CELEBRATIONS
Local doctors, nurse honored
Two Greenwich Hospital physicians and a nurse from Northeast Medical Group were recently honored by Doctors of Distinction for playing a vital role in advancing health care. All three are members of Yale New Haven Health.
Dr. Athanassios Petrotos, a Yale Medicine surgeon who is the medical director of Greenwich Hospital’s trauma program, received the “Lifetime Achievement” award. Dr. Sandra Wainwright, a NEMG physician who is medical director of the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care at Greenwich Hospital, received the “Cutting Edge” award.
Registered nurse Jacquelyn Trenck, who works at NEMG’s Obstetrics & Gynecology office in Stamford, received the “Outstanding Nurse” award.
As a physician in the Greek Army, Petrotos decided to train in the United States after he was assigned to a NATO hospital in Italy following the first Gulf War. He specializes in elective general surgery, emergency general surgery and trauma surgery using robotic minimally invasive techniques.
Wainwright was honored for devising a way to treat COVID patients with severe hypoxemic respiratory failure with hyperbaric oxygen before vaccinations were widely available. She is known internationally for treating long COVID with hyperbaric oxygen. Wainwright was the first critical care physician on call when the pandemic hit Yale New Haven Health.
Trenck began her 17year nursing career at Greenwich Hospital in Labor and Delivery. In 2017, she transitioned to the outpatient setting with NEMG. Trenck was honored for using her clinical expertise to educate and care for prenatal patients throughout their pregnancies.
The three honorees received the awards during a ceremony on Sept. 21.
Lions get new president
The Greenwich Lions Club have sworn in a new president, Nora Parry. Parry is a seven-year club member and recipient of numerous service awards. Parry will head up planning of the club’s 100th anniversary celebration early next year as it marks a century of community service.
The Lions Club of Greenwich, chartered in August 1923, and the Old Greenwich Lions Club, chartered in May 1933, merged in September 2016. On Oct. 13, 2016, the group celebrated the re-chartering of the Lions Club of Greenwich. The New organization boasts a combined 186 years of service to the Town of Greenwich.
Anyone wishing to help support the group’s many projects can contact Douglas Carlson at 203-637-7575 or email Lions secretary Alan Gunzburg, 24fado@optonline.net.
Two Greenwich students named ‘innovators’
The Society for Science recently announced the Top 300 Junior Innovators in the inaugural Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, the nation’s premier science, technology, engineering and math competition for middle school students. The local innovators include former Central Middle School students and current Greenwich High School freshman Amelia Foell and Bridget Hadden.
Foell’s project is “Reducing Food Waste with Early, Visual Detection of Bread-Mold via BODIPYColorimetric Card Detection of 1-Octen-3-ol” and Hadden’s is “Demonstrating the Persistence of Long Island Sound Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Contamination.”
The two students were selected from 1,828 entrants from across the country and are eligible to be among 30 finalists to compete for more than $100,000 in awards and prizes.
The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, a program of Society for Science, seeks
to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the grand challenges of the 21st century.
Hospital conducts drill
Greenwich Hospital conducted a decontamination drill last week to enhance its ability to provide emergency medical care in the event of a spill or release of hazardous chemical, biological or radioactive materials.
The drill was a collaboration between Greenwich Hospital’s Emergency Department, Yale New Haven Health Office of Emergency Preparedness and Greenwich Emergency Medical Service. Twentythree hospital employees participated, as well as two from GEMS. The exercise is a required step toward Greenwich Hospital achieving a Trauma Level III designation.
As part of the training, participants practiced how to don and doff protective suits that they would wear in a real emergency. Several employees took part in a walkthrough exercise through the decontamination tent using a 185-pound mannequin as a patient.
“The goal is to get the hazardous material off the individuals as quickly as possible to minimize damage to the affected area and prevent exposing others to the hazard,” said John Pelazza, manager, Hospital Preparedness, Yale New Haven Health’s Office of Emergency Preparedness, in a news release.
Riverside student graduates from James Madison
Thomas Pastore, of Riverside, graduated with a bachelor of science degree in communication studies from James Madison University during commencement exercises in August. Founded in 1908, James Madison University is a public university in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.