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Month: November 2013

Divorce in the Electronic Age

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Law Sections
Modern Technology Results in a Number of Novel Legal Issues

By KATHERINE McCARTHY
There is no question that communication has become more convenient and accessible due to advancements in technology. Computers, mobile devices, and other types of electronics play a significant role in much of our daily lives. But the everyday use of such modern technology has resulted in many complex and novel legal issues.
This article will highlight the particular issues the use of electronics presents in family-law cases, and what every spouse anticipating or involved in a divorce proceeding should know.

Electronic Evidence
Technology has changed the face of traditional evidence. Common types of electronic evidence attorneys routinely come across in their practice include information obtained from social-media sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube), global positioning system (GPS) tracking, text messaging, e-mail, blogging, files stored on a computer, and websites.
These types of electronic evidence are increasingly being introduced into family-law cases. For example, in the context of a highly contested divorce case, a family-law attorney is aware that a wealth of relevant information may be gleaned from the opposing party’s public Facebook or other social-media page. Too often, spouses do not realize the implications of posting comments and pictures on social-media sites. A spouse could easily damage his or her credibility in a divorce proceeding by posting questionable content on social media.
In a divorce case, custody is often an issue that is front and center. If, for example, a parent appears in pictures or makes comments on Facebook that suggest overindulgence in alcohol or other substances during his or her time with the parties’ child, this could negatively impact that parent’s request for custody. More generally, it is important to recognize that anything published on a social-networking site can resurface in litigation, and can have a negative impact on the parent or spouse’s credibility before the court.
Deleting a particular comment, message, or picture from a social-media site may not be enough. It is, perhaps, not surprising that technology exists that can resurrect information a person mistakenly believed had been successfully deleted from a website or computer hard drive. Similarly, changing one’s Facebook security settings to private is not enough because the user’s information could show up on the Facebook pages of those on their ‘friend’ list who have not made their pages private. Social-media account records can also be subpoenaed for use in a court proceeding.
Additionally, individuals should be aware that posting derogatory or negative comments about their spouse on a social-media site could have legal consequences. Such comments could result in an unnecessary defamation lawsuit, or, depending on the severity of the circumstances, a lawsuit for harassment or infliction of emotional distress.
The point here is that individuals involved in family-law disputes must be extremely careful before publishing anything on social media. As a best practice, spouses should refrain altogether from publishing any information about their pending case, their spouse, or anything else that could negatively affect his or her credibility before the court. If an individual has already posted such information, they should take the material down immediately to mitigate any potential repercussions that may follow.

Privacy Concerns
Another increasingly common issue in family-law cases concerns one spouse surreptitiously monitoring or spying on the other spouse. Emotions can run extremely high during a divorce, and some individuals have an inclination to spy on a spouse whom they suspect is behaving poorly, perhaps believing that discovered information may give the spying spouse an upper hand in a divorce. However, these individuals fail to recognize that their actions are oftentimes in violation of the law and could make them susceptible to serious ramifications.
It is true that privacy and wiretapping laws tend to vary from situation to situation. Even so, all too often spouses incorrectly assume that, because they are married, it is OK to log on to their spouse’s social-media and e-mail accounts or look at their spouse’s cell-phone content. It is important to understand what types of actions are potentially illegal.
In the electronic age, spying has become much more sophisticated. An increasing number of people are utilizing spyware technology to monitor their spouses’ online activity. Spyware is software that may be uploaded onto a computer, enabling a user to monitor and track the web activity of a specific person. Spyware software is available at retail stores and online for a modest cost. Once uploaded, the software is often difficult for the novice computer user to detect.
What many people do not know is that Massachusetts has adopted several protective privacy and wiretap laws that carry both civil and criminal penalties for violations. Uploading spyware software to a spouse’s computer, even if that computer is shared with the spouse, could run afoul of these laws. Further, just because one can purchase spyware online or at a retail store, that does not necessarily mean that the software may be legally used to monitor a spouse’s web or cell-phone activity. Illegally obtained evidence not only raises ethical considerations for the spying spouse’s attorney, but such evidence will likely be kept out of a court proceeding by a judge, rendering it useless.
Individuals also too often have the misconceived notion that it is permissible to secretly hack into their spouse’s e-mail, cell-phone and social-media accounts, and are surprised to hear that what they are doing could be illegal. A typical scenario a family-law attorney may encounter involves a client who feels strongly that, because they are still married, he or she is free to monitor the other spouse’s communications.
Similarly, because two spouses share a computer, one spouse may feel justified in monitoring the other spouse’s Internet activity. However, it is illegal under both Massachusetts and federal law to gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Individuals should be aware that logging onto their spouse’s online accounts and viewing his or her e-mails or messages without permission could subject the spying spouse to criminal penalties. This is especially true if the spied-on spouse maintains exclusive control over the device or if the account is password-protected. Further, as a general rule, secret video or voice recording of another person, even a household member, is illegal.
The current state of the law regarding unauthorized access to a spouse’s cell phone is less clear. Courts have recognized a diminished expectation of privacy between spouses, which means that what may be deemed an offensive invasion of privacy between non-married persons may not be recognized as such between spouses. But it is important that individuals are aware that the trend in Massachusetts courts is toward protecting the privacy of individuals, including individuals within a marriage. Hence, just because a spouse guesses or secretly learns the password to the other spouse’s cell phone does not mean that it is permissible to view its contents. Additionally, cell phones, particularly smartphones, are similar to computer systems. Courts could interpret the unauthorized access of a cell phone as falling within the purview of the law prohibiting the unauthorized access to a computer system, resulting in possible criminal liability.
Very often, information obtained by a spying spouse involves the other spouse’s extramarital affair. However, proof of adultery in and of itself does not hold much weight in a contemporary divorce action in Massachusetts. Hence, the risks simply outweigh the benefits in most cases.

What Everyone Should Know
Family-law cases are emotionally charged proceeding. Rational people may display seemingly irrational behavior in the midst of a highly contested divorce. That is why it is important for everyone who is party to a divorce to have a clear understanding from the outset of proper use of electronics and social media. Information about a pending divorce or child-custody issues simply should not appear on social-media accounts. Individuals should also avoid posting anything that may be harmful to their case.
And no matter how tempting it may be to secretly monitor a spouse’s e-mail, social-media accounts and cell-phone contents, doing so could expose the spying spouse to criminal or civil penalties. Anyone considering taking any such action should refrain from doing so and consult a qualified divorce attorney.

Katherine McCarthy works at Robinson Donovan, P.C., where she concentrates on domestic relations. She received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in May; (413) 732-2301; kmccarthy@robinson-donovan

Woman’s World

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Law Sections
Royal LLP Helps Clients Get Down to Business

Amy Royal, founding partner of Royal LLP.

Amy Royal, founding partner of Royal LLP.

It’s an accepted trope that society has become more litigious, Amy Royal says, but not every business understands the implications of that fact.
“When someone loses a job, nine times out of 10, they don’t accept ownership or think it was anything they did, but it must be someone else’s fault,” said Royal, founding partner of Royal LLP, a Northampton-based, management-side labor and employment law firm.
“Unfortunately, our system makes it very easy for disgruntled employees to file claims against their former employer,” she continued. “You can go to a state agency and file for free. You can go to an attorney and engage their services without any real out-of-pocket costs. Because of that, numerous frivolous claims are filed every single day. A lot of people who may have engaged in misconduct are still able to take advantage of the system. It impacts everyone.”
Therefore, one service Royal provides its business clients is helping them to be proactive in a litigious world and develop practices that will save money and headaches in the long run.
“Documentation is key — and adequate documentation,” Royal told BusinessWest. “On the litigation end of things, when I get a case, I meet with the client and hear about how awful this employee was, stories of acts of misconduct, times they didn’t show up for work, and I think this is going to be a slam dunk. And I ask to see the personnel file, and there’s nothing in there to support that, or the documentation isn’t very good.”
So Royal teaches supervisors not only the importance of creating a paper trail, but how to write disciplinary actions that will stand up to scrutiny later on. “You’re writing it for the future — for courts, judges’ eyes, investigators’ eyes. What information do you want to put in there? It goes back to the journalistic principles of who, what, when, where … just stick to the facts.”
That’s one example of how Royal LLP aims to be a partner with its clients, not just a resource they turn to when they’re in legal hot water.
This month marks the five-year anniversary of the firm, which was launched first as Royal & Munnings — with Aimee Munnings, who now runs a large nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. — and later as Royal & Klimczuk, with Kimberly Klimczuk, who currently works at Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. in Springfield.
Since operating under her solo name, Royal has built a law firm of nine attorneys and has largely realized her initial goal “to create a pre-eminent management-side labor and employment law firm that would support the growth of women and minority attorneys.” Five full-time attorneys are women, and one is African-American.
“It’s really been my mission to provide these opportunities to women and minorities, primarily because, when I started my career, I didn’t see that support, or depth of support,” she recalled. “What prompted me in particular was a report that came out of MIT, around 2007 or 2008, that basically talked about the fact that women attorneys were leaving the private practice of law in large, startling numbers.”
She wondered why, then found the answer. “The women that MIT polled, who took part in the study, said there was no work-life balance in the law firms; they just didn’t support it. I thought, how can that be, especially with the technology today? With the way law firms are structured, a lot of the work can be done at any time, so why is that happening? There must be a solution.”
For this issue and its focus on law, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at that solution and how this firm intends to stay on its current pattern of consistent growth.

Case in Point

Amy Royal (center, with Karina Schrengohst, left, and Tanzania Cannon-Eckerle)

Amy Royal (center, with Karina Schrengohst, left, and Tanzania Cannon-Eckerle) says she set a goal early on of establishing a law practice where women attorneys could succeed and still maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Royal said the economic downturn of the past few years caused many companies to scale back their budgets — in some cases, cutting out preventive work such as training, policy development, audits, and record keeping. But that’s not smart practice, she added.
“I’m a firm believer that, if you spend a little bit of money now, it goes a long way to prevent headaches later,” she said. “While I think I’m really good at putting out fires for clients and problem solving and coming up with innovative solutions immediately, from a business perspective, that’s not the way you want to operate. You don’t want to always be reacting.”
That applies to a wide variety of situations, not just dealing with disgruntled ex-employees.
“For example, fairly recently, I had a company that has always been union-free, and hopefully will continue to be union-free, but they’ve had some union chatter in their organization, and once that train gets going, it’s harder to stop.” So she worked with the client on strategies to reduce the risk of unionization.
“Obviously, there are steps you can take to prevent a union from successfully coming through the door,” Royal said, “but there are many steps you can take before they even arrive, and it’s so much harder to stop it once it’s already on that course than to think about the steps you want to take over the next year, two years, three years to prevent it from ever happening.”
The launch of her own law firm coincided with the financial collapse of 2008, and building a practice over the next five turbulent years has given Royal some strong ideas about what clients want.
“It got me thinking about the future of the law and trends in the law and the delivery of legal services,” she said. So, this year, the firm introduced a flat-fee system that can be structured in several different ways. “I do believe the trend is move away from traditional billable hours, because in what other field do you purchase a product without knowing what the price is going to be? It’s only human that people want certainty in their billing; they want to know what they’re paying for. So we’ve come up with different flat-fee programs; one is all-inclusive and encompasses litigation as well.
“Even some law firms that may be on the cutting edge and have decided to provide some flat-fee services, I don’t think they have done that in the context of litigation because litigation can be so unknown,” she continued. “However, since we have this niche in management-side labor and employment law, we’re able to predict the costs, and we’re able to provide a very reasonable flat-fee arrangement to clients, similar to what you get with insurance, where you share in the risk, so to speak.”

Navigating a Minefield
The risk for businesses comes in many forms, especially at a time when employment law is becoming more complex and tilting, in many ways, toward broader workers’ rights. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was amended in 2008 to define virtually anyone with any form of physical and mental impairment as ‘disabled,’ granting them added protection in the workplace.
“That has obviously created a lot of issues and uncertainties,” Royal said. “It’s also an area our state agencies and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination have focused in on. They’ve taken the position that everyone is disabled, and therefore your company needs to be providing accommodations and engaging in dialogue with employees about what accommodations you can give them.”
Those issues can, frankly, be confusing for businesses, which often need a consultant like Royal LLP to train them in how to engage in that dialogue.
The training she and her fellow attorneys provide often takes the form of role-playing exercises with a company’s supervisory staffers, which can be a more effective learning tool than a dry lecture. “We’ve tried to make our trainings very practical and very interactive,” she said.
Other expertise the firm offers has nothing to do with litigation or employee grievance. For example, it helps companies create succession plans — not just for key executives, but for other critical staffers, such as a program manager for a nonprofit. “Do you have a plan in place to deal with the loss?”
The broad range of issues involved in employment law appeals to Royal, as do the long-term relationships she has built hammering out those issues for clients.
“We end up being their trusted business confidant, and that’s the really exciting thing,” she said. “We get to wear different hats — we get to be their advocate in court and litigate hard and aggressively for the client; we get to be their counsel that advises and helps them make plans that are both business-based and have legal implications; and we also get to be their educator, get to train them and their staff in how to stay out of trouble, or at least miminize their exposure to legal risk.”
The steps companies need to take might seem obvious, she told BusinessWest, but aren’t always followed in the day-to-day struggle to survive in a down economy.
“A lot of what I hear from management is there’s not enough time in the day to document issues, and I’m sensitive to that, because I run a business, too,” Royal said. “Again, if you go back to the training and the journalism approach of who, what, when, where, if you jot that down on a piece of paper, it’s not going to take you all that long, and it’s going to save you time in the long run, when you’re embroiled in litigation.”

