Health

Dear Friends of Heywood Healthcare: e numbers don't lie. Drug overdose deaths now exceed deaths due to motor vehicle deaths and firearms according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Data from Massachusetts alone shows that opioid-related overdoses now account for nearly three-times as many fatalities as motor vehicle accidents. e DEA ranks controlled prescription drugs and heroin as the most significant drug threats to the United States, and the residents of the North Central and North Quabbin regions know well that these addictions know no race, gender or socioeconomic status. e Bureau of Substance Abuse Services reports that in 2014 alone, 53% of Gardner and Athol residents who received medical services for addiction, identified heroin as their drug of choice. In addition to an opioid epidemic, our regions are also home to the highest rates of adult male suicide in New England and an adolescent suicide rate that is five times the state average. ese numbers also correlate to another startling statistic – high instances of child maltreatment – with Athol ranked 2nd in the Commonwealth for reported child abuse, Gardner ranked 9th and Fitchburg, 12th. Despite these statistics and the number of patients who need care, Heywood Hospital remains the only provider of non-profit, inpatient mental health services in North Central Massachusetts. To address the growing need for substance abuse treatment and comprehensive behavioral healthcare, Heywood is developing a premier healthcare destination for services in Petersham, the Quabbin Retreat. In partnership with local partners and clinicians, Heywood Healthcare will offer a wide continuum of programs to expand access to adult and adolescent services and elevate the quality and caliber of care. Each program will address core mental health and substance abuse needs, be financially accessible to all patients and provide comprehensive coordinated care. e Quabbin Retreat will address fragmented care issues by embedding behavioral health services into primary care to increase the availability of relevant programs for all generations. Heywood Healthcare is committed to meeting all the needs of the communities we serve. In addition to the development of the Quabbin Retreat, we continue to recruit the most skilled physicians to Heywood Medical Group. e addition of Cardiologist Craig Napolitano, MD, will enable us to enhance our cardiology coverage, bringing more on-site services to Athol Hospital. Our patients will now have more surgical options at Heywood and Athol Hospitals with the addition of General Surgeons Nari Sabeti, MD, and omas Scalforatto, MD. Orthopedic Surgeon William Lohrer, MD, and Endocrinologist John Poremba, MD will bring much needed specialty and primary care services to patients across the North Central and North Quabbin regions. Finally, I am pleased to announce that in spring of 2017, Heywood Healthcare will open an Urgent Care Center in Athol, located in the new Market Basket Plaza. On the Heywood Campus, we will be relocating Oncology to a newly renovated suite in the Favor Building to enhance our patient experience. As always, it is my pleasure to share the news of Heywood Healthcare with you – our patients and our communities. Please share any suggestions or ideas of how we may better serve you and the health of our region by emailing me directly at president@heywood.org. Yours in Good Health, Win Brown President & CEO Heywood Healthcare Athol Hospital & Heywood Hospital 242 Green Street, Gardner, MA 01440 | (978) 632-3420 | heywood.org HWD003_PresLetter_WBJ.indd 1 9/14/16 1:45 PM

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