Nantucket Cottage Hospital held its 107^th Annual Meeting on Friday, Aug. 17th and welcomed new members to its Board of Trustees, thanked outgoing members for their service, and honored its volunteers and leaders.

Chairman Kevin Hickey welcomed the new members of the Board of Trustees, including Joseph M. Garasic, MD, Gerry Keneally, and Ian Loring. Hickey also thanked the outgoing members of the Board, including Erwin L. Greenberg, Philip A. Nardone, Jr., and Laura Reynolds.

Hickey and NCH Public Information Officer Jason Graziadei updated attendees on the state of the organization, the status of the new hospital, and other major projects on the horizon. Courtney O’Neill, executive director of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital Foundation, presented the hospital’s annual leadership awards. (more…)

A new article from the Cape Cod Times celebrates the resilient design of the new Nantucket Cottage Hospital and its ability to “survive Category 5 Hurricanes.” The piece notes that “the 106,000 sf, 14-bed hospital is being built to hurricane design specifications established by Miami Dade County – some of the strictest in the country. Canon Design’s David Kelly is quoted in the piece and shares that “Building according to the Florida code allows the hospital to withstand Hurricane Irma-strength winds of 185 mph, rather than 150 mph as specified by Massachusetts codes. The term is resiliency – it’s survivability.”

The full Cape Cod Times piece is available online.

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…)

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…)