Community Ties
As she builds the firm’s reputation in area communities — it has a second office in Springfield — Royal said it’s equally important to stay involved in civic life outside the workplace.
“Something I hope to instill in the other attorneys is being active in the community and giving back to the community,” she said. “It’s so important and so beneficial to everyone. So we do have a lot of our staff active in the community.”
Specifically, Royal serves on four different boards and chairs the United Way of Hampshire County, while the other attorneys are active on various boards or nonprofits. “It’s really important to me, and something that has really engaged the attorneys here and gets them to connect with our clients and the community in a different way.”
That’s the kind of work-life balance she knew was possible when she set out with a goal to establish, as she puts it, the pre-eminent labor and employment law firm in this region.
“I do expect additional growth, especially in the Connecticut arena,” she told BusinessWest. “Three of our attorneys are admitted to practice there, and I do have a Connecticut client base.”
Royal LLP has come a long way in just five years, but that doesn’t surprise its founder.
“That was my hope and my vision and my push. I’ve worked really hard to get the Royal name out there in every way I possibly could. So I’m really pleased, but I continue to make that push and want to continue to grow.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at  [email protected]

Opinion

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Opinion
Some Lessons from Worcester

By PAUL McMORROW
Worcester’s downtown withered when city officials staked the neighborhood’s future on a silver-bullet development that missed its mark badly. Now the city is redeveloping downtown, albeit at a pace that seems impossibly slow.
But impatience misses two key points. The massive effort is advancing, even in the face of a weak real-estate market, and it’s advancing in the right direction. Worcester, once bedeviled by gimmicky real-estate developments, is sticking to its plan and refusing to take shortcuts. Given the downtown neighborhood’s history, that’s the most important development of all.
When developers broke ground on Worcester’s CitySquare project three years ago, the development was the largest post-urban-renewal downtown redevelopment effort in Massachusetts history. The 20-acre, $565 million project involves demolishing a massive failed downtown mall, laying out a new street network, and constructing millions of square feet of offices, retail storefronts, and residential space. Worcester is trying to move beyond its failed downtown mall by creating something that is, in both physical form and philosophy, the antithesis of an urban shopping mall.
Scores of American cities suffered from disinvestment and population loss in the 1960s and 1970s. Worcester wasn’t alone in throwing an expensive mega-project at its case of urban rot. But its results were especially disastrous. The city saw scores of shoppers abandoning downtown storefronts for suburban shopping malls, so it decided to drop a shopping mall in the middle of its downtown, sandwiched between City Hall and the train station.
The mall was an unmitigated disaster. It failed twice. Those failures became magnified because Worcester had bulldozed a huge swath of its downtown and erased key roads to accommodate the mall. The city had cut its downtown in two for a gimmick that didn’t even work.
The city is currently working on rebuilding a downtown that looks and functions like one. It’s a turnaround plan that celebrates the downtown, instead of suburbanizing it. It recognizes that good downtowns start with people, and once downtowns fill with people, business happens organically.
CitySquare began with addition by subtraction. Construction crews demolished the old mall and much of the garage parking connected to it. They leveled 80,000 tons of concrete and rebuilt the street grid the mall had erased. The project developer, Leggat McCall Properties, built and opened a pair of commercial buildings, including a new headquarters for the insurance company Unum, in the midst of a poor development market.
Plenty of work remains. More than 1.5 million square feet of buildings remain on the drawing boards. The city needs every one of them to create a downtown that hums with life. Worcester’s failed mall showed that cities can’t wish vibrant downtowns into existence. People need real reasons for coming, and staying, downtown. That’s why the residential component of Worcester’s CitySquare plan looms large — it shows the city understands the importance of incremental change.
CitySquare needs around-the-clock residents to anchor Worcester’s new downtown, not just office workers who punch the clock before driving home. It needs a critical mass of bodies who are vested in the neighborhood and who will attract the restaurants and coffee shops that will draw new visitors to the area, which will, in turn, allow the entire district to succeed. This critical mass needs to be large.
The city needs sizeable apartment and condominium complexes to deliver the number of bodies that will anchor the rest of the neighborhood. Large residential buildings are also very difficult to build in Worcester because they cost more to build than they’d generate in rent. Cheaper wood-frame apartments could have gone up a year or two ago, but these low-slung buildings wouldn’t generate anywhere close to the kind of residential density the CitySquare vision hinges on. It’s a sign that the city gets it, that it’s avoiding shortcuts and holding out for the kind of density it needs to create a downtown that isn’t just full of buildings, but actually feels alive.

Paul McMorrow is an associate editor at Commonwealth Magazine.

Editorial

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Opinion
A Step Forward for Springfield

Seemingly lost amid all those much larger headlines last month concerning the World Series, the debt-ceiling crisis, and Westfield State President Evan Dobelle getting suspended and then suing everyone who had anything to do with that action was this item in the local paper: ‘Springfield City Council OKs raises for mayor, councilors.’
This development — at least the first part of the equation — has been talked about for some time and, in most respects, was expected and almost a foregone conclusion. But it is still a significant step forward for Springfield.
(Before explaining why, we’ll quickly address the second part of that headline: This is how it works in situations like this; city councils, in general, will gladly approve a pay hike for the mayor as long as they are quite sure the votes are there to give themselves one, too. It’s not going to happen otherwise, so just accept it and move on.)
That bit of local politics aside, this vote by the council to take the mayor’s salary from $95,000 to $135,000 — the first raise for the city’s chief executive since Bill Clinton was starting his second term — represents real progress when it comes to securing solid leadership in the city for years to come.
Raising the mayor’s salary does not ensure effective leadership — there are untold examples of how people in public positions with big salaries have failed in their roles (see Dobelle) — but it certainly helps in that regard. That’s because many people, especially members of the local business community, have eschewed bids for public office simply because they could not afford to take a serious pay cut.
This $40,000 raise will reward the current mayor, Domenic Sarno, but, more importantly, it will help ensure large, deep fields of candidates in the future.
And from our view, solid leadership is perhaps the most important ingredient in the large volume of work that remains to be done when it comes to returning Springfield, the state’s and the unofficial capital of Western Mass., to prominence.
Let’s just look at the near future. If a planned resort casino is built in the South End of the community, the city’s leadership, and especially the mayor, will have to assimilate that nearly $1 billion development and work to ensure that it becomes some kind of asset, not a liability; no small task. Meanwhile, that mayor will still have to deal with a school system in crisis, a downtown that will need much more than a casino, public safety issues, and the ongoing problem of reinventing this former manufacturing hub.
And if the casino is built somewhere else? Well, that mayor will have to contend with all those latter items listed above and then also deal with what will be serious psychological fallout — and find a way to develop several blocks of underutilized and/or tornado-damaged property the old fashioned way, and at a time when it is very difficult to convince developers to invest in the city.
Either way, whoever is in the corner office is going to have their hands full.
A $135,000 salary won’t make the job any easier, but it might help ensure that those who win that assignment have the wherewithal to carry it out effectively.
Springfield’s goal moving forward is to make itself a community of choice again. It held that distinction once, but it was a long, long time ago. Regaining that status won’t happen quickly or easily, and it won’t happen at all unless there is strong consistent leadership for many years to come.
The council’s vote to raise the mayor’s salary is just one step, but an important one, in moving the city forward. And it’s a step that other area communities currently underpaying their mayors — Chicopee, Easthampton, and others on that list — should emulate.

Community Profile: Wilbraham

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Community Profile Features
Wilbraham Embraces Vision of the Future

Amy Scott

Amy Scott says businesses in Wilbraham try to support each other whenever possible.

Amy Scott, principal of Wild Apple Design Group in Wilbraham, was heading out to look for a new car on the day BusinessWest spoke with her about the general business climate in that community.
The Hampden resident acknowledged that, like other Western Mass. residents, she has plenty of options when it comes to where to shop for a new ride, but she entered the search firmly committed to making sure it started and ended on nearby Boston Road.
“It’s part of the loyalty factor,” said Scott, who used that term to cover not only her buying habits but her willingness to serve the community in a number of roles. It’s an attitude that emerged not long after she took a gamble and leased more expensive space in Post Office Park in Wilbraham when she was searching for a new home for her venture two years ago.
She accepted that risk hoping that her services would appeal to the more than 50 businesses in the park and the hundreds of others in the community and just beyond it in Springfield — and the gamble has been rewarded. And she’s made it her policy to repay the loyalty shown to her.
“I feel like every time I have an opportunity to make a purchase, I look around at my neighbors, and they seem to be doing the same,” she explained. “It shows good faith on everybody’s part.”
Good faith is needed in this community that suffers, in many respects, when it comes to that old axiom about commercial real estate: location, location, location.
Indeed, Wilbraham is not exactly easy to get to from most anywhere in Western Mass. So, in recent years, those involved in town government and its business community have been actively involved in providing reasons for people to withstand the many traffic lights and stopsigns they encounter when trying to get here.
Post Office Park is part of that equation, but so are ongoing efforts, waged by the Boston Road Business Assoc. (BRBA), to make that thoroughfare a true destination for those looking for everything from a car to a major appliance to a good meal.
Scott has recently helped the group revamp its Best of Boston Road awards, which now has thousands of Wilbraham and Springfield residents voting for their favorite retailer, insurance company, dentist, restaurant, and more.
But while civic and business leaders work to help convince consumers that Wilbraham is a good place to do business, they’re also focused on quality of life for those who have chosen to live there — and also those who will join them in the decades to come.
The town christened its new, $65 million Minnechaug Regional High School just over a year ago, and also opened a new fire station, thanks to some imaginative financing. The next priorities, said Robert Boilard, vice president of Boilard Lumber and a selectman, are a new police station and senior center.
They are likely to be key components in a new vision, or comprehensive plan, for the town taking shape through the work of the recently formed Vision Task Force.
Working under the slogan “honoring the past, understanding the present, and imagining the future,” the group began work in early 2012 and gave its final report a few weeks ago, said its chairman, Charles Phillips, a long-time resident. “The Vision Task Force expected a largely positive response and received it,” he noted. “We were surprised, however, at some of the creative ideas that were expressed for improvement.”
For this, the latest installment of its Community Profile series, BusinessWest will look at some of those ideas, and also some of the ongoing — and generally successful — efforts to help people in this region, and sometimes from well beyond it, find Wilbraham.

School of Thought
“Tweedy” and “New Englandy.”
Those are two adjectives concocted by Rodney LaBrecque, head of school at Wilbraham Monson Academy, to describe the institution and help explain why it currently boasts students from 34 countries and several U.S. states, and is at full enrollment.
Those terms (the former is actually in the dictionary, while the latter is not) help paint a picture of the 209-year-old campus, one that is obviously appealing. “It’s certainly a selling point,” said LaBrecque, adding that this quaintness is only one reason for the institution’s success and current growth pattern; the diversity of its programs and the school’s emergence as a leader in such fields as entrepreneurship and business studies are more pertinent factors.
And they (or at least ‘New Englandy’) can also be used to describe Wilbraham itself, which was incorporated in 1763 and, like many neighboring communities, was largely agricultural until quite recently.
Robert Boilard

Robert Boilard says the Vision Task Force has helped define future goals for the town.

The town was once famous for its apple and peach orchards and several farms — including Pheasant Farm, Rice’s Fruit Farm, and Bennett’s Turkey Farm — that are no longer operating. In fact, the Wilbraham Peach Festival, a popular fall tradition for a quarter-century, was discontinued in 2010.
In its place, the Wilbraham Nature and Cultural Center (WNCC) — steward of Fountain Park, located off Tinkham Road, where the peach festival was held — has re-energized a summer music series on Thursday nights, which has drawn great reviews and strong attendance for regional bands such as The Kings, Trailer Trash, and The Frank Manzi Band.
This evolution, from peaches to rock music, mirrors other transformations in the town, from agricultural center to one of the region’s more popular bedroom communities, and from a business community that could only be described as sleepy to one that is growing — and diversifying.
Indeed, the tenant list at Post Office Park, which has seen explosive growth over the past decade, includes everything from marketing firms to the Scantic Valley YMCA; from medical facilities to law offices.
The park has helped make Wilbraham the business mailing address for many entrepreneurs who previously had little reason to give the community a look, and it is fueling the potential for more commercial development, albeit controlled, as civic leaders cope with some of the growing pains that come with the population surge recorded in recent decades.
The new high school is a manifestation of this growth, said Boilard, as is the need for a new police station and senior center — and the new vision plan itself, which was commissioned with the knowledge that the community needed to anticipate its future and properly prepare for it.
The Vision Task Force, with which Scott was involved through her work with the BRBA, completed phase one of the initiative, called the “Community Vision,” which laid the groundwork for the next step, creation of a comprensive plan, which will be the road map for the community, said Phillips.
The key priorities identified by respondents, he said, include the need to work harder alongside the business community, continue to insist on excellent education, preserve the feel and beauty of the community, place added emphasis on individual recreation, offer reasonably priced housing with excellent town services, and improve service on sidewalks and bikeways.
And while contemplating the future, the town is coping with the present, which in recent years has meant everything from the Great Recession to the tornadoes that caused extensive damage within the community in June 2011 to the ongoing budget challenges faced by all cities and towns and exacerbated by the state’s own fiscal turmoil.
Effective teamwork in Town Hall has been the most important ingredient in meeting these challenges head on, said Boilard.
“Our department heads are phenomenal, and no matter what our political affiliation, we’ve always been on the same page fiscally,” he said. “When you have a team that is running for that common goal, it makes the end result easier to get to, and we all work as slim as we can to get the job done.”

The Bottom Line
‘Getting the job done’ is a phrase used by a number of people in a many different contexts in this community.
For town officials, it means creating that roadmap for the future while dealing with current challenges. For LaBrecque, it means continuing to build WMA’s brand around the world while also strengthening an already-solid town-gown relationship. And for Scott and others in business community, it means growing their own ventures while working, collectively, to convince the world that Wilbraham really isn’t that far away.
“I love that I’m doing business with my neighbors and they’re doing business with me,” she said. “It’s a pretty healthy place to be.”

