August 25, 2023 – This morning, at Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s 112th Annual Meeting, outstanding individuals and community organizations were recognized for their contributions to Nantucket Cottage Hospital. These annual leadership awards include Marissa Teramae, NCH Ultrasound Technician, as this year’s recipient of the Seinfeld/Hartmann Prize for Compassionate Medical Care. The patient who nominated Marissa praised her respect, integrity, empathy, and communications. In one quote from Marissa’s nomination, the patient stated, “she showed empathy through her actions and words throughout our time working together. She understood what I was going through, and she made every effort to make it easier for me. She was my absolute rock during that time and made me feel so safe and supported through an extremely anxious time. She made me feel like she actually cared about me and the outcome of my pregnancy, and that felt really good.”

Congratulations to Marissa Teramae on this well-deserved honor!

From left: Judy Seinfeld, Marissa Teramae, Jason Graziadei

The Sandy Craig Leadership Award was presented to Margaretta Andrews, in recognition of her service to NCH – where she served as both an employee and a member of the Board of Trustees – as well as her work leading the Community Foundation For Nantucket.

The Sandy Craig Leadership Award is given each year in memory of Alexander “Sandy” M. Craig, Jr. to a member of the community who has made a positive contribution to the island through Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

Amy Lee and Margaretta Andrews

The Phil Murray Business Award was presented to Fairwinds Counseling Center. The Phil Murray Business Award is given in memory of Philip Chase Murray to a business that has made a positive impact on the island over the past year. Nantucket Cottage Hospital president Amy Lee noted Fairwinds’ response to the island’s mental health challenges and recent suicides, as well as its partnership with NCH on crisis response.

From left: Amanda Wright, Amy Lee, Jason Bridges, Morgan Baker

The Bruce A. Percelay Philanthropy Award was presented to Bill Kupper, chair of NCH’s Sankaty Swing golf tournament and a former member of the hospital’s development and marketing committees. Bill helped spearhead a revitalization of the hospital’s golf tournament event.

Amy Lee and Bill Kupper

The Myrt Eldridge Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to three long-time volunteers: Toby Greenberg, Ann Oliver, and Randy Wight.

July 24, 2023 – Hundreds of swimmers, volunteers, friends, and family took over Jetties Beach on Saturday, July 22 for the most successful Swim Across America – Nantucket in the event’s 11-year history. Over $675,000 was raised to support cancer treatment, patient care, and research. The previous record was $525,000.

Congratulations to Team NHC/PASCON who raised $28,450 and counting! Team leader, Gretchen Hull, remarked “Thank you to everyone for joining the team, donating, fundraising and/or volunteering to make the Swim such a successful event! I am so proud of our team and am truly grateful for all your hard work and dedication.”

The funds raised will be donated to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket, and the Mass General Hospital Cancer Center. Click here to learn more about Swim Across America – Nantucket.

July 17, 2023 – Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s sixth annual Women+Wellness event on Monday, July 17th featured renowned cardiac expert Colleen M. Harrington, MD, as our featured speaker. Dr. Harrington discussed various topics related to cardiac health for people of all ages, including preventative measures and the gender-specific risk factors for heart diseases. Primary Care Practitioners from Nantucket Cottage Hospital joined the conversation to share valuable information about on-island resources for cardiac screening, services, and care. Click below to watch the full event.

Thank You to Our 2023 Sponsors:

• Heart Sponsors: Jeanine Borthwick | Michael and Meryl Bralower | Maureen Hackett | Lisa Clarey-Lawler
• Soul Sponsors: Carole Beller | Amanda Dearborn | The Inquirer and Mirror
• Care Sponsors: Camille Branca | Cathy Bortz | Anita Cosgrove | Dawn Didden | Caron Dockerty | Meg Dwyer | Robin Hammer | Joan Hill | Minou Palandjian | Maria Roach | Hinda Snyder | John and Marianne Stanton | Alison Townsend | Leslie Wytrzes
• Mindful Sponsors: Kim Hartman | Ginny Ripp | Nancy Vittorini | Kim Younes
• Peace Sponsors: Jane Condon | Jennifer Pincince | Lisa Soeder

(April 5, 2023) Nantucket Cottage Hospital received a new, state-of-the-art MRI scanner in April 2023. The new MRI is now the most costly piece of equipment at NCH and was purchased thanks to generous donations from the Hospital Thrift Shop. “The new MRI provides much faster scan times and higher resolution images. The faster scan times are a big improvement in convenience and comfort for patients and will make more appointments available. The higher image resolution means that many diagnostic procedures that have previously required a costly trip off-island can now be done here on Nantucket.” – Dr. Chinyere “C” Rumph, NCH Director of Imaging. Click the video below to get an inside look at the new MRI, produced by NCH staffer Kareem Vessah in the NCH Imaging Department.

(April 3, 2023) The president of Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home, Heather O’Sullivan, has joined the Board of Trustees at Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

O’Sullivan, who has more than 20 years of experience as a clinical executive, joined Mass General Brigham in July of last year. She previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at Kindred at Home, the nation’s largest provider of home care services.

“We are very excited to attract someone of Heather’s caliber to our Board,” said Craig Muhlhauser, chairman of the hospital’s board of trustees. “In addition to an outstanding career of guiding enterprise-wide transformation and innovation for various healthcare organizations, her expertise in providing care outside a traditional hospital environment is a perspective we believe will bring
a lot of value to the organization and our community.”

In her current role, O’Sullivan’s focus is expanding Mass General Brigham’s ability and capacity to shift acute-level care beyond traditional hospital settings to the home, while improving patient outcomes, increasing access and lowering costs. O’Sullivan is defining the future of care through the use of digitally enabled patient monitoring and enhanced provider technology while mobilizing the next generation workforce model through expanded practice opportunities. In evolving the system’s Healthcare at Home strategy, she leads a cross-discipline team of more than 1,000 employees including advanced practice providers, physicians, paramedics, nurses, personal care attendant, physical, occupational and speech therapists and personal care assistants.

“I’m honored to join an already-talented Board of Trustees and bring a new perspective and innovations to Nantucket Cottage Hospital,” O’Sullivan said. “Nantucket is a very special place with unique healthcare needs and it’s an honor to be able to serve the community in such a meaningful way.”

Heather has also worked directly with patients, spending significant time as a nurse practitioner delivering post-acute and longitudinal care to skilled nursing facility residents, and ultimately leading UnitedHealth Groups’ largest region of providers in New England.