Two facts about a STAR doctor

At Dr. Halleran’s final meeting as medical staff president, Dr. Fred Goldberg, chief medical officer, recognized him with the STAR award for demonstrating the qualities of “Sensitivity, Thoughtfulness, Appreciation, and Respect”

A number of people nominated Dr. Halleran for the honor, and here is some of what they said:

▪ “It is not uncommon for Dr. Halleran to discuss sensitive issues with nurses and ask their input regarding patient care.”

▪ He “[w]ill support and intervene with difficult situations and patients.”

▪ “He is respectful to us as staff and always trying to make this a better place for all of us.”

▪ “He reminds me of the country doctor going door to door making house calls. More importantly, I believe he reminds all of us of what it means to truly ‘care’ for patients and each other. We are so fortunate to have him here at Community General Hospital and in our lives.”

Congratulations, Dr. Halleran. It has been a privilege to work with you in your leadership role.

Here are two facts about Dr. Halleran that may not be widely known:

▪ In October 2008 he was named one of the best doctors in Central New York by CNY Magazine.

▪ On December 8 1980, Dr. Halleran was a surgical resident at Roosevelt Hospital in mid-town Manhattan, when the police brought in a victim of four gunshots. As he cared for the patient, someone looked through the patient's wallet for identification. The driver's license read: John Lennon.

Good Manners & Good Medicine

Congratulations to Dr. Myron Luthringer, the latest recipient of the STAR award, presented to members of the Community General Hospital medical staff who demonstrate sensitivity, thoughtfulness, appreciation, and respect (“STAR”).

I have written before about our STAR doctors and how good medicine includes good manners:

Being kind and respectful is not merely good citizenship. These are the attributes of individuals who build positive relationships with other members of the caring team. This can aid communications at all levels. Better communications help reduce risks for patients – and reduced risks mean better patient safety.

According to his nomination, Dr. Luthringer of Advanced OB-GYN “always takes the extra step to make sure that his patients are comforted in the OR. He does this by staying in the room by the patient’s side with his hand resting on theirs until they are under anesthesia. He is also…willing to pitch in & help the OR staff & treats everyone in the OR with respect.”

That’s Dr. Luthringer in the photo above (at right) with Dr. Fred Goldberg, Vice President & Chief Medical Officer at Community General Hospital. For more about Dr. Luthringer, see the video in which he speaks about his experience with the daVinci surgical robot.

Dr. Luthringer joins other recent STAR doctors: Dr. Richard Zogby, a spine surgeon with Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists (below, left), and Dr. David Simon, an internist with FamilyCare Medical Group, PC (below, right with Dr. Goldberg).

An earlier posting discussed STAR doctors Joseph T. Barry, MD, an internist and geriatrician with Preservative Medicine Associates, PLLC; Daniel Dombroski, MD, a general surgeon, who practices in Physicians Office Building – North; and James Watts, MD, a pulmonologist with FamilyCare Medical Group, PC.

If you would like to recognize a STAR doctor at Community General Hospital, nomination forms are available in the Medical Affairs office (first floor, west wing) and on Community’s intranet.

The firmament

Earlier this year the Medical Staff, with the help of the Auxiliary, began a recognition award for doctors who bring to their medical practices particularly human qualities. They demonstrate sensitivity, thoughtfulness, appreciation and respect – STAR is the acronym.

What do the medical STARs do? They play chess with nursing home residents. They treat others as equals. They have a rapport with their nursing colleagues.

Last March the STAR honor went to Joseph T. Barry, MD, a chess player who, if he loses a game, buys pizza for the residents. I wrote about Dr. Barry’s honor recently. An internist specializing in geriatric medicine, Dr. Barry is in private practice with Preventive Medicine Associates, PLLC, Camillus, NY. He is also the medical director of Community General Hospital’s sixth floor skilled nursing facility and the Iroquois Nursing Home, located in Jamesville, NY.

Dr. Barry “sets aside time to play chess with multiple residents” at Community General where his “genuine humor and lighthearted challenge to residents has created a splash of excitement.”[1] Dr. Barry is also “a man of the people” who is “always approachable” and who “totally immerses himself in medical problems from the patient’s perspective.”

Daniel L. Dombroski, MD, who received the STAR award in June, is a general surgeon who “treats everyone as his equal and has the ability to make the patients and staff members feel like they matter.” To him “the patient’s feelings and needs are just as important as their medical condition.”

