Foundation News
From timely blogs to stories that make headlines, these pages are filled with the many ways your investments are making an impact at UPMC Western Maryland. Click on a headline below.
Amber Conway was selected as the 2024 Sophia E. Powell Scholar, and as she completes her advanced certification as a Mental Health-Psych Nurse Practitioner, it is evident that her training will benefit many across our region. "Receiving this award validated my efforts... I'm incredibly grateful for this support." Amber plans to apply her education to bridge the mental health gap in our communities.
Dr. Rameen Shafiei, director of Emergency Medicine (right) and Wendy Helms, clinical director for the Emergency Department, share a heartfelt commitment to the very best care for their patients at UPMC Western Maryland. And with more than 30 years of patient-centered care between them, they lead a team of professionals equipped to handle life and death situations every day in our region.
Our Cardio Teams Are All Heart
The Foundation salutes the extraordinary teams that make up our Heart & Vascular Institute here at UPMC Western Maryland! In 2024, Dr. Mark Nelson and his surgical team celebrated the 5,000th open-heart surgery - a win for all of us in this community! Recipients of Dr. Nelson's care also expressed their gratitude for Dr. Nelson's life-saving care and the professional and compassionate care of his team.
At 31 years old, Mitchell Mast had been working his family’s 450-acre dairy farm since he was old enough to trail alongside his father. Now an athlete, coach, husband, and father of his own young children, he was the picture of health and healthy living. He clearly knew - and was living - his priorities: faith, family, and farm. But then a completely random
accident rocked that idyllic picture... READ MORE...
Hospice is more than end-of-life care. It’s a promise: that no one walks through loss alone. That every name is spoken. When Bradley Beverly was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a devastating brain cancer, his family’s whole world was shattered overnight. But hospice came into their lives and brought comfort, clarity, and courage as they braced for loss. They looked around and figured out what we needed. READ MORE...
For Bucky Whiteman, who owned his own rehabilitation gym and had spent decades guiding others through recovery, the crushing, radiating pain that pointed to blockage and resulted in open heart surgery was a humbling reversal. What he discovered was a level of care unlike anything he'd experienced or expected. The professionals at UPMC Western Maryland didn't just heal his body - they safeguarded it. READ MORE...
About 75 patients a year are brought to UPMC Western Maryland in cardiac arrest. Time is of the essence, and we have one of the best door-to-balloon times in the state. When one of our own, Doug Hinze collapsed on a tennis court, the quick thinking of our Cumberland Fire Department and the readiness of our Emergency Department brought him back from the brink before our Heart & Vascular team determined the best course of action. READ MORE...