Page 45 - BusinessWest September 19, 2022

HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
PBy George O’Brien
atrick Hamel remained calm and collected as he chronicled
his quarter-century-long battle against addiction.
In telling that story, he recalled more relapses than
he could count; how he lost jobs, alienated family and
friends, and had run-ins with the law (including some B&Es to support his drug and alcohol use); getting thrown out
of the house by his wife on a few occasions; the awkwardness
of having his daughter visit him in a halfway house; and even that night a little more than two years ago when he decided that enough was enough and tried to end his life.
He didn’t become emotional — though he did have to stop and collect himself a few times — until he started talking about the Addiction Consult Service (ACS), or the Recovery Support Team,
as members call it, at Holyoke Medical Center’s Comprehensive Care Center (CCC) and, especially, Maria Quinn, the charismatic psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner and leader of that unit.
That’s because Quinn, those who work with her, and those to whom she has referred Hamel have enabled him to move beyond all that has happened to him and now lead a much better life.
“She is so amazing; she’s like my knight in shining armor,” said Hamel, who would then concisely and effectively sum up what Quinn and other members of this team do. “She just listened, and we came up with a plan. She got me hooked up with an amazing therapist. We saw each other every week — she was there for me; she was my support.
“Mind you, I’ve been in other types of medical treatment facilities and other programs,” he went on. “And I always felt like
I was a number, or I was there to meet a quota; it was just a job. You can see with Maria that it’s not just a job; it’s something she’s
passionate about.”
Hamel didn’t nominate the ACS for the Healthcare Heroes award,
but his words, and the emotion attached to them, help explain why this special unit is being honored this year in the Community Health category.
In short, there are now hundreds, if not thousands, of people, who would say the same things if they were asked — about not just what the ACS does, but how it goes about its difficult and critically important work.
“We’re essentially ever-present — we like to make jokes that
we stalk our patients while they’re here, even if we’re not fully involved,” she explained, adding that this is her way of saying that Recovery Support Team members make sure that those patients with addiction issues, either from the Emergency Department
or inpatient units at the hospital — many of whom don’t have anyone to visit them while they are in the hospital, for many of the reasons Hamel listed above — have someone to talk to. And, far more importantly, someone to listen, someone who can help them determine what comes next for them, whatever that might be, including ongoing support at the CCC.
“That connection needs to happen so that people can stay and continue to get the treatment that they need,” said Quinn, adding that one of the goals of the program is to build trust among those touched by the ACS, because such trust has often been missing, and it is a key ingredient in their success.
“Historically, people with addiction haven’t been treated well
in the healthcare system, so there’s a lot of mistrust, and we see that,” she noted. “We talk about it often and sense that the wall may be coming down and people are starting to bloom because we see our patients become a little more trusting.”
Lauren Carpenter, a certified addictions nurse, agreed. When
Leah Martin Photography
“
2022 HEALTHCARE HEROES
2022 45
She just
listened, and we came up with
a plan. She got me hooked up with an amazing therapist. We saw each other every week — she was there for me; she ”was my support.
Community Health
The Addiction Consult Service at Holyoke Medical Center
This Critical Team Provides Hope — and a Roadmap to Recovery
Team members of the Addiction Consult Service at Holyoke Medical Center, from left: Eddie Rodriguez, John Martinez, Lauren Carpenter, Maria Quinn, Kelly Jean Deming, Em Moulton, and Jose Ramos.