A new leader has been appointed for Oak Orchard Health, a healthcare organization with sites in Albion, Lyndonville, Brockport and Warsaw.

Jim Cummings, the new CEO, is familiar with the community. He was an executive at Lakeside Health System since 2006.

Cummings

“It is with great pleasure and excitement that the board announces our hiring of Jim Cummings as the next CEO at Oak Orchard Health,” said Karen Watt, the OOH board chairwoman. “He will begin in this position by the middle of December and is enthusiastic and appreciates that he is joining a truly gifted and extraordinary staff.”

As an executive at Lakeside, Cummings first served as vice president of human resources, then senior vice president, and finally interim CEO.

Watt said Cummings keenly understands the health care needs and issues of our region. He provided executive leadership for all aspects of strategic planning, executive and physician recruitment, compensation, benefits administration, employee relations, organizational development, volunteers, and oversight of Lakeside hospital operations starting in 2011.

“It is my honor to have been selected to serve the community by leading Oak Orchard Health through this turbulent, yet exciting time of transition in American health care,” Cummings said. “Oak Orchard has a 40-year history of providing affordable quality services to families and individuals who might not otherwise have access to care. It will be my job to ensure that this important resource is well-positioned to thrive into the future and to continue to provide the community excellent preventative and primary care services.”

Prior to Lakeside, Cummings held a series of executive positions at Corning Hospital over a 26-year period. Corning Hospital is a 99-bed acute care facility with high volume outpatient services, 550 employees, and is an affiliate of Guthrie Healthcare System.

While employed by Corning Hospital, Cummings was vice president of human resources and vice president of operations. For the five years prior to that, he held various management positions at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elmira.

“Jim Cummings clearly stood out from among the 85 applicants for the president and CEO position, as a person that both intimately understands health care administration and is keenly committed to the Oak Orchard service area and patients,” said OOH Board member Dave Jewell. “There is no question but that we are placing Oak Orchard in very capable and caring hands.”

Robert Q. Hendershott served as interim president and CEO for Oak Orchard since August 2012.

“Under Bob Hendershott’s experienced guidance, Oak Orchard has very considerably strengthened its management and other systems,” Watt said. “He has helped build an excellent executive team, and is handing over the organization in fine condition.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Health officials set up in the lobby at Medina Memorial Hospital today to share information about the dangers of smoking.

Nola Goodrich-Kresse, a public health educator with the Orleans County Health Department, and Jen Srock, an outreach coordinator for Community Partners with the Orleans Community Health, were at the table as part of the Great American Smokeout.

The jar in the front left represents a year’s worth of tar from smoking that end up in a smoker’s lungs. The other jar shows teeth in tobacco juice.

Orleans County has one of the highest smoking rates for adults in the state. It is one of nine counties with a rate at 25 percent or higher. The state average is 16.9 percent.

Health officials will make reducing the county’s smoking rate a priority, Goodrich-Kresse said.

The county Health Department recently submitted a community health assessment to the state, which includes strategies for combatting tobacco use and other high-risk behaviors. That assessment will be reviewed by the state Department of Health.

Provided photo – Marsha Rivers, development director for Hospice of Orleans, receives a symbolic turkey from Albion Tops Manager Rick Wartinger. The grocer is donating a full, pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner to the Martin-Linsin Hospice Residence.

Press release
Hospice of Orleans

ALBION This Thanksgiving will be the first at the Hospice of Orleans Martin-Linsin Residence, which opened last December.

But for the terminally ill patients who live there, it will likely be their final opportunity to celebrate this very special holiday with family and friends. With the help of Hospice staff and volunteers and a Thanksgiving dinner donated by Tops Market of Albion, they’re planning to make it a memorable one.

End-of-life has a way of doing that: Inspiring people to make the most of the time that they have remaining together. In early September, residents of the eight-suite “home away from home” began looking forward to the holiday season, starting with “Turkey Day.”

Long before the leaves fell from the multicolored maples on the Hospice campus, Martin-Linsin patients were discussing menus, dreaming up decorations, and comparing notes about favorite recipes from years gone by.

While patients enjoy nutritious meals prepared daily at the nearby Villages of Orleans Health & Rehabilitation Center, the residents requested a feast of a fancier sort.

“What we’d really like is a proper Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmin’s,” said 97-year-old Nora.

So Hospice turned to Tops. Martin-Linsin is well-equipped to provide patients with a “home away from home” when their own home is not suitable for the level of care they need. However, the facility lacks a commercial-grade kitchen where food can be prepared from scratch by state-certified personnel. The arrangement with The Villages allows Hospice to receive and reheat ready-made meals.

Tops offers heat-and-eat food for its customers. So when Hospice of Orleans approached its nearly-next-door neighbor about serving the folks at Martin-Linsin, Store Manager Rick Wartinger promptly replied, “Yes! What kind of pie would you like with that apple or pumpkin?”

The fresh turkey dinner features a fully cooked Butterball bird, herb stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberry orange relish and, of course, a 10-inch piemake that pumpkin, please!

Hospice personnel will pick up the complimentary meal, valued at $74.99, around 11 a.m. next Thursday, warm it up for the recommended two hours, and serve the grateful residents.

“This is my first Thanksgiving with Hospice as well,” said Marsha Rivers, director of development and community relations since June of this year. “Hearing the affirmative reply from Tops just added to what I’ve already been overwhelmed and blessed to witness: When it comes to taking care of each other, the Orleans community comes together.”