Dr. Barbeau honored; scholarship applications available

Dr. Barbeau to be honored by SMCS

Delores Barbeau, MD, MPH, will be the recipient of the George F. Leland Community Health Award from Springfield Medical Care Systems.  The award ceremony will take place at this year’s Apple Blossom Cotillion on Friday, May 4 at Riverside Middle School gymnasium.

This award is named in honor of George F. Leland, the community leader who served as the first president of Springfield Hospital, under whose leadership the hospital was opened in 1914.

His extensive involvement in the health care community inspired the memory and spirit of this award. The award recognizes an individual who represents outstanding contributions in the field of health care and exemplifies the highest ideals of community health care. Recipients include Eileen Austin Neal RN, Dr. Sherb Lovell, Edgar May, Glenn Cordner, and Dr. Eugene Bont. It has been the tradition to present this award at the Apple Blossom Cotillion.

Dr. Barbeau has participated in the Community Health Care Center network,
working to develop care management of patients living with serious health conditions, and in the Children’s Dental Health Program, working to bring dental services to families in need. She has worked with Neighborhood Connections, in Londonderry and has had a close relationship with Weston Priory.  Her influence has also had an international focus
through her work over the years in the Nicaraguan and the Bolivian Ministries of Health.

Dr. Barbeau was previously named Physician of the Year by the Vermont Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians to recognize her long-standing reputation as “an outstanding physician and humanitarian.” As of November 2017, Dr. Barbeau has served as Medical Staff Quality Officer for SMCS.

Nursing scholarship offered in memory of Springfield Hospital nurse

Applications are being accepted for the 13th annual Eileen Austin Neal Nursing Scholarship of $1,000.  This scholarship is open to any student who has been accepted into a nursing program of study.  Applicants will be judged on interest in and commitment to the field of nursing.  Determination will be based on merit and need.

Application forms are available in high school guidance offices and from the Development Office of Springfield Hospital. Deadline is May 25.  For information, contact Larry Kraft at 885-7644 or lkraft@springfieldmed.org .

Eileen Austin Neal was a registered nurse at Springfield Hospital for 64 years, retiring in 2005.  She was the first recipient of the Hospital’s Community Health Award in 2003. In 2004, the Hospital established the Spirit of Nursing Award in recognition of her many years of dedicated service.

Upon her death in February 2006, at the request of Neal’s family, Springfield Hospital established a nursing scholarship fund in her name with the gifts received in her memory.