Dr. Dombroski maintains a private practice in Physicians Office Building – North on the CGH campus. He participates in the hospital’s Wound Care Management Center, and he was honored by LeMoyne College in 2001with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

The September STAR honor went to James Watts, MD, an internist with “a wonderful bedside manner,” who has “a great rapport with nurses and other staff.” Dr. Watts is “always willing to go out of his way to help” and is considered by the staff on Three West to be “a breath of fresh air during a stressful day.”

Dr. Watts is in private practice with the FamilyCare Medical Group PC, which has more than 20 locations throughout the Syracuse area. Dr. Watts’ office is in Physicians Office Building – North. He is Co-chairman of the Medical Records Committee.

Being kind and respectful is not merely good citizenship. These are the attributes of individuals who build positive relationships with other members of the caring team. This can aid communications at all levels. Better communications help reduce risks for patients – and reduced risks mean better patient safety. Being a pleasant person is good medicine too.

If you want to acknowledge another STAR within our medical staff, pick up a nomination form in the Medical Affairs office (first floor, west wing) and in other locations throughout the hospital. You can also find a copy on the hospital’s intranet – go to CGHNet, find “Forms” in the drop-down menu and click on “Physician STAR Award.”


[1] All quotes are from the nominating forms submitted about the physicians by members of the CGH family.

The doctor as STAR

Yesterday was “doctor’s day” at CGH, and members of the medical staff stopped in the cafeteria for a free pancake breakfast – and a chance to socialize with their medical colleagues. In today’s fast-paced, high-tech world, a pancake breakfast is a low-tech opportunity for doctors simply to say “hi” and take a moment to catch up with one another.

Physicians have faster access to information, such as the Digital Passport,[1] but they may actually see one another less frequently than in the past. With hospitalist services available to patients, many physicians spend more time in their offices and less time at CGH. With more outpatient care, the hospital is not the sole focus of physicians’ busy lives. So CGH’s “famous pancake breakfasts” are an opportunity for doctors stay in touch on a personal level, not just professionally.

Yesterday, the doctors’ pancake breakfast added a new dimension, thanks to Dr. Andrew Merritt, the Marcellus family physician who is serving as CGH’s interim Chief Medical Officer, or CMO. Dr. Merritt has started a “physician STAR award” to recognize doctors with star qualities – that is Sensitivity, Thoughtfulness, Appreciation, and Respect (STAR).[2]

I was pleased to join Dr. Merritt yesterday in presenting CGH’s first STAR award to Dr. Joseph Barry of Preventive Medicine Associates, PLLC in Camillus, NY. Dr. Barry, who also serves as medical director of CGH’s skilled nursing facility (sixth floor), “on a routine basis sets aside time to play chess with multiple residents on 6 West,” in the words of one nomination form.

Dr. Barry’s “genuine humor and lighthearted challenge to residents has created a splash of excitement,” on the sixth floor, and his “thoughtfulness extends to the rest of the residents who…come to watch the ‘the chess match’…” During the match, Dr. Barry talks with the residents “on a casual, loving level,” and he is “always generous to provide pizza as a prize if he loses…”

Another nominator called Dr. Barry “a man of the people, always approachable,” and “someone who totally immerses himself in an medical problems from the patient’s perspective.”

The STAR award comes with a certificate for the physician, dinner for two at a local restaurant, and a special visit (next week) with treats for the doctor’s office staff – all courtesy of the Auxiliary to Community General Hospital.

Medicine may be more fast-paced than ever. Physicians may communicate less in person and more over the internet. But the STAR award reassures us that physicians, as busy as they may be, continue to make a difference on the human level.

Thank you, Dr. Barry.


[1] The Digital Passport is CGH’s name for several electronic information initiatives that started in 2005 and will continue to roll-out over the next two years. They are SCM Clinical Manager, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), and the Surgery Information System (SiS).

[2] Anyone can nominate a CGH physician for a STAR award. On any CGH computer, go to CGHNet and move the cursor to “Point Here” to find the drop-down menu. On the menu find “Forms” and click on “Physician STAR Award.” This brings you to the STAR nominating form. After completing the form, return it to Trudy Orr or Joan Russell in the Medical Affairs Office.