Caitlin O’Hearn Kaplan, PA-C, has joined the Nantucket Cottage Hospital medical staff as a full-time physician assistant who will support the Walk-In Care service and primary care practices.

Kaplan, who previously worked at Nantucket Cottage Hospital as an emergency room technician, has returned to the island after completing additional education and clinical training through Northeastern University and serving as a physician assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In addition to her familiarity with Nantucket patients through the NCH Emergency Department, Kaplan has also worked with island physician Tim Lepore and the Yale Medical School on three separate studies on tick-borne diseases.

“I am thrilled to have been given the opportunity to return to the place where I started my medical career,” Kaplan said. “I love my island community!” (more…)

No other hospital in Massachusetts worries when they call for an ambulance to transport a patient whether that ambulance will show up or not. But our clinicians at Nantucket Cottage Hospital recently found themselves in this dilemma when the ambulance companies that previously travelled to the island to transport patients to the mainland stopped coming. For these companies, it was a matter of insurance reimbursements not covering their costs. For our team and some of our patients at NCH, it was a crisis. (more…)

Fixed Enrollment begins July 1, 2018. What does this mean?

• MassHealth includes Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
• Every MassHealth member has until June 30th, 2018 to change their health plan to ensure it aligns with their physician and health care providers.
• Patients must have the correct MassHealth plan for their doctor.
• On Nantucket, these plans include Partners Healthcare Choice, BMC HealthNet, and MassHealth Primary Care Clinician (PCC).
• If your Masshealth plan does not align with your primary care physician, they cannot accept your insurance.

For example:

• MassHealth patients of Tim Lepore should enroll in either the BMC HealthNet plan or the MassHealth PCC plan.
• MassHealth patients of Leif Norenberg should enroll in the Tufts/Boston Children’s ACO.
• MassHealth patients of all other Nantucket physicians should enroll in the Partners Healthcare Choice.

For general information about the Plan Selection Period, please visit www.mass.gov/service-details/plan-selection-period and for details about the Fixed Enrollment Period, go to www.mass.gov/service-details/fixed-enrollment-period (more…)

Happy National Nurses Week!

Here are a few of the more than 70 nurses who work at NCH and the physician practices.

Please take a moment to recognize the NCH nursing staff members who provide compassionate care to our island community every day of the year!

The British Invasion will land at Jetties Beach on Nantucket this summer when RAIN: A Tribute to The Beatles joins the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra as the special musical guest for the 22^nd annual Boston Pops on Nantucket concert to benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

RAIN performs the full range of The Beatles’ discography including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles recorded in studio but never performed for an audience. Now together longer than the legendary foursome, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture, and nuance of The Beatles, delivering a note-for-note performance that’s as infectious as it is transporting.

For more than 20 years, the Boston Pops on Nantucket has been the largest and most popular summer event on the island, attracting thousands to Jetties Beach for a night of spectacular entertainment all to raise critical funds for Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Paired with RAIN, conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will deliver another memorable edition of the concert, which is set for Aug. 11^th, 2018. This year’s event chairs are Sarah and Jeff Newton, longtime summer residents of Nantucket who maintain their primary residence in Concord, MA.

“We are thrilled to be chairing the 22^nd annual concert,” said Sarah. “For us, the Pops is the highlight of every summer, and we are working with a terrific group of volunteers and committee members to create another successful fund raising event for our cherished hospital.” (more…)