Elizabeth Taras can be reached at [email protected]

High Stakes Assignment

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Features
Bruce Stebbins Relishes His Role with the State’s Gaming Commission

StebbinsBruce Stebbins doesn’t remember the exact wording of the letter from the search firm that came roughly 20 months ago and would eventually prompt an abrupt career course change and thrust him into the middle of the casino era in Massachusetts.
But he remembers the gist, and the key sentence or two that certainly caught his eye.
“It talked about how the firm was trying to find an individual or individuals to serve on the Massachusetts Gaming Commission,” he said. “I don’t recall whether it said ‘from Western Massachusetts,’ but it did say, ‘if you know of anyone, or if you yourself might have any interest, feel free to give us a call.’
“So I called them back,” continued Stebbins, who, at the time, was serving as business development administrator in Springfield. “And while I was really happy doing what I was doing for the city, I inquired a little more about the position and what it involved. I didn’t have any friend or colleague or someone I knew who I was going to recommend, but I just wanted to find out more about it. By the end of the phone call with the recruiter I’d made up my mind to send him my resume.”
Fast-forward just a few weeks (things were moving quickly because deadlines for filling the panel were looming) and he was being interviewed by the governor, attorney general, and treasurer — the three officials who would collectively decide who won this slot on the board — and eventually prevailed. Jump ahead another 18 months, and he and the other four members are closing in on some of the most anticipated decisions in recent state history, choices that will change the landscape of cities and regions, both literally and figuratively, and alter the fortunes of countless individuals and businesses.
At present, the commission is neck deep in the process of deciding the winner of the contest for the one slots parlor that was made part of the gaming legislation passed nearly two years ago. Three proposals are being reviewed, and a decision is due early next year, said Stebbins.
Concurrently, the board is also advancing the process of determining who will win up to three licenses for resort casinos; there are competitions being played out in the three designated regions for such licenses — the Boston area, Western Mass., and Southeastern Mass.
And while a decision is not due on those licenses until early next spring, the commission is already having a huge impact on the proceedings.
Indeed, when a suitability assessment by commission investigators raised questions about Caesars Entertainment, a partner in the bid to put a casino at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, the industry giant abruptly withdrew — at the behest of its partner — throwing the Boston area competition into something approaching chaos as a Nov. 5 referendum vote on the proposal looms and the Suffolk Downs team scrambles to find a new partner.
The startling turn of events prompted the Boston Globe to praise the commission for setting the bar high when it comes to the standards that casino companies will have to meet in the Bay State. And it also inspired Caesar’s President Gary Loveman to opine that the bar has been set too high.
“It’s going to be very difficult for sophisticated multi-jurisdictional operators to tolerate the environment this commission has created,” he told the press.
MGM

Mass. casino

Deciding the winner of the contest for the Western Mass. casino license — likely to be between MGM Springfield, left, and Mohegan Sun Massachusetts — will be one of many challenging assignments facing Stebbins and the other gaming commission members.

Deciding the winner of the contest for the Western Mass. casino license — likely to be between MGM Springfield, top, and Mohegan Sun Massachusetts — will be one of many challenging assignments facing Stebbins and the other gaming commission members.
[/caption]When queried about the Suffolk Downs development and, in general, the height of that aforementioned bar, Stebbins, obviously choosing words carefully and sounding a lot like Bill Belichick at one of his press conferences, said, “this is what the statute was intended to do; we need to be as thorough as possible, and our investigators have to be diligent and follow up every lead. We want to impress upon people that we want operators who have great business practices to be the ones operating casinos in Massachusetts.”
And when asked if he and his fellow commission members are feeling the pressure that will certainly accompany the decisions to come, Stebbins smiled broadly, implied that ‘pressure’ was probably too strong a word, but nonetheless verified the enormity of the moment.
“All five of us acknowledge that because there’s a limited number of licenses, we understand that we have one shot to get this done right,” he said. “We’re also buffeted by the fact that over half the states in the U.S. have done this before and there is a great working relationship with other jurisdictions.”
For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Stebbins about everything from his experiences on the commission to date to the factors he believes will ultimately decide how the casino licenses are awarded, including the one for the Western Mass. region.

Playing His Cards Right
Stebbins isn’t the official Western Mass. representative on the gaming commission, but that’s how he’s generally regarded.
He’s the only member from this part of the state, and he acknowledges that a desire on the part of those assembling the panel to create geographic diversity probably aided his cause. As did a quest for political diversity — Stebbins is a Republican, and one of the stipulations for this commission, he said, was that there not be more than two members for any one political party. (He assumes there are two Democrats and two Republicans, but isn’t sure of the affiliation of the fifth member; “we don’t wear our politics on our sleeves.”)
And he believes his work history, which includes a number of roles in business and economic development, might have turned some heads.
Indeed, Stebbins’ resume includes everything from a stint in the White House — as associate director of Political Affairs while George Bush the elder was in office — to two terms as a Springfield city councilor; from a short run as director of the Mass. Office of Business Development to a decade-long tenure as senior regional manager of the National Association of Manufacturers.
He said the experience gained at these various stops has certainly helped him with his current workload, but that his time with the gaming commission has also helped him grow professionally and sharpen existing skills sets.
“I think there are certainly skills and experiences I’m having that will help round me out as a professional and as an executive,” said Stebbins, who repeatedly compared his work on the commission — and its role in bringing the gaming industry to Massachusetts — to getting a startup business off the ground.
“I was intrigued by two things,” he said, when recalling what prompted this latest line on his resume. “Part of it was setting something up from the ground floor, albeit a government, regulatory agency. Taking something and building it from a piece of legislation — I thought that was a unique opportunity considering my years in public service. I’d never really had the opportunity to do that before; it was enticing.
“It’s not completely akin to a small business, because we came with an operating budget already in hand from the Legislature,” he continued, “but similar to a small company, we were building a way to do business, recruiting and building a team, and coming up with a mission statement, just like any business does, while at the same time learning about a business that was completely new to Massachusetts.
“The other intriguing part of this was the economic aspect,” he went on. “We’re introducing a whole new industry to Massachusetts and really focusing on the priorities of the statute, which are the job creation piece in difficult economic times, and the impact on tourism and small business — this was right up my alley when it came to my background and experiences.”
He said he took on the assignment expecting that there would be large amounts of travel and reading, and there have been both; he commutes to Boston four days a week, spending Friday in Western Mass., and the three slot parlor applications alone account for roughly 20,000 pages of material, although he acknowledged quickly that he doesn’t have to consume all of that.
Beyond that, he anticipated that it would be a learning experience on a number of levels, and it has been that as well.
When asked to elaborate on what he has learned, Stebbins listed everything from insight into just how competitive the gaming industry is, to lessons learned from the experiences of other jurisdictions, such as Atlantic City.
“New Jersey felt that by introducing casino gaming in an effort to revive Atlantic City there would instantly be jobs and opportunities for all the people living in that city,” he noted. “But the casinos came in, the people living in Atlantic City didn’t have the skills and the basic training assistance, and they missed out on the job opportunities that were created, and that’s why Atlantic City languished and some would say it continues to languish. It missed out on some opportunities.”

Odds and Ends
When asked if the decisions regarding the casino licenses were matters of objective or subjective analysis, Stebbins said there is certainly far more of the former, but there is certainly some of the latter.
Elaborating, he noted that proposals will be weighed in five categories — financial, building and site design, mitigation, economic development, and something he called ‘general overview of the project,’ and then described as the “wow factor.”
It is in that last category where there is some subjectivity, he told BusinessWest, adding that with the other four, analysis generally comes down to hard numbers, and lots of them.
“A good percentage of the information is very objective — ‘tell us the number of people you’re hiring,’ ‘show us the plans you intend to work with,’ ‘what’s your debt-to-equity ratio?,’ ‘what are your plans for implementing LEED gold design into your building?, ‘what are your plans for mitigating the impact on the lottery?,’” he explained, noting that for each of the five categories he mentioned applicants are given one of four ratings.
These are ‘insufficient,’ ‘sufficient,’ ‘exceeds expectations,’ and ‘outstanding,’ he went on, adding these ratings, as well as the answers to the 230 questions applicants must answer will be discussed in a public meeting before votes are taken on the specific licenses, including the one for what’s known as Region 2, Western Massachusetts.
When asked what may decide that competition, which will likely be an urban versus suburban matchup featuring MGM Springfield and Mohegan Sun Massachusetts in Palmer (a vote on the host-community agreement in that latter community is set for Nov. 5), Stebbins said it, like the others, will be determined by the tenets of the legislation — and perhaps by that ‘wow factor.’
“The purpose of the statute was to generate revenue for the Commonwealth and create jobs,” he explained. “A lot of the evaluation questions address the other requirements that were put in the statute.
“The general overview portion of this, the ‘wow factor,’ might well be more of a subjective answer,” he continued. “But backing all this up is that we want to know what these players’ track records are in other jurisdictions; have they met their promises? Have they done what they said they were going to do? How have those other facilities operated?”
Meanwhile, the commission will attempt to emulate the best practices of other jurisdictions and learn from what has gone right — and wrong — in other states, he went on.
“We’re all happy to share information and regulations,” he said of those other states. “They’ve been great to talk to; they’re candid and honest — they’ll say ‘we tried to do it this way and didn’t really work out that well. There are great opportunities to build on the best practices of other jurisdictions.”
While the pending decisions on the licenses are certainly the most pressing item facing the commission, its work certainly won’t end there, he told BusinessWest, adding there will be considerable regulatory work to finish, issues with the licensing process, and monitoring the progress of those companies who win the regional competitions.
“It shifts into a regulatory and oversight function,”he said, “but there will be a lot of important work to do.”

The Bottom Line
Stebbins said he’s just over half-way through a term that will last three years. It is possible that he will be awarded another, longer term and perhaps even two (commissioners can serve up to 10 years), but he acknowledged that there will be different people serving as governor and attorney general by then, and they may have some other ideas.
At the moment though, he isn’t focused on the future, but rather the present, and his large role in something that could only be described as historic.
Looking back on that letter from the recruiter that started him down this road, he said that what appealed to him initially — a chance to bring a new industry into Massachusetts and be part of a huge economic development initiative — continues to fuel his imagination today.
If his career gambit was a roll of the dice, he believes he’s thrown a 7.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Every Step of the Way

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Health Care Sections
Navigators Guide Cancer Patients Along Their Journey

Jolene Lambert

Jolene Lambert (right) says HMC’s patient-navigation program has helped increase the hospital’s breast-cancer survival rate.

The five-year survival rate for breast cancer, nationally, is 89%.
At Holyoke Medical Center, it’s 95%. And Jolene Lambert believes she knows part of the reason why.
Lambert is HMC’s ‘cancer care navigator,’ working with breast-cancer patients from their initial diagnosis through the often-difficult journey of treatment and recovery. She has also spearheaded community-outreach efforts to persuade women to be screened for breast cancer in an effort to find early-stage disease before it spreads.
Since she took the position less than a year ago, Lambert has found striking success on both fronts. All the patients she helps as navigator are 100% compliant with getting to their medical appointments, taking the proper medication, and following other treatment recommendations — all of which enhances their long-term odds of beating the disease.
At the same time, the hospital has become more visible with community efforts to convince healthy women to get mammograms. “Some people are afraid to get it checked,” she said, “but the sooner you get it checked, the greater your chance of survival.”
The overarching idea, she explained, is that cancer is a frightening and often confusing subject, and helping women, well, navigate it will ultimately save lives.
“Patients absolutely require assistance navigating the very complicated silos of our healthcare system,” said Dr. Wilson Mertens, medical director of Cancer Services for Baystate Health. “I would consider navigation to be part concierge service and part rapid contact for patients, to help them manage their symptoms and side effects.”
Baystate offers navigation across a number of cancers, while Holyoke will expand its program beyond breast cancer early next year.
Yet, “I think this concept really started in breast centers across the country because of the complications associated with moving patients from a screening scenario to a biopsy and ultimately surgery, if that’s required,” Mertens said. “Moving through all those steps is complicated, and patients are bewildered when they have to arrange it themselves. They often don’t know how to take the next step, and care is increasingly fragmented.”
The idea behind a navigator, Lambert said, is to give a cancer patient a resource who will guide them every step of the way — in the case of breast cancer, from an abnormal mammogram through all treatments and follow-up. One of her roles is to ensure that the process moves quickly, because patients want answers.
“Patients who are seen in the women’s center meet with the navigator,” she explained. “If they have an abnormal mammogram, they are called on the phone right away to come back for more films, and if they need a biopsy, they are seen within two days for that. The biopsy results are then reviewed with the physician who ordered the mammogram, and they follow up within two days to schedule their surgery.”
But the navigator’s services don’t end there. “If they need rides to appointments, we can help them, or if they don’t understand what the physician is saying to them, we go with them to the appointments so we can explain to them in simpler terms what their care should be,” she told BusinessWest. “I start with the patient’s positive diagnosis and then follow the patient through her care — through surgery, through chemo, through survivorship — to make sure she’s making her appointments, following up, and not getting lost in our healthcare system.”
And it’s a trend becoming much more evident nationwide, she noted. “It is eventually going to be mandatory for all hospitals to have a navigator for cancer; we just happened to start a little early.”

Breaking Down Barriers
The concept of patient navigation was first developed by Dr. Harold Freeman in Harlem, N.Y., as an effort to reduce disparities in access to diagnosis and treatment of cancer, particularly among poor and uninsured people.
“During his practice, he realized he was seeing a lot of women who presented to him with stage 3 breast cancer,” Lambert said. “He felt there should be some way to get to these people because there is a cure for breast cancer if it’s detected early enough.
“So he devised a whole navigator program — not only following people through the disease, but getting out there in the community, getting people to their scheduled mammograms, offering them rides, and preventing barriers to getting mammograms, whether they don’t have insurance, they’re afraid, they don’t have transportation, or they don’t want to pay the co-pay, but would rather spend the money to feed their families. He helped them overcome the barriers to get the care they need.”

