Page 10 - BusinessWest September 18, 2023

EDITORIAL >>
They Help Define ‘Hero’
In 2015, BusinessWest and its sister publication, the Health- care News, established a new recognition program called Healthcare Heroes. It was created to bring much-needed
recognition to individuals, groups, and organizations working within the large and vitally important healthcare sector in our region.
There was much discussion then, and it continues today, about just what makes one a ‘hero.’ Clearly, there is not one overriding definition of that word. If we had to try, we would say a hero is someone who inspires us with their actions and their words, compels others to excel, and makes a real differ- ence in the lives of others.
And this year’s class of honorees certainly lives up that defi- nition, as the stories that begin on Page H6 clearly show. Indi- vidually and collectively, they stand out for the way that they have dedicated their careers and their lives to helping others and setting an example that others should follow.
Let’s start with Jody O’Brien, a nurse with the Urology Group of Western New England. She’s 87 and still working two days a week and volunteering the other three. But her desire to work well past full retirement age only begins to explain why she is the hero in the Lifetime Achievement category. Through nearly 70 years in nursing, she has been a provider of care, hope, and especially inspiration.
Dr. Mark Kenton, chief of Emergency Medicine at Mercy Medical Center, has been making a difference on many levels — in his ER, on the national stage by bringing to light the stagger- ing cost of EpiPens and the need to do something about it, and, perhaps most importantly, in the lives of individual patients, by utilizing perhaps his best talent: listening.
Cindy Senk, personal trainer and owner of Movement for All, enables individuals to discover the many benefits of yoga.
OPINION >>
But more importantly, she inspires them to improve their mobility — and their quality of life while doing so. Her philoso- phy is to not only educate her clients, but empower them.
Gabriel Mokwuah and Joel Brito are patient safety associ- ates (PSAs) at Holyoke Medical Center, and each one has been credited with saving a life in recent months through their quick actions. And while doing so, these heroes have turned a spot- light on the PSA position at HMC, one that takes the tradition- al ‘sitter’ or ‘patient observer’ position to new dimensions.
Ashley LeBlanc, practice manager of Thoracic Surgery
and nursing director of the Lung Screening Program at Mercy Medical Center, is a nurse and administrator with a strong track record for getting things done, especially a program that now screens 250 people for lung cancer each month, and then setting more ambitious goals.
Ellen Ingraham-Shaw, pediatric emergency nurse at Bay- state Medical Center, has brought her passions for behavioral healthcare and compassion for children and their families to her work in a busy ER, enhancing care delivery and inspiring others to look at problems as opportunities, not roadblocks.
Julie Lefer Quick, nurse manager of the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System, was looking for a career change and found one at the VA, where she devotes herself to the needs of veterans and finding new and innovative ways to care for them.
Finally, Kristina Hallett, a clinical psychologist and associate professor of Graduate Psychology at Bay Path University, has not only helped myriad clients overcome trauma, anxiety, and countless other challenges, but she’s inspiring and helping to cultivate the next generation of behavioral-health professionals.
They’re heroes, every one. We hope you enjoy their stories. BW
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BusinessWest
Another Step Forward in Springfield
While significant progress has been made in downtown Springfield in recent years, several issues and chal- lenges remain, and many of them come together at the corner of State and Main streets and other properties near that intersection.
Indeed, this is the site of several mostly vacant and under- utilized buildings in the shadow of MGM Springfield that were a big part of the city’s past, but have become an eyesore in the present and a huge question mark for the future.
Last week, that future became much brighter when the city named a preferred developer for a project to redevelop the so- called Clock Tower Building at State and Main, the Colonial Block just south on Main Street, and a smaller office building on Stockbridge Street.
McCaffery Interests Inc. plans to create more than 90 mar- ket-rate apartments in the three buildings, a $68 million project that, if it comes to fruition, could go a long way toward address- ing some of those issues alluded to earlier.
One of them is housing.
At the local, state, and federal levels, this is the word you hear most often, and with good reason. There is a huge need for housing, and especially market-rate housing, in almost every community in Western Mass., especially Springfield. And while an additional 90 units won’t solve the problem, they will certainly be a huge step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, this project will bring new life to properties that stand in stark contrast to the gleaming casino across Main
10 SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
Street and to the progress seen at other addresses, especially Court Square, where another huge mixed-use project focused on housing is taking shape.
As mentioned earlier, these properties have played a big role in the city’s past, as home to both residents and businesses of all kinds, but they have been left behind, if you will, by neglect and huge changes in the office market.
Indeed, there is a now what amounts to a glut of office space in Springfield and questions about what will become of that space. McCaffery Interests has put some ambitious plans on the table to answer that question for at least three properties.
While helping to address the housing crisis and bring new life to these once-proud properties, this project will also bring additional momentum to the efforts to revitalize downtown Springfield and likely trigger efforts to redevelop many other vacant or underutilized properties in that area.
As we’ve written many times, there are several ingredients to the success of any downtown. The first is people. The sec- ond is businesses to support and serve those people. And one brings more of the other. More people means more restaurants, retail, and other service businesses, and these businesses, in turn, attract more people.
The ambitious project to redevelop these three properties should help generate this kind of chain reaction of progress.
It’s another big step forward for Springfield. BW << OPINION >>