is available adjacent to the medical tent. Before arrival, patients will be given detailed instructions related to parking and a number to call upon arrival; someone will escort patients to the medical tent for the treatment. Only patients and Infusion Center staff are allowed inside the Center.

The National Association of Social Work (NASW) honors the 700,000-plus social workers nationwide during of March as National Social Work Month. This year’s theme, Social Workers Are Essential, emphasizes the important role social work professionals play in community wellbeing. Trained to help people address personal and systemic barriers to optimal living, their mission is to effect positive change with individuals, families, groups and entire communities.

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s medical social workers help patients and caregivers during their most vulnerable times through effective communication skills and a holistic approach to patient care needs.

Deserving special recognition and appreciation this month are a host of social workers in several departments. They include: in Behavioral Health – Katey Carroll, Pam Young, Chelsea Slacum, Kirby Meredith, Audra Cherbonnier, Tyler Betz, Christina Acree, FaundaCrowson, Robert Martin, Jr., and Susan Ingersoll; at the Cancer Center – Patty Plaskon and Jennifer Buckler; in Home Care, April Sharp (Chester River Home Care) and Alice Ofano (Shore Home Care); Palliative Care – Monick Conway and Sarah Hopkins; and in Transitional Care Coordination / Population Health — Michelle Matthews, Stacey Kuhn, Melissa Kleppinger, Sarah Demers, Brittni Conn and Angela Meekins.

Photo: Shown celebrating National Social Work Month are UM Shore Regional Health social work care coordinators Stacey Kuhn, Sarah Demers, Melissa Kleppinger, Brittni Conn and Angela Meekins.

Among several determinants of successful patient outcomes are access to adequate food supply and housing. During the past year, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shore’s medical social workers saw higher numbers of patients whose post-discharge plans were made more complicated by deficient housing and food access. They addressed these challenges by getting to know each patient, gaining his or her trust during consultations with effective listening and compassion, and by having the knowledge of community resources and support that can be enlisted once the patient is discharged to home.

As Brittni Conn, who works in telemetry in UM Shore Medical Center at Easton, explains, “Hospital social work is meaningful to me because during a very stressful time in their lives, I get to help patients and their families navigate the health system and connect them to resources to help simplify their next steps. Social work is a work of heart.”

Being a medical social worker means also means being a voice for patients who lack adequate resources to manage their health conditions after leaving the hospital. “To me, being a social worker means being an advocate for all patients, especially those who are vulnerable and/or oppressed,” says Sarah Demers, who works in the Requard Center for Acute Rehabilitation. “It means speaking up for patients who need support during difficult times, helping patient’s meet their needs, and also linking patients with resources so that they may succeed.”

UM Shore Regional Health’s Clinical Nutrition Manager Christine Allen, RD, CSO, LDN, along with her fellow Shore dietitians Hunter Plog, RD, LDN, Kathy Toepfer, RD, LDN, and Xingyue (Joy) Zhang, MS, RD, LDN, do their part to help achieve UM Shore Regional Health’s mission, Creating Healthier Communities Together. As they visit hospital inpatients to discuss dietary guidelines and serve outpatients through dietary consultations, the dietitian team provides guidance to patients and also their fellow SRH team members on nutritious eating options for optimal health.

Created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Month is celebrated in March as a nutrition education and information campaign. The national campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

According to Joy Zhang, while adopting a healthy diet is important, being mindful of the food you consume can help you to gain control of your eating habits. “Mindful eating takes the concept of mindfulness and applies it to why, when, where, what, and how you eat,” she explains. “Mindful eating is about listening to our physical sensations, like hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues, and taking time to notice our thoughts and emotions while eating so we can have a more enjoyable and healthful eating experience.”

Photo: Shown is the UM Shore Regional Health Clinical Nutrition team: Christine Allen, RD, CSO, LDN, manager (seated); and standing L-R: Hunter Plog, RDN, LDN, Xingyue (Joy) Zhang, MS, RDN, LDN and Kathy Toepfer, RDN, LDN.

Interested in seeking advice from a registered dietitian/nutritionist to help develop an individualized eating and activity plan to meet your health goals? With a referral from your health care provider, you can receive nutrition counseling services from dietitians at UM Shore Medical Centers at Chestertown (410-778-3300), ext. 2297), Dorchester (410-228-5511, ext. 8035) and Easton (410-822-1000, ext. 5339). For more information, contact Christine Allen, 410-822-1000, ext. 5351 or Christine.allen@umm.edu.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.