Dr. Wilson Mertens

Dr. Wilson Mertens says cancer patients should not be made to feel burdened with every decision.

In 2007, with a $2.5 million grant from the Amgen Foundation, the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention established the Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute to train organizations in patient navigation. The core principles of the institute — which Lambert has attended — include:
• Informing people about the need for recommended examinations and providing timely access to such examinations;
• Eliminating any barriers to timely care across the entire healthcare continuum, and
• Eliminating any barriers to timely diagnoses and treatment in patients who have abnormal or suspicious findings.
Lambert said Holyoke’s program takes seriously the concept of breaking down barriers to care. “If people don’t have insurance, we write to drug companies and get them free medications — anything we can do, we do. We’ve gone as far as buying shoes for patients.”
Traditionally, one of the major barriers to patient compliance has been frustrating lags between diagnosis and consultation. When Lambert became navigator, she reviewed every patient’s chart and noticed a lag time between finding an abnormal mammogram and the resulting biopsy or surgery — in some cases, almost four weeks.
Now, “breast cancer patients are usually seen in one or two days. Some patients who are anxious about their diagnosis have been seen the same day,” she said. “It’s a relief for the patient. I’ve had patients say to me, ‘this would have been my first appointment at a different institution, but here, I already have three treatments under my belt.’ We’re really trying to get people treated quickly.
“Imagine having breast cancer and waiting three weeks for an appointment, or even two weeks,” she added. “I want to be seen the next day.”
At Baystate, Mertens said, navigators tend to work with certain doctors, or the same type of cancer, and they are considered a critical part of the cancer-care team.
“Cancer care has become more complicated,” he told BusinessWest. “Every disease, every patient requires a different set of services and support. What a head and neck cancer patient might need in terms of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are very different from a breast-cancer patient, and a colon-cancer patient needs a whole different set of players and a different structure.”
Navigators who are well-trained in certain diagnoses are able to effectively answer patients’ questions and guide them to the right resources. “If we don’t provide that kind of support, the patients would be left to sort it out for themselves,” he continued. “But we don’t require patients to be their own physicians; we really need to be able to provide that to them.”
Meanwhile, navigation benefits physicians by making sure patients do what they’re instructed to do. Mertens used the example of someone whose primary-care doctor advises him to call a gastroenterologist to schedule a colonoscopy, but the patient decides to put it off. That’s just human nature, after all.
“Well, I can’t afford to have that with my patients,” he said. “If we need something arranged, we need to have it done. But I also think this is complicated enough that we need to own those arrangements.”

Community Minded
Lambert said no navigator program is complete without a public-outreach component that aims to identify cancers before they’ve advanced. She has distributed booklets throughout Holyoke, given several talks in the community, and recruited four physicians and two nurse practitioners for a free breast-cancer screening in March.
“We’re trying to reach all those people,” she said of such efforts. “In October, we’ll be at Stop & Shop booking mammograms on laptops.”
Once they’re in the system — particularly if a doctor detects early-stage breast cancer — she said patients are grateful that someone gave them the nudge to get checked. But she also deals with cultural barriers to care. “A lot of patients have certain religious beliefs, and think they have cancer because they’ve done something bad in their lives.”
Whatever the barrier, Lambert said, her job is to help break through it to get locals the help they need. After all, the mortality rate from all cancers combined has fallen to one-third what it was 40 years ago, and “immediate care and follow-up care are a big plus for these people.”
Patients are grateful for these targeted efforts to treat their cancer and keep them healthy, Mertens said. “They really appreciate the relationship. They spend a fair amount of time contacting the nurses, and the amount of information they receive is very robust.
“I think that it’s a great comfort for them,” he added, “and it’s a comfort for us on the physician side to know they have another healthcare professional with a deep, profound knowledge of what the patient is going through and can get the appropriate services they need.”
One challenge for the future, Mertens noted, is the still-unclear effect of healthcare reform, and new models of treatment like accountable-care organizations, on patient navigation. “There’s no specific payment for navigation, even though we think it’s critical and needs to be provided,” he said. “We’re not sure exactly what it’s going to look like.”
Still, the trend in oncology has been toward more navigation services, not fewer. And that’s bringing a measure of comfort to patients during some of the most difficult times in their lives.
“I had someone say to me the other day, ‘I don’t want to go to Holyoke; I had a bad experience there,’” Lambert said. “I said, ‘try it again; I’ll go with you.’ She said, ‘you would?’”
And she did just that, relieving the anxiety for one more woman in need. “If you don’t have a medical background nowadays,” she said, “you are lost — very lost.”
And when you’re lost, a navigator sure comes in handy.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Room to Grow

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Health Care Sections
Surging Need Prompts Expansion of Sr. Caritas Cancer Center

This planned 20,000-square-foot expansion to the Sr. Caritas Cancer Center

This planned 20,000-square-foot expansion to the Sr. Caritas Cancer Center will allow Mercy Medical Center to offer more comprehensive cancer treatment.

When the Sr. Caritas Cancer Center opened its doors in 2003, the 16,000-square-foot facility effectively doubled the cancer-treatment capacity of Mercy Medical Center, the heart of the Sisters of Providence Health System (SPHS), and specialized in the growing field of radiation oncology.
There was probably little thought then that a major expansion, one that would more than double the current footprint, would be needed less than a decade later. But in the ever-changing realm of cancer treatment, much can happen in just a few years.
In this case, advancements in the field of medical onology have precipitated an explosion in need for those type of services. At the same time, Mercy has joined forces with medical oncologist Dr. Philip Glynn, in a venture that has brought both great opportunity and a stern challenge: a pressing need for more space.
The latter is being addressed with a $15 million, 20,000-square-foot expansion that will increase the number of chemotherapy treatment bays from the current 10 to 32, while also providing the room, and flexibility, to handle projected needs for years to come, said Dr. Scott Wolf, who serves as Mercy Medical Center’s senior vice president of Medical Affairs, chief medical officer, and chief operating officer.
As for the former, Wolf said Glynn’s decision to merge his growing practice with Mercy Medical Center’s medical oncology services provides the institution with an opportunity to achieve much greater balance in its efforts to provide the two major cancer-treatment modalities — radiation oncology and chemotherapy — and also take cancer-treatment services to a much higher level.
“Our goal is to establish ourselves as a center of excellence in comprehensive oncology care,” Wolf told BusinessWest. “Building on the already-existing expertise in our radiation oncology, and then adding modalities and surgical oncology and subspecialty medical oncology, we will elevate ourselves as a center of excellence.
Dr. Philip Glynn

Dr. Philip Glynn serves as the cancer center’s new director of Medical Oncology, and has helped expand Mercy’s chemotherapy services.

“This has been Dr. Glynn’s vision, beyond just his practice, for several years,” Wolf continued.  “He first came to me about two years ago about creating a foundation of a more comprehensive oncology service line.”
Soon after that conversation, Glynn merged his private practice, Murray Glynn P.C., with Mercy Medical Center in June 2012.
“Our group of medical oncologists came together because we felt that collectively we could provide a more effective service to our patients and to this community,” said Glynn, who is now the director of Medical Oncology through Mercy Oncology Services.
This development created an immediate need for more facilities at Mercy, which was met by establishing 10 temporary infusion bays at the nearby Weldon Center for Rehabilitation.
While this was taking place, MorrisSwitzer – Environments for Health, a Boston-based architecture firm that focuses exclusively on the healthcare sector, began designing an expansion of the Caritas Center.
Groundbreaking is slated for next spring, and the facility is expected to open in late 2015, said Wolf. Funding for the expansion will be derived through a variety of means, including a working capital loan from Trinity Health (the second-largest Catholic health system in the country), a forthcoming capital campaign, and future operating revenue from the new center.
While the architectural plans and the new expansion layout are complete, the bid requests for construction management will go out soon.
For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the plans to expand the Sr. Caritas Center, and also at what this development means for Mercy and SPHS as the system works to expand its presence in cancer treatment.

Supply and Demand
As he talked about the changes and developments that put the Caritas Center expansion plans on the drawing board, Mark Fulco, senior vice president of Strategy and Marketing for SPHS, started with some rather sobering statistics regarding cancer in this country.
He said that analysis of data provided by the state Department of Health, national statistics, and interviews with consumers and community leaders reveals that the demand for medical oncology services is expected to increase by 11% over the next 10 years.
The aging of the nation’s population is a big factor in these estimates, but there are other factors that point to heightened demand both nationally and especially in this region, he went on, citing a smoking rate of 23.8% in Greater Springfield, nearly double the national average of 14.7%.
While these numbers indicate that Mercy was likely to eventually need more space and facilities at the Caritas Center, the recent merger with Glynn’s practice certainly accelerated that process, Fulco noted.
Wolf concurred, noting that this consolidation more than doubled the number of medical oncology treatments at Mercy, from roughly 3,000 per year to more than 7,000. And the expansion is designed to accommodate 30,000 annually.
“Phil is an incredibly gifted physician, and due to his presence in this community, he has an extremely loyal following,” said Wolf. “Oncologists as a whole are a special group of physicians, just because of the nature of their business, but Phil takes it to another level.”
The planed expansion will feature two floors of medical oncology services adjacent to the current single-story facility on the eastern side of the Mercy Medical Center campus that houses radiation oncology.
But there is much more to the expansion than additional square footage and infusion bays, said Fulco.
“What we’re putting together to meet greater demand for services is a truly comprehensive cancer center with cancer diagnosis, treatment, and other modalities, like support and our spiritual-care team, all in one place,” said Fulco. “The physicians will be in close proximity to each other so that it will further enhance collaboration efforts, with cancer being treated through a team approach.”
Elaborating, he said the new, enlarged Caritas Center will bring together what he called a talented team of clinicians.
Glynn is now responsible for all aspects of the medical oncology program and its activities, such as cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, state-of-the-art treatment, counseling, and rehabilitation.
Glynn and his seven-member oncology team will be joined by Dr. Neal Chuang, the new chief of thoracic surgery, who is trained on the da Vinci S Surgical System, the latest in minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgery; Dr. Mark Sherman, also a thoracic surgeon and a new surgical oncologist; and Dr. Julia Donovan, a specialist in female reproductive cancers. Within the existing radiation department are Dr. Catherine Carton, the full-time director of radiation oncology; and radiation oncologist Dr. Mary Ann Lowen.
“Dr. Glynn has a very clear and progressive vision for where cancer care and interventions are going,” said Fulco, adding that Glynn’s keen interest in pursuing new interventions that aren’t currently available at Mercy, or anywhere else, for that matter, will see those new modalities being developed and eventually in use at the center.
For example, 10 years ago, when the current center opened, two linear accelerators (used for external beam radiation treatments) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) were hyped in the press as advanced technology; today, the team is proud of the two Elekta Infinity intensity-guided radiation-therapy machines, which are advanced linear accelerators (see sidebar, page 17), and are the only two of their kind in Western Mass.
Casting the net even wider, the business plan written 18 months ago by Daniel Moen, president and CEO of SPHS, with Wolf, Glynn and others, demands that the team be consistently aggressive in seeking new technology, new treatment modalities, and new relationships.
To that end, Wolf said the team is in the early stages of identifying a tertiary partner, one that would offer access to clinical trials, second-opinion expertise, genetic profiling, and many other services that will be demanded of a truly comprehensive cancer-care facility.
Fulco said this represents the type of forward thinking that is a very important motivation for Glynn, who also assists with the development and implementation of new program initiatives, such as cancer survivorship, navigation, community outreach, and clinical research/clinical trial participation.

Progressive Vision
Fulco told BusinessWest that, when plans were first put on the drawing board for what would become the Sr. Caritas Cancer Center, the overarching philosophy was to create a facility that would drive home the point that area residents did not have to drive to Hartford, Boston, New York, or anywhere else to receive quality cancer treatment.
Over the past decade, the facility has gone a long way toward proving that point, and the planned expansion of the center will only make it easier to make that argument.
“Except for the esoteric type of cancer that requires specialists who are just as rare and requires experimental therapies, the modalities that we have available to treat patients here are equivalent to the very best in the world,” said Fulco. “You don’t need to go to Boston or New York to get a leading-edge treatment.”

Elizabeth Taras can be reached at [email protected]

Slim Pickings

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Health Care Sections
Obesity Rates Fall, but There’s Plenty of Room for Improvement

Dr. Rushika Conroy

Dr. Rushika Conroy says parents should encourage their children to be active.

Despite all the talk of childhood obesity in the media and schools, the percentage of the state’s public-school students who are overweight or obese has significantly dropped over the past five years.
Or, perhaps, because of all the talk.
The percentage of overweight or obese students dropped 3.7% points to 30.6%, according to the state Department of Public Health, and those declines were greatest among elementary-school students.
Dr. Rushika Conroy, a pediatric endocrinologist at Baystate Children’s Hospital, said the messages that have been hammered home by news programs, public-service ads, and even the nutrition campaign being promoted by First Lady Michelle Obama may finally be taking hold and effecting change in some youngsters’ eating and exercise habits.
“Part of it is the higher awareness about the problem,” Conroy said. “We’re doing so much more to make parents and children aware, and to promote preventive measures — not just treating people who are already obese, but also preventing it from happening.”
Whether it’s Obama’s nutrition platform; the NFL’s “Play 60” program, which encourages young people to engage in active, preferably outdoor play for at least an hour a day; or other television spots encouraging healthy lifestyles, “there’s a lot more out there; it’s not just advertising for a video game or advertising for Cheetos, but also trying to show that it’s good to get moving,” she added. “We need to provide resources, ways to eat healthier. And in the media, that higher awareness has been a real plus.”
At the same time, obesity among U.S. adults is continuing to level off after several decades of skyrocketing growth.
In fact, according to the latest figures from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2010 to 2012, the U.S. obesity rate has dropped from 35.7% to 34.9%. Obesity is defined as roughly 35 pounds over a healthy rate.
Again, some of the credit goes to broader awareness, said Conroy, adding that the spotlight on America’s obesity problem even extends into restaurants and fast-food chains, which are required to post nutritional information. “It’s the little things — even having calorie counts available makes a big difference. If you go into a Starbucks and say, ‘oh, I want that giant cookie,’ you might get it. But if you see that cookie has 350 calories, you might think twice. I think it does make you think about what you’re doing.”

