Read any article on the place of nurses in healthcare and you’ll see them described as the backbone, heart, or foundation of healthcare.  Nurses play a critical role in the provision of care – they provide direct care, they teach, they advocate, and they often serve as care coordinators for their patients.  Nationally, we are experiencing a critical shortage of nurses, and ChesPenn is extremely fortunate to have a team of truly gifted and dedicated nurses.  In May we celebrate National Nurses’ Week, and we thought this would be a good time to introduce the newest member of our nursing team, Melissa Hernandez.

On Friday, April 14, ChesPenn welcomed the community to share in the launch of the Reach Out and Read Program at our Center for Family Health at Coatesville in memory of ChesPenn Chief Medical Officer Dr. Letitia O’Kicki’s mother Theresa G. Caroff.  Dr. Trude Haecker, Reach Out and Read Philadelphia Medical Director, spoke passionately about the benefits of reading to children beginning in infancy.

This month we have a bonus introduction – ChesPenn’s newest Behavioral Health Consultant (BHC) Jamie Merwin.  The addition of behavioral healthcare to our primary care model is one of our proudest accomplishments.  Our ability to address patients’ mental health needs immediately in-house is so important to their well-being and during National Mental Health Month we are especially excited to introduce Jamie Merwin, LCSW, who has joined the team at the Center for Family Health at Eastside.