Milford Regional’s highly regarded medical staff continues to grow each year, increasing access to leading-edge diagnostics and treatment for patients in our region. While FY 2021 was dominated by COVID-19 concerns, new physicians continued to join Milford Regional to help us bring the very best healthcare to our community. Through Milford Regional Physician Group, private practices and our partnerships with New England’s finest academic medical centers, Milford Regional has become a nexus for excellence in quality care.
New Chief Medical Officer Joins Milford Regional
Peter B. Smulowitz, MD, MPH, joined Milford Regional as Chief Medical Officer in 2021, to replace Leslie Selbovitz, MD who retired after serving as CMO since 2017. Dr. Smulowitz is an experienced emergency medicine physician and proven innovative leader. Dr. Smulowitz earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1998 and graduated from the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine in Irvine, California, in 2003 with a degree in medicine. He performed an emergency medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and earned a Masters of Public Health (Health Policy and Administration) from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston in 2006.
Prior to joining Milford Regional, Dr. Smulowitz held many leadership positions in the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital system, including Chair of Emergency Medicine at the Needham campus, co-leader of a state-funded program to manage the Plymouth campus’s Complex Patient Population and Integrated Care Initiative, and oversaw a pilot program at the hospital’s Boston campus to redesign the hospital’s response to major adverse events.
Dr. Smulowitz has also held leadership positions outside of his hospital affiliations, including a term as president of the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians and was once a candidate for Massachusetts State Senate. In addition, he is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and has several research publications and scholarly articles to his credit. Dr. Smulowitz has already shown his leadership skills as the Milford Regional medical staff continues to navigate the challenges of COVID-19 and all of its complexities.
New Milford Regional Medical Center Physicians
Milford Regional Physician Group 2021
Focus on Growth and Innovation
Amidst continuing challenges in the healthcare environment fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, Milford Regional Physician Group (MRPG) enjoyed a year of significant growth and expansion. We opened new buildings in Hopkinton and Franklin; established new primary care and orthopedics practices; and are gearing up for the opening of our new orthopedics and sports medicine site at 98 Prospect Street, Milford. In addition, planning is now underway for a brand new 20,000+ square-foot building in Medway that will house family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, and urgent care in the next year or two.
Innovation and creativity is crucial as we continue to look at alternative ways to care for our patients and support our employees and providers. Staffing is a priority, as we begin to evaluate external resources to help with tasks such as prescription refills and scanning. In addition, offering positions with flexible hours and on the job training will help to build staff in key areas, while improving patient flow.
Milford Regional Urgent Care has been a huge asset to our community over the past year, as thousands of patients with COVID concerns flock to Franklin, Hopkinton, Milford and Northbridge for guidance, evaluation, treatment and testing. We continue to educate patients about better ways to access healthcare to improve efficiency and avoid long waits. As COVID vaccines were approved and began to roll out for our younger population, we quickly assembled our teams to offer pediatric vaccinations for kids ages 5-11.
Our providers and staff have displayed incredible resilience and dedication throughout the past year. It is due to this steadfast commitment that we are able to provide safe, high quality care to our surrounding community, and enter 2022 with great confidence and optimism.
MRPG Welcomes New Physicians and Advanced Practitioners
MRPG continues to expand access to care throughout our community by recruiting many new providers:
- Several primary care physicians joined our group this year, including: Alan Jackson, MD, Hopkinton Primary Care; Jonathan Andersen, DO, Family Medicine Associates; Agnieska Buniowska-Popiolek, MD, Franklin Primary Care; Sharon Mullane, MD, Franklin-Wrentham Family Medicine; and John Andrea, DO, Blackstone Valley Family Physicians and Milford Regional Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.
- Equally successful was our recruitment of primary care nurse practitioners and physician assistants, including: Marisa Albert, NP, Family Medicine Associates; Lisa Banian, NP, Karen DiCanzio, NP, and Denise Field, PA-C, Franklin-Wrentham Family Medicine; Patrick Hazard, PA-C, Blackstone Valley Family Physicians; and Tess Green, NP, Northbridge Primary Care.
- Many specialists joined us this past year, including: Susan E. Barrett, MD, MPH, John M. Mulroy, MD, and Michael A. Vazquez, MD, Milford Regional Orthopedics & Sports Medicine; Erik Berg, MD, Milford ENT; and Andrew Ferree, MD, Milford Regional Neurology; Michael Newstein, MD, PhD, and Patricia Cristofaro, MD, Milford Regional Infectious Diseases.
- We opened new sites, including 169 West Main Street in Hopkinton and 440 East Central Street in Franklin.
- Our hospitalist program continues to expand, with the addition of: Sudesh Kaul, MD; Kumait Jaroje, MD; Benson Njenga, MD; Terry Huynh, MD (transitioned from per diem to full time); and Jessica Ferreira, NP.
- At Milford Regional Urgent Care, we added Kelly Bianchi, PA-C; Lisa Clemente, NP; Emmalee Kelly, NP; Audra Belliveau, NP; Mandy Page, PA-C; and David Blake, PA-C.
- In our surgical physician assistant program, we added: Kelly Glenn, PA-C.
- Specialty practices added Meredith Lataille, Audiologist, to Milford Ear Nose & Throat; Helder Garcia, PA-C, to Milford Regional Orthopedics; Hannah Nolan, PA-C, to Milford Regional Infectious Diseases; and Ines Kebir, NP, to Milford Regional Endocrinology.
MRPG Awards and Recognition
- We were once again pleased to be named to the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Physician Group Honor Roll. The annual Honor Roll highlights physician groups that have achieved exceptional results in their approach to disease prevention and the treatment of acute and chronic illness for both adult and pediatric patients.
- MassGeneral Brigham presented MRPG Primary Care Physician Monica Van Campen, MD, with an award for Clinical Excellence in Primary Care for her outstanding leadership, vision, and commitment to providing high quality patient care.
- We were chosen by thousands of local residents for the MyFM Quest for the Best Gold Award for excellence in orthopedics, pediatrics, and urgent care.
MRPG Practice Moves
- Melissa Mahr, MD and Alan Jackson, MD of Hopkinton Primary Care moved to a newly renovated building at 169 West Main Street in Hopkinton.
O
Milford Regional Physician Group continues to provide high quality care to our surrounding community. We regularly monitor our performance on measures related to diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, depression, and preventive screening as a gauge of clinical performance, and continuously rank high against national and local benchmarks. Our physicians and their teams make every effort to ensure that patients get the screening they need and manage their care in a way that achieves positive health outcomes.