Delicate Subject
Massachusetts has been trying to get children — and parents — thinking about obesity for some time, including a controversial, recently ended program that measured children’s body-mass index (BMI) at school and sent notes home to the parents of kids classified as obese. Detractors of the program cited privacy issues and also argued that the notes could lead to bullying.
Specifically, schools said it was too expensive to mail the letters, so they often sent them home in students’ backpacks, which sometimes resulted in disclosure of the information to other students — and, often, teasing.
“There has been a lot of controversy about taking away these letters going out to parents or caregivers, saying, ‘your child is obese; please seek guidance or help from your physician,’” Conroy said, noting that other states had conducted similar programs and determined they were ineffective.
But despite such reports, and the understandable risk of teasing, she has mixed feelings about the decision to stop the letters, “because I do feel it’s important to have that awareness coming from the schools, and not just a medical professional.”
The state’s Public Health Council, an appointed body of academics and health advocates, called for an end to the letters, but still requires schools to conduct weight and height screenings in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10 to help officials gather data about obesity trends and identify possible solutions — a practice in place in 20 other states. Parents may request their children’s BMI information in writing if they wish.
And parents do seem to be more aware of the obesity problem, as evidenced by the declining rates among all age groups across the U.S. “As far as the nation goes, we’re overall more aware of what’s happening and what we as adults can do for our children,” Conroy said.
She noted that, while the medical community has always stressed lifestyle choices to prevent obesity, the alternatives for helping people rein in their weight have broadened significantly.
“From a treatment standpoint, there are more options available,” she said. “Lifestyle modification will always be the first line of defense, but now bariatric surgery and medications offer more options.”
Weight loss from lifestyle modification generally results in a loss of about 10% of total weight in a year, she noted, often not enough to combat the serious medical conditions that afflict many obese individuals. And the side effects of some weight-loss medications can be a deterrent to their taking those prescriptions. That leaves bariatric surgery as an effective last resort.
For example, Baystate Children’s Hospital now offers bariatric surgery to younger patients than ever before, in the form of sleeve gastrectomy, an increasingly common form of gastric surgery that removes all but a narrow ‘sleeve’ of the stomach, forcing patients to eat much less than before.
“Despite the fact that obesity has declined somewhat in the country, there are still many children whose weight remains dangerously high,” Conroy said. “For some of these adolescents whose weight exceeds 200 or 300 pounds, many are at risk for or already suffering from serious health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, depression, sleep apnea, and liver disease, which can make it harder for them to lose weight.”
Studies on adolescents having bariatric surgery suggest the operation is as safe for them as for adults, but not enough teens have been followed after the sleeve gastrectomy to know if there are any long-term effects on their future growth or development. But Baystate has begun admitting 17-year-olds into the bariatric pre-op process, so they’re ready for the surgery at age 18 — with the potential to operate on younger teens down the road as more data emerges.

Go Outside
Of course, encouraging young people to eat right and exercise is still job number one, and that can be difficult, especially in an era when kids simply don’t play outside as much as they did decades ago.
“Parents say, ‘my neighborhood is not a very safe one; I wouldn’t want my children outside,’ or ‘I can’t afford a gym membership or a YMCA membership,’ or ‘I don’t have transportation to take them,’” Conroy told BusinessWest. “There are lots of different reasons why people to find it difficult to be active.”
One positive development, she noted, has been the popularity of video-game systems, like the Wii, that incorporate full-body movement. “Another thing we talk about is families doing chores around the house. That counts as exercise, too — helping mom with the sweeping or laundry, for instance.”
She also said both young people and adults should find ways to include more physical exertion in their daily routine, whether it’s walking to school (if possible) or not searching for the nearest parking spot when out shopping. “If you’re going to the mall, park farther away; instead of spending 15 minutes finding a spot closer to the entrance, park at the back and walk. These are ways of getting activity in.”
She understands, of course, that in an increasingly wired world, kids are going to spend time in front of their devices. So she suggests setting rules for their use. “Say, ‘you can spend an hour playing video games, but you have to spend an hour doing exercise first.’ The challenge is getting parents to enforce that rule, because we’re not going to be there to do it for them.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Incorporations

By
Departments Incorporations

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

AGAWAM

Local Yo Inc., 103 Lealand Ave., Agawam, MA 01001. Anthony Surrette, same. Sales of frozen yogurt, desserts, and beverages.

AMHERST

Vision Hope USA Inc., 177 Henry St., Amherst, MA 01002. Andrea Crenshaw, 17152 SW Villa Road, Sherwood, OR 97140. Provide international relief and development aid and support to people in need in developing countries.

CHICOPEE

Ministerio Adoradora En Espiritu Y En Verda, 60 Alvord Ave., Chicopee, MA 01020. Norma Rodriguez, same. To get involved with different churches to expand my ministry.

EASTHAMPTON

Muttersohn Enterprises Corp., 103 Oliver St., Easthampton, MA 01027. Laura Singleton, same. Provide services as a non-profit entity for future endeavors.

FEEDING HILLS

B4 Race & Event Management Inc., 193 Coyote Circle, Feeding Hills, MA 01030. Wayne Robert Ball, same. Organize and host local events and road races.

HOLYOKE

J. Savage Inc., 4 Open Square Way, Suite 215, Holyoke, MA 01040. Jay Savage, 589 Pleasant St., Holyoke, MA 01040. Women’s apparel and accessories.

NORTHAMPTON

Hygeniks Inc., 74 Bridge St., Northampton, MA 01060. Todd Marchefka, same. Supply and distribute equipment, services, and systems for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Integral Builders Inc., 225 Nonotuck St., Northampton, MA 01062. James Harrity, same. Real estate.

PITTSFIELD

Grant Technology Corporation, 2 South St., Suite 340, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Michael McCool, 266 Allengate Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Consulting, patents, technology innovation.

King City Forwarding USA Inc., 216 Fort Hill Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Michael Hilburn, same. Freight forwarding.

Lambda Prime Corp., 777 West St., 4th Floor, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Matthew Stack, same. Software and hardware development.

SOUTH HADLEY

Akamnonu Associates Inc., 11 Pittroff Ave., South Hadley, MA 01075. Oliver Akamnonu, same. Produce and market unique literature.

SPRINGFIELD

Harmonia Celestial Corp., 156 Florence St., Springfield, MA 01103. Julio Edwards, same. Church

M.L. Schmitt Leasing Inc., 371 Taylor St., Springfield, MA 01105. Thomas Schmitt, same. Equipment leasing company.

MLS Management Inc., 371 Taylor St., Springfield, MA 01105. Thomas Schmitt, same. Management company.

Pet Care Assist Inc., 23 Spruceland Ave., Springfield, MA 01108. Henry Lingley, same. Financial assistance to pet owners to provide urgent medical attention for their pets.

Springfield Pulse Inc., 11 Pearl St., Suite 234, Springfield, MA 01118. Phoebe Stewart, 64 East St., Chesterfield, MA 01096. Free resource providing accessible space for artistic expression.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

No Casino West Springfield Inc., 1127 Amostown Road, West Springfield, MA 01089. Nathan Bech, 84 Summit St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Educate and increase public awareness of the adverse health and social costs of gambling and associated detriments to the greater West Springfield community of any such casino.

WESTFIELD

Dhanlaxmiji Corp., 358 Southwick Road, Westfield, MA 01085. Dhruval Amin, 419 Southwick Road, L53, Westfield, MA 01085. Grocery and variety store.

WILBRAHAM

Baystate Holistic Health Inc., 16 Iroguois Lane, Wilbraham, MA 01095. Manuel Esteves, same. Holistic health services.

Company Notebook

By
Company Notebook Departments

MassMutual Opens Phoenix Location
SPRINGFIELD — MassMutual Financial Group recently opened a 60,000-square-foot facility in Phoenix, Ariz., giving the company its first presence in the western part of the country. In a statement, the company said it plans to employ about 400 people at the Arizona location by 2014. The Phoenix location enables MassMutual to diversify its footprint, the statement said, “allowing for enhanced for enhanced service to all U.S. policy owners and customers while further mitigating operational risks.”

Hampshire Orthopedics Joins Cooley Dickinson Practice Associates
NORTHAMPTON — Hampshire Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, also known as Hamp Ortho and HOSM, joined Cooley Dickinson Practice Associates (CDPA) last month. Joining CDPA from Hamp Ortho are 39 employees, including four orthopedic surgeons, two physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians (physiatrists), two physical therapists, and an occupational hand therapist. As the oldest provider of orthopedic care in Hampshire County, Hamp Ortho has provided treatment of musculoskeletal problems — including management of spine disorders, primary and complex joint reconstruction, trauma, sports medicine, hand and arthritis care, and pain management — since 1952. The physicians of Hampshire Orthopedics are also on the consulting staff at the student health service department of the University of Massachusetts and have served as the orthopedic team physicians for many years. “One of the first priorities now that Hamp Ortho and CDPA are joined is to expand access and services to better meet the needs of patients who need orthopedic and rehabilitative care,” said Frank Dingler, executive director of CDPA. Dr. Jonathan Fallon, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician, added that “becoming part of CDPA will immediately allow the doctors at Hampshire Orthopedics and Sports Medicine to more effectively coordinate patient care and better communicate with primary-care providers.”

Money Magazine Touts Service at Citizens Bank
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Money magazine recently selected Citizens Bank as one of nation’s best banks in its 2013 list of “The Best Banks in America.” Citizens Bank was recognized for its level of customer convenience available through its 24/7 customer contact center, its banking specialists available online via instant messaging, and its network of approximately 1,400 branches and 3,600 ATMs. The best-banks feature is in the November issue of Money. “Our customers typically choose to bank with us because of how easy it is to access their accounts at their local branch, through our 24/7 customer service center, at an ATM, online, or on their mobile phones,” said Brad Conner, vice chairman of Consumer Banking for RBS Citizens Financial Group. “We are committed to making banking simple, clear, and personal, and we are proud to be recognized by Money magazine as one of the best banks in America.” In addition to a “robust presence” defined by its many branches and ATMs, Money recognized Citizens Bank’s extended branch hours that include seven-day-a-week supermarket branches.b

Briefcase

By
Briefcase Departments

State Moves Forward with Interstate 91 Study
SPRINGFIELD — State officials have chosen a consultant to study possible alternative alignments for Interstate 91 through Springfield, while highway officials proceed with a plan to replace decks on a deteriorating elevated portion of the highway in the city. The state Department of Transportation has selected the Cheshire, Conn.-based consulting firm Milone & MacBroom to evaluate alternatives for a section of Interstate 91, including possibly depressing the highway section to ground level or below ground. At the same time, the state highway division will be moving forward with a plan to replace decks on the crumbling Interstate 91 viaduct. Milone & MacBroom will study a section of Interstate 91 south of the most elevated portion of the viaduct near the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. At the same time, the state highway division will develop a plan for replacing the decks of the existing Interstate 91 viaduct, which raised safety concerns after a chunk of concrete fell from the section in April. The activity comes amid plans by MGM Resorts International to build $800 million casino in the South End of Springfield that would front Interstate 91 and would draw most of its traffic from the highway. MGM is competing with Mohegan Sun Massachusetts in Palmer for the single casino license to be awarded in Western Mass. The state is starting contract negotiations with Milone & MacBroom with a goal of starting work in January. The firm will coordinate with the state highway division as it moves forward with its proposal to replace the decks on the viaduct.

U.S. Manufacturing Gains 2,000 Jobs in September
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest monthly U.S. jobs report shows America’s manufacturing sector gained 2,000 jobs in September. However, for all of 2013, the U.S. has gained only 12,000 manufacturing jobs. Commented Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), “in manufacturing, we’ve been treading water for nearly 18 months now. Yet no one in Washington seems to care. The September jobs report shows that private-sector job growth, and manufacturing in particular, is too weak to put the U.S. on a sound fiscal footing or to get the middle class back on track. It’s time for Congress to stop manufacturing crises and deal with our real manufacturing crisis. Washington needs to put into place policies that will get America back to work. The neglect is glaring: 70,000 structurally deficient bridges. Math and science achievement down compared to other industrialized nations. And our economic competitors are not standing still. This is no way to run a country or to support the private sector’s efforts to create jobs. And here’s the kicker: the October numbers could be even worse.” President Obama set a goal of creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs in his second term. To follow the president’s progress, the AAM continually updates a jobs tracker based on monthly jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Student Debt Load Rising in Bay State
BOSTON — More students in Massachusetts public universities and colleges are incurring larger amounts of debt to finance their educations, the state higher education commissioner told lawmakers recently. “Let me sound the alarm on this issue,” Commissioner Richard Freeland said at the fourth in a series of hearings on college debt. “Make no mistake: the burden of student debt could derail us from achieving our goals.” The average debt for graduates of the University of Massachusetts system, other state universities, and community colleges increased 27% from fiscal 2008 through fiscal 2011, the last year for which data are available, Freeland said. And the percentage of graduates who accumulated debt rose across all levels, including a high of 64.8% at the state universities in 2011. The average graduate in the UMass system left with $26,844 in debt in 2011, an increase of $5,525 over three years earlier. At other state universities, the average figure was $22,362, a jump of $4,822. For graduates of community colleges, the average debt in 2011 ranged from $7,229 for graduates with associate degrees to $4,655 for graduates with one-year certificates or less. The percentage of graduates who left the UMass system in debt rose to 61.4% in 2011 from 57.9% in 2008. The biggest increase in public institutions, from 31.1% to 48.6%, was registered by community-college graduates with one- or two-year certificates.

