Month: December 2019

HOLYOKE — Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems, announced Dr. Simon Ahtaridis as the new chief medical officer at Holyoke Medical Center.

“I want to partner with staff members and find ways to support them to provide better patient care,” Ahtaridis said. “Medicine has become more team-oriented. The best doctors and nurses require coordination of care.”

Before joining Holyoke Medical Center, Ahtaridis was the national clinical advisor and chief medical officer for Sound Advisory Services. In this role, he oversaw the overall clinical performance of Sound’s onsite and remote advisory services.

His prior experience also includes serving as the chief medical officer for Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, where he also served as the chief of Hospitalist Service and chief of Medicine. Additionally, he has been an instructor in medicine, first at Harvard Medical School and most recently at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. His main focus has been improving utilization management in the inpatient setting and population-health programs, including improved documentation, reduced length of stay, readmissions, and appropriate utilization of resources.

Ahtaridis received his medical degree from the Temple University School of Medicine. Prior to graduation, he took two years off to serve as the Legislative Affairs director for the American Medical Student Assoc. in Washington, D.C., and also received his master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health with a focus on health systems. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, where he received several teaching awards. He was also a chief resident and chief of the hospitalist service at Cambridge Health Alliance.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Ahtaridis join Valley Health Systems,” Hatiras said. “His extensive background and commitment to strengthen hospital performance will support the continued alignment between our medical staff and the important performance and quality-improvement initiatives we are working on to fulfill our vision of becoming the best place for care and the best place to work.”

FLORENCE — Florence Bank was recently recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as the Western Massachusetts Third Party Lender of the Year for loans the bank administers to small businesses in the area.

Michael Davey and Erin Couture, both vice presidents and commercial loan officers with the bank, accepted the award on Nov. 8 at an event held during SBA’s annual meeting at Clark University in Worcester.

Davey explained that third-party loans, called SBA 504 loans, are offered by the bank in collaboration with certified development corporations such as Granite State Development Corp., Bay Colony Development Corp., and BDC Capital/CDC New England.

“The SBA recognizes that small-business owners sometimes have more difficulty getting traditional real-estate financing, yet owning their own real estate is essential to growth,” said Michael Lynch, senior vice president and senior commercial loan officer. “Having real-estate assets gives small-business owners more of a stake in the community and allows them to build equity. The community gets the benefit of additional jobs, business growth, and tax revenues from a growing small business.”

Davey said the program allows small-business owners who might be lacking the traditional 20% down payment to purchase business property with only 10% down, while also reducing the bank’s exposure to risk.

“The 504 loan program supports the growth of small businesses,” he added. “It allows Florence Bank to help promote entrepreneurs and overall economic growth in the region. Small businesses are critical to our local economy.”

EAST LONGMEADOW — TRE Olive is providing a unique opportunity for olive-tree adoption.

TRE Olive produces 100% Italian extra virgin olive oil from olives grown in Italy, picked in Italy, pressed in Italy, and poured in Italy. Its tree-adoption program allows customers to adopt an olive tree for one year and, in return, receive olive oil produced in Italy.

When an olive tree is adopted, the recipient will receive an adoption certificate, a gift box, a photo of their tree, a welcome brochure, and three tins of olive oil to get started. The tree is also tagged with the adoptee’s name for one year.

“Our olive-tree adoption program is something we are very proud of,” said Joe Maruca, owner of TRE Olive. “It is a one-of-a-kind opportunity that has become very popular internationally because of its uniqueness. It’s also a great gift idea for corporate gifting, holidays, birthdays or ‘just because.’ There is nothing we love more than being part of families being together making memories, and TRE Olive being part of it.”

EASTHAMPTON — Insa, a cannabis company headquartered in Easthampton, with locations in Easthampton, Springfield, and Salem, announced that its holiday food drive exceeded expectations by bringing in more than 2,000 non-perishable food items and more than $2,000 in cash donations for Rock 102.1’s annual Mayflower Marathon.

“Food drives have proven to be something Insa’s patients, patrons, and employees respond to very well,” Insa CEO Mark Zatyrka said. “There is always a true feeling of community when we get the chance to give back, and this time is no different. It reminds you that we are all one community, and we must support each other.”

Each year, the hosts of the Bax & O’Brien Rock 102 Morning Show set up in the parking lot of the Basketball Hall of Fame, where they accept donations during the week leading up to Thanksgiving. Last year, they were able to fill three trailers with donated food for the Open Pantry, and at the pace of this year’s event, they hope to surpass that.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to come to a place where people care for the community as much as the people at Insa do,” Lab Manager Cayla Pagano said. “ As we’ve grown, we’ve maintained our focus on the community, and I feel like that really speaks to our values as an organization.”