COLLEEN DESAI JOINS HOLYOKE MEDICAL CENTER AS CHIEF NURSING OFFICER

HOLYOKE, MA – September 25, 2017 — Spiros Hatiras, President and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems has announced the appointment of Colleen Desai as Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Holyoke Medical Center

“Colleen has a diverse background in nursing leadership, accompanied by 13 years of serving in the Army National Guard,” says Hatiras. “Her knowledge and commitment to quality and excellence will allow Colleen to continue to develop the culture and standard of care we are committed to providing patients.”

Most recently Desai served as System-wide Director of Emergency & Critical Care Services, Respiratory, Neurodiagnostics at Heywood Healthcare with hospitals in Gardner and Athol, Massachusetts. It was there she helped to initiate direct bedding in the Emergency Department, which overhauled the emergency admitting process and was presented as a best practice in ‘door to bed’ admission times at the National Emergency Nurses Association Conference in 2016. Desai was also instrumental in implementing and directing a CHART Grant Program with a behavioral health focus, decreasing high utilizer recidivism by more than 10%. This experience will be especially useful within Holyoke Medical Center’s new Emergency Department, which was partially funded through the CHART Grant Program.

Desai’s prior experience included managerial positions at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and The Hospital of Central Connecticut. She received her Bachelor of Science Nursing degree from the Western Connecticut State University. She then went on to complete a Master of Science in Nursing, followed by an MBA of Business from the University of Hartford.

“I am excited to join the leadership team at Holyoke Medical Center and to have the opportunity to assist in fulfilling the vision of the organization to be The Best Place for Care and The Best Place to Work,” said Desai. “With the nursing division accounting for nearly half of the employees within the hospital, continuing to grow and focus on meeting the needs of our patients and workforce is my top priority.”

Desai lives in Gardner, Mass. with her husband and three children.

About Holyoke Medical Center:
Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) is a 198-bed independent community hospital with over 1,300 employees serving individuals and families throughout the cities and towns of the Pioneer Valley. The medical staff includes more than 300 physicians and consulting staff. Holyoke Medical Center is a nationally-accredited hospital and received a 2016 Top Hospital Award from the Leapfrog Group for excellence in quality of care and patient safety. This full-service hospital provides a complete line of inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical services, including an award-winning birthing center with the only Baby Friendly designation status in the region. Holyoke Medical Center’s award-winning Stroke Service has been consistently recognized as one of the best in the state for the past eight years and has received the 2017 Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Honor Roll Elite Plus Award from the American Stroke Association. Holyoke Medical Center is a member of Valley Health Systems in Holyoke which also includes the affiliates Holyoke Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Life Care, Western Mass Physician Associates and River Valley Counseling Center.