Savage Arms, Cirtec Medical Win Grants
WESTFIELD, EAST LONGMEADOW — Firearms manufacturer Savage Arms in Westfield and Cirtec Medical in East Longmeadow, a maker of medical devices, have been awarded grants from the state’s Workforce Training Fund to expand their workforces and train employees in lean-manufacturing processes. Savage Arms was awarded $179,600, which will be used to train 400 employees, and 48 new jobs are expected to be created. Cirtec Medical was awarded $106,805, which will be used to train 63 employees, and three new jobs are expected to be created as a result of training. Lean manufacturing emphasizes on avoiding waste and improving quality, and is based on the Toyota manufacturing methods. The two awards are part of a package of 37 grants totaling $2.8 million. All told, the grants fund 3,106 current and newly hired employees. Savage Arms represents one-third of the total market for traditional firearms, with a particular focus on bolt-action rifles. Cirtec Medical is a contract design, development, and manufacturing firm focusing on medical devices, with a particular strength in active and passive implantable devices and minimally invasive systems.

State Increases Incentives for Hiring Veterans, Long-term Unemployed
BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced that it has more than doubled cash grants available to employers hiring Massachusetts residents who have been unemployed for six months or more, or Massachusetts veterans (regardless of length of unemployment). Increased grant funding is available through the state’s Hiring Incentive Training Grant (HITG), a program of the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund. Any for-profit company or nonprofit organization that contributes to the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund, a state fund enacted in 1998, is encouraged to apply. Eligible employers may now apply for grants of $5,000 for each new hire who meets the HITG program requirements. Employers may receive up to $75,000 each calendar year. Upon approval, payment will be available to the employer once the new hire has retained employment for at least 120 days. A copy of the Hiring Incentive Training Grant application, eligibility requirements, frequently asked questions, and other relevant materials are available at EOLWD’s website, www.mass.gov/hiringgrant. Grant awards are subject to funding availability, and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Retailers Cautious About Seasonal Hiring Boosts
WASHINGTON — Facing economic wariness and wavering consumer confidence, retailers are approaching their holiday hiring with caution, forecasters say. Research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said it expects hiring will, at best, match the 752,000 retail jobs that were added last year between October and December, and the National Retail Federation projects retailers will add between 720,000 and 780,000 seasonal workers this year. Retailers are making their staffing decisions against a backdrop of uncertainty caused by tepid economic growth and, more recently, standoffs in Congress over funding the federal government and the debt limit. Toys R Us plans to hire 45,000 workers, about the same as it hired last year. Kohl’s is poised to hire 50,000 workers, also consistent with its 2012 hiring. Macy’s is set to add 83,000 seasonal workers, a slight increase from the 80,000 brought on the previous year. Wal-Mart says it will hire 55,000 holiday workers, a 10% increase from 2012. It will also transition an additional 35,000 temporary workers to part-time positions and yet another 35,000 part-time workers to full-time positions. Meanwhile, Target plans to pare back its seasonal staffing, expecting to add 70,000 workers in 2013 compared with 88,000 last year. The company said it will focus on giving existing staffers the chance to work extra hours. Foot traffic to bricks-and-mortar stores is taking a hit as more consumers buy online. That growth is reflected in Amazon.com’s hiring plans; the online giant expects to create 70,000 seasonal positions, a 40% increase from last year. While holiday retail hiring is expected to be somewhat flat, sales are expected to inch up. The National Retail Federation forecasts a 3.9% increase to $602.1 billion, an improvement over last year’s sales growth of 3.5% over 2011.

WSU President Files Suit Against Several Parties
WESTFIELD — Evan Dobelle, the embattled president of Westfield State University who was placed on paid leave of absence last month amid investigations of alleged improper spending and violations of university policies regarding travel and credit, has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Springfield against a number of parties directly or indirectly related to the action taken against him. Dobelle, who is suing the university, Higher Education Commissioner Richard Freeland, three trustees, the school’s accounting firm, a Boston law firm, and the university’s lawyers, is seeking an unspecified amount of money and legal fees. He claims that Freeland and the trustees are waging a “guerilla war for control of the university,” and that Freeland used extortion-like tactics in an attempt to force Dobelle from office. The suit also alleges that trustees Chairman John Flynn III conducted a “one-man investigation” into Dobelle’s travel between 2008 and 2013. Also named in the suit are trustees Kevin Queenin and Elizabeth Scheibel, the former Northwestern district attorney; the Braintree-based accounting firm O’Connell and Drew; Rudin and Rudman, a Boston law firm; and James Cox, lawyer for the Board of Trustees. The trustees voted on Oct. 15 to suspend Dobelle, following a 10-hou, closed-door meeting the president. The board also hired a Boston-based law firm to investigate Dobelle’s travel and spending, and report back by Nov. 25.

People On the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Bryan Moore

Bryan Moore

Country Bank recently named Bryan Moore Small Business Lending Officer, Commercial Lending Department. In this role, Moore will connect with regional business owners and assist small businesses with lending and business-banking needs, specifically through the SBA Express Program, which offers a quick turnaround and a fair-priced lending alternative to qualified borrowers. Moore began his banking career as a Personal Banking Representative for Sovereign Bank in 2006 and earned a BS with a double major in International Business and International Economics from Assumption College.
•••••



Keith Minoff

Keith Minoff

Springfield-based Attorney Keith Minoff has been selected for inclusion on the 2014 list of Massachusetts Super Lawyers. The Super Lawyers selection process is based on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 5% of the lawyers in each state are selected each year for inclusion. In practice for over 25 years, Minoff specializes in business and employment litigation.
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Tonya Laird

Tonya Laird

North Brookfield Savings Bank announced the promotion of Tonya Laird to Branch Manager at the bank’s North Brookfield/Gilbert Street location from the her previous position of Assistant Branch Manager. Laird joined North Brookfield Savings in 2002 as a teller, and brings an employment and educational background in customer service, management, IRAs, and other facets of banking and finance.
•••••






Tanzania Cannon-Eckerle

Tanzania Cannon-Eckerle

Tanzania Cannon-Eckerle, Esq., an attorney at Royal LLP, a Northampton-based, woman-owned, management-side labor and employment law firm, has been elected to serve as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Hampshire Regional YMCA.
•••••
Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., with offices in Springfield, Worcester and Meriden, Conn., announced that six of the firm’s attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2013 Super Lawyers list for their contributions to employment law. Each year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor:


Ralph Abbott Jr

Ralph Abbott Jr

• Ralph Abbott Jr., a partner since 1975, represents management in labor relations and employment-related matters, providing employment-related advice to employers, assisting clients in remaining union-free, and representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board. Abbott also has numerous credits as an author, editor, and teacher; boasts a record of civic and community involvement; has been ranked as one of the best labor and employment attorneys in Massachusetts by the prestigious Chambers USA rating service; and has been named Best Lawyers Management Lawyer of the Year in Springfield for 2014;



Marylou Fabbo

Marylou Fabbo

• Marylou Fabbo, a partner in the Springfield office, joined the firm in 1995. Head of the firm’s litigation team, she practices in all areas of employment litigation and provides counsel to management on taking proactive steps to reduce the risk of legal liability that may be imposed as the result of illegal employment practices, and defends employers who are faced with lawsuits and administrative charges filed by current and former employers;






Susan Fentin

Susan Fentin

• Susan Fentin, a partner in the firm, joined the practice in 1999 after spending several years working in the labor and employment department of a large Hartford firm. Fentin is editor of the Massachusetts Employment Law Letter and has been ranked as one of the best labor and employment attorneys in Massachusetts by the prestigious Chambers USA rating service. She teaches master classes on both the FMLA and the ADA and is experienced in both labor law and employment litigation;






John Glenn

John Glenn

• John Glenn, a partner of the firm since 1979, has spent his career representing management in labor relations and employment-related matters. He assists clients in remaining union-free and represents employers before the National Labor Relations Board. Glenn has extensive experience negotiating collective-bargaining agreements and representing employers at arbitration hearings and before state and federal agencies. Prior to joining the firm, Glenn was employed by the National Labor Relations Board in Cincinnati. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Labor Law at Western New England University School of Law and is a member of the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys;



Kimberly Klimczuk

Kimberly Klimczuk

• Kimberly Klimczuk joined the firm in 2004 and concentrates her practice on labor law and employment litigation. Her experience includes negotiating collective-bargaining agreements and advising on contract interpretation, and successfully defending clients in state and federal court and before administrative agencies in a variety of areas of employment law, including wage-and-hour law, discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, and workers’ compensation claims. She has assisted employers in compliance matters involving the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs; and



Jay Presser

Jay Presser

• Jay Presser has more than 35 years of experience litigating employment cases, has successfully defended employers in civil actions and jury trials, and has handled cases in all areas of employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, wage-and-hour law, FMLA, ERISA, and defamation. Presser has won appeals before the Supreme Judicial Court and the First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals, and represented employers in hundreds of arbitration cases arising under collective-bargaining agreements.
•••••


Anabela Blake

Anabela Blake

TD Bank has promoted Anabela Blake to Assistant Vice President, Store Manager II in the store located at 60 Main St. in Westfield. She will continue to be responsible for new business development, consumer and business lending, managing personnel, and overseeing the day-to-day operations at the store. Blake has 25 years of experience in retail sales and banking and joined TD Bank in 2004 as an Assistant Store Manager before her most recent position as Store Manager I. Blake is a 1995 graduate of Western New England University.
•••••

The YMCA of Greater Springfield recently announced the advancement of two of the organization’s senior leaders:

Kristine Allard

Kristine Allard

• Kristine Allard was named Chief Operating Officer and will oversee all operations for the association’s three family centers, as well as fund development and communications for the organization. Serving in the agency’s number-two position, Allard joined the YMCA of Greater Springfield in 2011 as Vice President of Development & Communications; and





Robin Olejarz

Robin Olejarz

• Robin Olejarz has added the title of Chief Administrative Officer to her role as Chief Financial Officer. In addition to managing the association’s financial health, Olejarz, who joined the YMCA team in 2006, will provide oversight to the agency’s policies, standards and procedures, human resources, and projects, facilities, and risk management.

Agenda

By
Agenda Departments

Western Mass. Business Expo 2013
Nov. 6: Get ready for the Western Mass. Business Expo 2013, a day-long business-to-business event to take place at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield. This fall’s show, the third edition of the Expo, which is again being produced by BusinessWest, will feature more than 100 exhibitors, seminars on timely issues of the day, special Show Floor Theater presentations, breakfast and lunch programs, and the wrap-up Expo social, which has become a not-to-be-missed networking event. The breakfast speaker will be Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams, while the lunch speaker will be author, activist, and marathon runner Kathrine Switzer. This issue of BusinessWest contains all you need to know about event details, which can also be found online at www.wmbexpo.com or www.businesswest.com. For more information on the event, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Civil War Lecture
Nov. 9: Civil War historian Walter Powell will deliver a free talk titled “So Clear of Victory: Emily Dickinson’s Gettysburg Address” at the Amherst History Museum at 3 p.m. The talk, co-sponsored by the Emily Dickinson Museum and the Amherst History Museum, will highlight contributions made by Amherst and the region to the Battle of Gettysburg and President Lincoln’s delivery of the Gettysburg Address during the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863. A special focus will be on Emily Dickinson’s circle of friends and acquaintances involved in the battle, including Samuel Fiske and Springfield Republican publisher and editor Samuel Bowles. Powell has lectured widely on battlefield preservation and the Battle of Gettysburg, and is the editor (with the late Charles Hamblen) of Connecticut Yankees at Gettysburg. Powell was recently named executive director of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and previously served as executive director of the Conococheague Institute of Cultural Heritage in Mercersburg, Pa. For 17 years, he was director of Planning and Historic Preservation for the Borough of Gettysburg. There, he directed the restoration of the Gettysburg Railroad Station (built in 1858), and served as the project historian and borough liaison to the National Park Service Project Team that planned the restoration and exhibit plan for the David Wills House, where Lincoln completed the Gettysburg Address. He is also a past board member of the Emily Dickinson International Society.  The Amherst History Museum is located at 67 Amity St. in Amherst. For more information about the talk, visit www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/events.

Pynchon Awards
Nov. 21: The Trustees of the Order of William Pynchon and the Advertising Club of Western Mass. will honor the recipients of the 2013 William Pynchon Award — Jean Caldwell, Jean Gailun, Joan Kagan, and Sirdeaner Walker — at Chez Josef in Agawam. The Order of William Pynchon was established in 1915 for the purpose of giving public recognition to citizens of the region who have rendered distinguished civic service, a noble legacy and honor the Ad Club is proud to bestow. Cocktails will be served from 6 p.m., with dinner and the awards program beginning at 7 p.m. The cost is $70 per person, and tables of 10 are available. RSVP by Nov. 14 by calling (413) 736-2582 or e-mailing [email protected], including any special dietary considerations and a listing of table guests who wish to be seated together (for parties of 10).b

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

AFFILIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555
• Nov. 6: Business@Breakfast, 7:30- 9 a.m., at the Western Mass Business Expo, MassMutual Center, Springfield. Keynote speaker: Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Co. and maker of the Samuel Adams family of beers. Hear the story of how Koch took his generations-old family recipe and changed the beverage landscape forever. Sponsored by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, MassMutual Center, United Personnel, and Frigo’s Foods. Reservations are $25 and may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com or by contacting Cecile Larose at (413) 755-1313.
• Nov. 13: ACCGS After 5, 5-7 p.m., the TD Bank Building. Sponsored by TD Bank. Tickets are $5 for members, $10 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com or by contacting Cecile Larose at (413) 755-1313.
• Nov. 21: ACCGS Government Reception, 5-7 p.m. at the Carriage House, Storrowton Tavern, West Springfield. A great opportunity to meet socially with your local, state, and federal officials. Sponsored by Baystate Health, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, and United Personnel. Tickets are $50 for members, $70 for general admission, which includes complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Nov. 26: ACCGS Pastries, Politics, and Policy, 7:30-9 a.m. Reservations are $15 for members, $20 for general admission, and includes complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Call (413) 755-1313 for more information. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Dec. 4: ACCGS Business @ Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Colony Club, Springfield. Topic: “The Value of Volunteerism.” Sponsored By Masiello Employment Services. Tickets are $20 for members, $30 for general admission, which includes complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
(413) 253-0700
• Nov. 20: Chamber After 5, 5-7 p.m., at the Amherst Survival Center. Sponsored by SciDose LLC. Admission: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900
• Nov. 6: Arrive@5 Chamber Networking Event, 5-7 p.m., at the World War II Club. Sponsors: Homeward Vets. Catered by Big Kats Catering. We’ll be collecting donations for Homeward Vets. A list of needed donations will be posted on the website. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members. RSVP to Esther at [email protected].
• Nov: 19: “The Art of Consulting,” 8:30-10 a.m. at the chamber office. This special program is a collection of the guiding principles of consulting that sum up the lessons presenter Don Lesser he has learned over the past 30 years. Each topic is summarized in a short, often humorous saying, which is followed by a longer explanation. In this session, Lesser, who has been a consultant and run a business that uses consultants for more than 30 years, will cover some of the basics of being a consultant, including “The Three Laws of Consulting,” “What Have You Done for Me Lately?” “Rules for Good Client Management,” and “Discount Sushi, or How Much Should You Charge?” The workshop is free, but pre-registration is required, and space is limited. To register, call (413) 584-1900, or e-mail www.explorenorthampton.com.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618
• Nov. 4: Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., at the Genesis Spiritual Life and Conference Center, 53 Mill St., Westfield. Have coffee with Mayor Daniel Knapik, who will share information about what’s happening in the city. For more information or to register, contact Pam Bussell at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.
• Nov. 6: 2013 Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner at the Westwood Restaurant, 94 North Elm St., Westfield. More information to come as this event date approaches.
• Nov. 13: WestNet, 5-7 p.m., the Cove, 90 Point Grove Road, Southwick. Come and meet chamber members and bring your business cards for a great networking opportunity. Cost: $10 cash for chamber members, $15 cash for non-members. Payment can be made in advance or at the door.  Walk-ins are welcome. Call the chamber at (413) 568-1618, or e-mail Pam Bussell at [email protected] for more information. Your first WestNet is always free.

MASSACHUSETTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 525-2506
• Nov. 12: Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon, 9 a.m. registration, at the Double Tree, Westborough. For more information on ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities, call the chamber office at (413) 525-2506 or e-mail [email protected].

NORTHAMPTON AREA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY
www.thenayp.com
(413) 584-1900
• Nov. 14: November Networking Social, 5 p.m., at the Northampton Brewery. Community involvement, networking, business and professional development. NAYP is excited to host its first event at the famed Northampton Brewery. Enjoy delicious beer and savory hors d’oeuvres. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members. RSVP on Facebook.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310
• Nov. 6: November Luncheon at the Western Mass. Business Expo, at the MassMutual Center, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Kathrine Switzer, first female Boston Marathoner in 1967. More than 40 years later, Switzer’s story continues to capture the public’s imagination. Reservations cost $35 members, $40 for non-members, and may be made at www.myonlinechamber.com or by contacting Cecile Larose at (413) 755-1313.

PictureThis

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Departments Picture This

Send photos with a caption and contact information to:  ‘Picture This’ c/o BusinessWest Magazine, 1441 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01103 or to [email protected]

Scientific Reality

ElmsSciBuildingMore than 100 Elms College students and faculty members attended a dedication ceremony last month for the school’s new 22,000-square-foot Center for Natural and Health Sciences (CNHS). The facility includes a research laboratory, multiple lecture halls, and several other labs for biology, chemistry, and nursing. Pictured at the ceremony are, from left, Paul Stelzer, vice chair of the Board of Trustees; Maxyne Schneider, SSJ, president of the congregation Sisters of Saint Joseph, Springfield; William Lyons III, CNHS Committee co-chair; the Most Rev. Timothy McDonnell, D.D., Bishop of Springfield; Cynthia Lyons, CNHS Committee co-chair; Elms President, Mary Reap; and Walter Breau, vice president of Academic Affairs.

Rays of Hope

20131020RaysofHopeWalk-181120131020RaysofHopeWalk2168The 2013 Rays of Hope Walk-A Walk and Run Toward the Cure of Breast Cancer, staged Oct. 20 in Forest Park in Springfield and Energy Park in Greenfield, raised $750,000 and celebrated a few milestones. This year marked the 20th year for the walk, which was created to raise funds to improve the breast health of the people in local communities with quality and compassion in partnership with Baystate Health Breast Network. The day also marked the five-year anniversary of the Franklin County event, and the fourth year for the Annual Run in Springfield. This year’s walkers and runners added to the nearly $12 million that has been raised by Rays of Hope since its inception. At top are Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, Warner Bros. mascots from Six Flags New England, and below, are some of the 24,000 participants walking at Forest Park.

Celebrating the Super 60

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The Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield staged its annual Super 60 luncheon on Oct. 25 at Chez Josef in Agawam, an event that celebrates the region’s top-performing companies in the categories of total revenue and revenue growth. Top to bottom, left, David Mahan, estimator and sales manager of Mahan Slate Roofing Co. in Springfield, the top finisher in the revenue growth category, receives the company’s plaque from Maura McCaffrey, left, chief operating officer of Health New England, the program’s presenting sponsor, and Meghan Sullivan, a partner with the law firm Sullivan Hayes & Quinn, a platinum sponsor; Scott Berg, center, associate Vice President for Development at Springfield College, the top performer in the total revenue category, receives the school’s plaque from McCaffrey and Glenn Welch, president of Hampden Bank; Jessica Montana, left, and Angie Gregory, principals with Simple Diaper and Linen, present the luncheon’s keynote address; a sellout crowd takes in the proceedings.
(Photographs courtesy of Ed Cohen)

Marketing

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Columns Sections
Creating Promotional Pieces that Attract Clients

By DAWN JOSEPHSON
Whether you’re creating a sales letter, brochure, newsletter, or any other business promotional piece, you need to write in a way that not only explains your product or service, but also compels your prospects to contact you.
Unfortunately, many promotional pieces miss the mark. Outrageous claims, weak calls to action, and boring text are common mistakes that plague most people’s writing. Such errors accomplish only one thing: they destine your promotional piece for the infamous round file. They also show prospects that you’re lazy, uncreative, and possibly incapable of delivering quality work.
In order to entice prospects to contact you based on your promotional mailings, you need to keep your writing both lively and factual. The following guidelines will help you write promotional pieces that even your toughest prospects can’t resist.

1. Write a headline that gets to the point. You have less than five seconds to impress your prospects to read on. And the first thing any prospect reads is the piece’s headline. So craft a compelling headline that immediately conveys why this information is important to your prospects. The four main headline formulas that work are:
How-to — the formula is ‘how to’ + verb + product/service/noun + benefit. Example: “How to create a store promotion that increases revenue.”
New — the formula is ‘new’ + product/service + benefit. Example: “New tax law saves you money.”
Power verb — the formula is power verb + product/service + benefit. Example: “Prepare a business plan that boosts company profits.”
Free — the formula is ‘free’ + product/service + benefit. Example: “Free booklet reveals the secret to lowering your interest rate.”
Since your headline determines if the prospect keeps reading, craft yours wisely.

2. Keep the hype to a minimum. Many people think that, in order to get people to read their promotional piece, they must write something outrageous. To some degree, this is true. Saying something outrageous is a great way to generate interest, as people naturally love controversy. Plus, if you can stir things up, you’ll get lots of exposure. The thing to remember, however, is that you must be prepared to answer questions and/or prove everything you write. So if you want to write something just for sensationalism but can’t back it up, don’t. You must be able to support everything you print.

3. Go easy on the posturing. While you may produce the best products or offer the most unique services in the world, that is for your prospects to decide. Every superlative you use in your promotional piece will reduce the prospect’s trust in what you say. So instead of telling prospects that your product is “the most extraordinary thing to ever hit the market” or that your service is “capable of revolutionizing the industry,” show your prospects how these claims are possible. Give the benefits of using the product or service as they pertain to your prospects’ lives so they can determine just how extraordinary or revolutionary the product or service really is.

4. Evoke images. As you write, evoke more than one of the five senses. Paint a picture with your words so prospects see, hear, smell, taste, and feel what you’re describing. Contrary to popular belief, the best promotional writers think in pictures, not words. They see the image they want to convey to their prospects, and that’s what they write. So if you’re a candy manufacturer or a florist, for example, write so that your readers smell the candy or the flowers, not just see what they look like. If you’re in the restaurant business, help your readers taste the food. If you’re writing about business productivity, help your prospects hear the hustle of productivity and feel the rush of a sales call. Do more than just tell prospects what’s going on.

5. Always make a compelling call to action. What do you want the person reading your sales letter, brochure, or other promotional piece to do? Buy your product? Call you for more information? Visit your website? Whatever action you want your prospects to take, state it clearly. Too many promotional pieces ramble on about all the features and benefits of the product, but they never tell the prospects to actually do anything. For example, in a sales letter, you could write: “Please call our office immediately for more information on how we can help.” A brochure could say: “Order the widget at our special introductory price today.” In a newsletter you could write: “Visit our website for more information about our new product line.” Tell prospects precisely what you want them to do.

Bottom Line
When your promotional pieces present your information in the most compelling and factual manner, your prospects will find them and your company irresistible. So as you write future sales letters, brochures, or other promotional pieces, keep these guidelines in mind. When you do, you’ll create a promotional piece that delights prospects and makes them eager to do business with you.

Dawn Josephson is a ghostwriter, editor, and writing coach who helps business leaders and professional speakers create engaging and informative books, articles, and marketing pieces; www.masterwritingcoach.com

When Eating Becomes an Inner Struggle

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Health Care Sections
New Treatment Programs Developed to Combat Eating Disorders

By Dr. BARRY SARVET

It practically goes without saying that human beings need to eat.
Eating is not only necessary for survival, but what we eat and how we eat is often a fundamental aspect of one’s personal and cultural identity. For the newborn infant, feeding serves as one of the primary foundations of the relationship with his or her parent or caregiver, and a positive feeding experience in infancy and early childhood is vital to healthy physical and psychological development.
Continuing throughout the lifespan, eating together with family, friends, and co-workers strengthens relationships and builds community. Some even consider eating to be one of the most pleasurable activities of life.
Although difficult for many to understand, there are those among us for whom eating is associated with a terrible inner struggle. Individuals with anorexia believe themselves to be overweight and deny themselves food even when they are literally dying of starvation. Others diagnosed with bulimia are trapped in endless cycles of uncontrollable eating alternating with dangerous efforts to purge themselves of the food they’ve eaten. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 6% of the adult population in the U.S. suffers from anorexia, 1% from bulimia, and 2.8% from a binge-eating disorder. Women are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder and are three times as likely to experience anorexia and bulimia.
For many patients with eating disorders, the onset of symptoms occurs during adolescence. Without treatment, patients may develop chronic symptoms that cause significant medical and psychological disability throughout their adult lives. Some experience a particularly malignant course that may result in death if left unchecked.
Although numerous physiological, psychological, and environmental factors are thought to be associated with the development of eating disorders, it is very common for these disorders to be triggered by intensive weight- management regimens, including severe dietary restriction and rigorous exercise regimens. It is thought that the experience of starvation caused by intensive dieting may trigger physiological changes in the brain that contribute to some of the highly compulsive patterns of behavior, irrational thoughts, and distorted perceptions of the body associated with anorexia.
Many experts believe that another important factor contributing to the relatively high prevalence of eating disorders is the influence of popular culture and advertising media in contemporary society. Advertising and entertainment media seem to promote superficial and unrealistic norms of beauty and associate unnatural thinness with glamour and success. At the very same time, young people are encouraged by the same media to instantly gratify their desires and purchase and consume high-calorie fast foods and snacks.
There are numerous approaches to the treatment of anorexia and bulimia. One of the first priorities in the care of patients with eating disorders is a careful medical assessment. The primary-care provider is an important starting point for this assessment, although, depending upon the degree of starvation, patients may need to be monitored in the hospital setting in order for their weight to be safely restored. Beyond the immediate safety of the patient, medical stabilization and weight restoration is a necessary part of the psychological recovery of the patient. Patients with severe metabolic abnormalities associated with the state of starvation are usually not able to benefit from psychotherapy.
As soon as patients with eating disorders are medically stable, psychotherapy should be provided. In the Greater Springfield area, there are numerous psychotherapists who are experienced in the treatment of patients with eating disorders. Therapy must be customized to the needs of the patient and should involve the family whenever possible. Some approaches to therapy focus on helping the patient understand and fight against the irrational thoughts and behaviors associated with the eating disorder. Others focus on improvement in self-esteem and coping with negative emotions and conflictual relationships.
A particularly promising form of treatment for adolescent patients is family-based therapy for eating disorders, also known as the Maudsley approach. In this form of treatment, parents initially receive a great deal of support and coaching in order to leverage the power of their parental relationship in overcoming the child’s resistance to eating. As treatment progresses, the therapy shifts toward gradually promoting the teenager’s independence and autonomy in the family. Although this type of therapy is not suitable for all patients, the outpatient Child Behavioral Health Associates at Baystate Medical Center has seen excellent results with the use of family-based therapy.
Eating disorders are notoriously challenging conditions to treat. In the throes of their illness, patients often are in a battle for control with doctors, therapists, and loved ones who are trying to get them to change. Researchers are constantly looking for new therapeutic treatments that could help motivate patients to get treatment and develop a more accepting and comfortable relationship with their bodies.
There have been preliminary studies suggesting that the practice of yoga may have such an impact, and may therefore be a valuable part of the treatment plan. At Baystate, we are conducting a research study investigating the impact of a 12-week program of gentle yoga practice on some of the core symptoms of eating disorders. The study is supported through the generosity of the Calabrese family, who established the Lisa’s Light of Hope Fund at the Baystate Health Foundation in memory of their beloved daughter Lisa Calabrese, whose life was tragically lost after a long battle with an eating disorder.
The program, designed for teenage girls and young women ages 16 to 21 who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, meets twice weekly at Yoga Sanctuary in Northampton. Sessions are conducted by a certified yoga instructor in collaboration with a clinical psychologist, and include gentle yoga practice along with brief group discussions. Participants are asked to complete questionnaires before and after the program to assess the severity of symptoms of their eating disorder and other associated symptoms. Those interested in participating in the program, or learning more about it, can contact Jennifer McCaffrey at (413) 794-6628.
For more information about research at Baystate Medical Center, visit baystatehealth.org/research, and for more information about Baystate Children’s Hospital, visit baystatehealth.org/bch.

Dr. Barry Sarvet is vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry for Baystate Health, and chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Baystate Medical Center.

Eliminating Guesswork

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Health Care Sections
Effective Legal Planning for People with Alzheimer’s Disease

Todd C. Ratner

Todd C. Ratner

Although it is important for everyone to plan for their future, legal planning for those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease takes on heightened importance.
Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic, progressive illness and is the most common cause of dementia in our elder population. People with the disease are characterized with progressive intellectual deterioration together with a declining ability to perform the activities of daily living.
Early planning allows your loved one with the disease to be involved and express his or her wishes for future care, which eliminates the guesswork. Once an individual with Alzheimer’s disease has lost capacity, it is too late for him or her to designate the person or people they wish to make their healthcare, financial, and estate-planning decisions. It is imperative to note that most people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease have the requisite capacity to execute estate-planning documents.
As a threshold matter, when a client initially meets with an attorney, the attorney must determine whether or not the client has the requisite mental capacity necessary to reasonably articulate their wishes concerning their legal affairs. ‘Testamentary capacity’ is a legal term that refers to a person’s ability to be of sound mind in reference to altering or creating estate-planning documents. Unfortunately, legal testamentary capacity or competence is not a black-and-white determination.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court provides the following standard definition of capacity to execute wills:
“Testamentary capacity requires ability on the part of the testator to understand and carry in mind, in a general way, the nature and situation of his property and his relations to those persons who would naturally have some claim to his rememberence. It requires freedom from delusion, which is the effect of disease or weakness, and which might influence the disposition of his property. And it requires ability at the time of execution of the alleged will to comprehend the nature of the act of making the will.”
In general, the requirements of testamentary capacity are fairly simple. Your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease must meet only this minimal test at the moment the estate-planning documents are executed. Therefore, documents may be valid even if the testator is in the midst of delusion immediately prior and subsequent to execution, as long as he or she possesses the requisite testamentary capacity at the moment of execution.
Therefore, even if your loved one does not recall signing the document the day following execution, it does not invalidate the document if he or she understood it when signing. The mere existence of the onset of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease does not preclude the signing of estate-planning documents, provided that the necessary criteria for mental capacity are met. However, the drafting or revisions to current estate-planning documents should be considered in the early stages of the disease.
Assuming that your family member with Alzheimer’s disease has sufficient capacity to do so, he or she should execute documents to nominate another to make their health and financial decisions at their earliest opportunity. These documents include a healthcare proxy, durable power of attorney, and a living will, which are oftentimes referred to as ‘planning for incapacity documents,’ as they are legally binding only while a person is alive. Preparing for the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease impairing decision-making abilities makes incapacity planning a necessity.
For Alzheimer’s patients, empowering family members or trusted friends to make healthcare decisions (healthcare proxy and living will) and financial decisions (durable power of attorney) ensures that the caregiving effort will not be hindered by a lack of resources or the absence of a decision maker. In the event that your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease no longer has legal capacity and failed to execute the above documents, another person must petition the probate court for guardianship and/or conservatorship, which is a long, public, and expensive process.
Similarly, everyone needs to make a will. This provides for the orderly distribution of your estate upon your death. If you do not draft one, or use some other legal method to transfer your assets when you die, Massachusetts law will determine what happens to your property according to a predetermined legal formula that may very likely not adhere to your preferences.
It is very likely that those with Alzheimer’s disease will incur exorbitant health costs and may require very expensive, specialized nursing-home care. The average cost of a nursing home in Massachusetts is approximately $10,000 per month. Moreover, those with Alzheimer’s disease tend to stay in nursing homes longer than the average resident. Unless you are a veteran of the armed forces, the available options include private payment, long-term-care insurance, and Medicaid.
Since most of us cannot afford to pay $10,000 per month privately without exhausting our assets very quickly, and since long-term-care insurance is typically not available to someone who has already been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it is worthwhile to explore the Medicaid option. In order to qualify for Medicaid, the Alzheimer’s patient must meet an asset threshold and is subject to a five-year look-back period for any gifts or transfers they made. As such, timely Medicaid planning is essential to the preservation of assets.
It is critical to embark on a legal plan for the future medical and financial care of your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease at the earliest possible opportunity. Proper planning enhances the quality of care for an Alzheimer’s patient and also provides peace of mind for those caring for him or her. Most importantly, timely planning allows the Alzheimer’s patient to legally communicate his or her preferences for future financial and health-related decisions, even if they do not later have the capacity to make these choices.

Todd C. Ratner is an estate-planning, elder-law, business, and real-estate attorney with the regional law firm Bacon Wilson, P.C. He serves as the co-chair for the Alzheimer’s Assoc. Tri-County (Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin) Partnership and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Estate Planning Council of Hampden County. He is also a recipient of Boston Magazine’s Super Lawyers Rising Stars distinction from 2007 to 2011; (413) 781-0560; baconwilson.com/attorneys/ratner_2

Long Odds

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Health Care Sections
Why Pancreatic Cancer Is Still Too Often a Death Sentence

Dr. Richard Wait

Dr. Richard Wait says surgery can be effective in extending life for pancreatic-cancer patients, but detecting the disease in time is often difficult.

In the world of healthcare, few words are as frightening as cancer. Yet, the medical community has found ways, over the years, to significantly reduce the mortality rates for certain types of cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is not one of them.
In fact, 45,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and some 38,000 people die from the disease annually, said Dr. Richard Wait, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Baystate Medical Center. “The mortality is horrifically high. In fact, 80% of these cancers that develop, by the time they are found, are too large or too diffuse for treatment with any type of surgery — and surgery is, in fact, the only cure for pancreatic cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer forms in the tissues of the pancreas, a digestive and endocrine organ that lies behind the stomach. The pancreas secretes enzymes that aid in digestion as well as hormones that help regulate the metabolism of sugars.
The reason pancreatic cancer has such a poor prognosis, Wait said, is that no effective screening test has ever been developed to catch it early. Cancerous cells may develop in the ‘head’ or ‘body’ of the small, fish-shaped organ, and it typically spreads rapidly and is seldom detected in its early stages, before symptoms emerge.
“When the cancer is developing in the body, the tail becomes very large before the patient presents with pain, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss,” Wait said. On the other hand, pancreatic head lesions almost always manifest as jaundice because it affects the bile ducts. “That’s usually one of the first signs; the tumors are really small when the patient gets jaundice,” he explained, making this kind of pancreatic cancer more operable than one that affects the body and tail.
In any case, “the cure rates haven’t changed a lot over the past 30 years,” he told BusinessWest, “although the mortality associated with surgical treatment has decreased markedly.”
The challenge, of course, is detecting the cancer while it’s still operable. On that front, modern healthcare has a long way to go.

Cause and Effect
The pancreas plays a key role in multiple body functions, Wait said. “It’s basically a dual-purpose organ. It functions as an exocrine organ; it makes enzymes through a system of tubes and ducts on the intestine. If you don’t have pancreatic secretions, food would travel through the whole GI system and not get absorbed.”
Meanwhile, “the pancreas also serves an endocrine function because of the number of hormones it secretes, the most prominent and well-known being insulin.”
Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells in the pancreas develop mutations in their DNA, causing the cells to grow uncontrollably and continue living after normal cells would die, eventually forming a tumor. About 95% of all pancreatic cancer is exocrine, meaning it begins in the cells that line the ducts of the pancreas. Rarely, cancer can form in the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas, a condition known as endocrine cancer.
“They’re very different in how they present and how they grow, and their overall mortality,” Wait said. “What most people think of as pancreatic cancer is the exocrine.”
The incidence of pancreatic cancer is on the rise, Wait said, although it’s not clear why. “In terms of trying to lower the risk and find these tumors, the only things we know that increases the risk of pancreatic cancer is smoking,” he noted.
While smoking is now on the decline, it had increased over many years, and because of the lag time involved in developing disease, today’s increasing pancreatic cancer may reflect the higher smoking incidence of the recent past. Smoking might also explain why men are 30% more likely to contract the disease than women, simply because more men than women use tobacco products.
As for other risk factors, “diet may well play a role — in populations of patients who eat a high-fat diet, eat a lot of meat, the risk may be increased — but that’s not clear-cut at all,” Wait said. In addition, “about 10% of patients may have some kind of genetic disorder, and cancer can run in families, but, again, there’s not a very good way to screen patients, even those with multiple family members with cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-most-common cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. and the eighth worldwide. For all stages combined, the one- and five-year relative survival rates are 25% and 6%, respectively. For locally advanced and metastatic disease — encompassing about 80% of all cases — the mean survival is about 10 and 6 months, respectively.

The Only Option
Once a tumor is found, the only possible cure is still surgery, Wait said. “The surgery is aimed at taking out that portion of the pancreas that contains cancer.”
For tumors in the pancreatic tail and body, a surgeon will remove the tail and a small portion of the body — and possibly the spleen — in a procedure called distal pancreatectomy. For cancer located in the head of the pancreas, the surgeon will remove the head as well as a portion of the small intestine, the gallbladder, and part of the bile duct. Part of the stomach may be removed as well.
This surgery is known as the ‘Whipple procedure,’ named after Dr. Allen Whipple, who first developed it in 1935. “It’s still basically the same procedure, although the results are better,” Wait said. “It has been shown that the results for the Whipple procedure and other pancreatic-surgery procedures are better in those institutions that do large numbers, so we always encourage patients to go to high-volume centers, of which Baystate is one.”
Surgical treatment is usually reinforced by both chemotherapy and radiation therapy after the procedure, he added. “On occasion, we’ll use chemotherapy first, before the surgery, if the tumor is large.”
Because removing part of the pancreas decreases its endocrine function, blood sugar is typically higher after surgery, he explained. “If you were diabetic before, you’ll be more diabetic after and maybe need stronger medicine. If you were not diabetic before surgery, oftentimes you are after surgery, but you may not require insulin — just diet modifications or oral medications.”
When pancreatic cancer is diagnosed and the doctor determines it’s operable, Wait said, “the average survival time is 11 months if we don’t do surgery, and the average time if patients receive full treatment is 22 to 24 months — about double the life expectancy.” Most people who make it to five years can consider themselves cancer-free, he added.

Seeking Answers
To demonstrate the disease’s harsh mortality rate, Wait noted that 1 in 78 people contract pancreatic cancer, as opposed to 1 in 6 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at some point — yet, because breast cancer is far more manageable, the total annual deaths from the two are very similar.
“There are no screening tests for pancreatic cancer,” he reiterated. “Some things are being developed in an attempt to screen for it, but nothing yet has been proven useful. In fact, a high-school student in Maryland did some work at Johns Hopkins and came up with a urine test, which they’re testing right now.”
Historically, however, answers have been frustratingly elusive.
“Our hope is that we find some way to screen patients and develop some new DNA testing that may show which people are most vulnerable to developing pancreatic cancer,” Wait  said, “and also develop therapies that will really improve survival, because it’s clear that surgery alone almost always only extends survival, but doesn’t cure the patient.”
Because, even if pancreatic cancer remains a death sentence, every month of life counts.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Editor’s Corner

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Editor's Corner

A Step Forward for Springfield

EditorialBWlogoSeemingly lost amid all those much larger headlines last month concerning the World Series, the debt-ceiling crisis, and Westfield State President Evan Dobelle getting suspended and then suing everyone who had anything to do with that action was this item in the local paper: ‘Springfield City Council OKs raises for mayor, councilors.’
The Springfield City Council’s recent vote to take the mayor’s salary from $95,000 to $135,000 — the first raise for the city’s chief executive since Bill Clinton was starting his second term — represents real progress when it comes to securing solid leadership in the city for years to come. Raising the mayor’s salary does not ensure effective leadership — there are untold examples of how people in public positions with big salaries have failed in their roles — but it certainly helps in that regard. That’s because many people, especially members of the local business community, have eschewed bids for public office simply because they could not afford to take a serious pay cut. This $40,000 raise will reward the current mayor, Domenic Sarno, but, more importantly, it will help ensure large, deep fields of candidates in the future. And from our view, solid leadership is perhaps the most important ingredient in the large volume of work that remains to be done when it comes to returning Springfield, the state’s and the unofficial capital of Western Mass., to prominence. A $135,000 salary won’t make the job any easier, but it might help ensure that those who win that assignment have the wherewithal to carry it out effectively. Springfield’s goal moving forward is to make itself a community of choice again. It held that distinction once, but it was a long, long time ago. Regaining that status won’t happen quickly or easily, and it won’t happen at all unless there is strong consistent leadership for many years to come.

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