News Releases

DERBY, CT (March 9, 2012) - Juniors and seniors of Valley high schools and their parents are invited to a free dinner and prom safety event from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3 at Griffin Hospital, 130 Division Street in Derby.

“Underage drinking increases during prom season and the most powerful tool against underage drinking is parents,” said Cathleen Kellett of Griffin Hospital’s Community Outreach & Valley Parish Nurse Program.

The event will feature pertinent information on how parents can keep their teens safe on prom night from guest speakers:

Courtney Pasono of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Greg Boris, M.D.,...

DERBY, CT - Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley, FedEx, and community leaders from Griffin Hospital, the Valley Parish Nurse Program, Seymour Police and Seymour Board of Education, will walk with children at Anna LoPresti Elementary School on Maple Street in Seymour to advocate for safer walking environments for children at 8:00 am Wednesday, October 5, International Walk to School Day.

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DERBY, CT - Kim Hall, senior applications coordinator, Information Services, and Wes Valentine, RN, Evening Supervisor, Emergency Department, will share honors as the 2011-12 "Employees of the Year." The staff of the Center for Cancer Care/Radiation Oncology, was named "Department of the Year" at Griffin Hospital's annual Employee Recognition ceremony, held May 11 at the Crowne Plaza in Southbury.

Griffin Hospital CEO and President Patrick Charmel and Medical Staff President Paul Nussbaum, M.D. made the award announcements at the event, held each year during National Hospital Week, which recognizes employees and physicians for years of service and for outstanding performance.

In announcing the...

DERBY, CT - The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) will formally designate Griffin Hospital as a Primary Stroke Center (PSC) at a special ceremony scheduled for 10:00 am Friday, May 14 in the Griffin Hospital cafeteria. DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH, MBA will present a plaque commemorating Griffin Hospital?s PSC status to Griffin Hospital President and CEO Patrick Charmel and members of Griffin Hospital's stroke team who participated in the PSC application process.

Griffin Hospital's designation as a Primary Stroke Center follows a successful DPH site visit of the hospital?s stroke program, during which Griffin Hospital demonstrated compliance with criteria established by DPH to assure that facilities have the necessary infrastructure, staffing, and services to stabilize and treat most acute stroke patients. DPH created...

In conjunction with American Stroke Month, the Women and Heart Disease Committee of Griffin Hospital will host its Annual "Desserts for the Heart" Program, at 6:30 PM on Thursday, May 20, 2010, in the Dining Room of Griffin Hospital. The free program is open to all. Dr. Dorothea Wild, MPH, Chief Hospitalist and co-director of the Griffin Hospital Stroke Program, is featured speaker. An assortment of heart-healthy desserts will be provided. Those interested in attending should call 203-732-1137 by May 13 to reserve a seat. Seating is limited. Free stroke assessments are being offered from 5:30 to 6:30 PM and immediately following the program.

According to the American Stroke Association, each year approximately 795,000 people suffer a stroke - 610,000 are first attacks and 185,000 are recurrent. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States is suffering...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DERBY, CT (June 19, 2009) - Griffin Hospital is hosting a 100th Birthday Party on Saturday, June 27, from 11 am to 3 pm and the entire community is invited. Attendees will have an opportunity to tour Griffin Hospital's new Clinical Laboratory and the completed Phase I of the Emergency Department. The final phase of this three-year project, which began in 2007 and included the opening of the Hewitt Ambulatory Care Services Pavilion and the Center for Cancer Care last October, will coincide with the centennial celebration at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the move into the new Clinical Laboratory was completed this week along with Phase I of the Emergency Department expansion including the new Emergency Department lobby and half of the treatment rooms. When fully completed, the Emergency Department expansion will increase the size...

DERBY, CT - Interested individuals will be able to learn more and sign up for a 12-week phlebotomy course at Griffin Hospital during an open house on Saturday, June 27, from 11am to 3pm. On that date, Griffin Hospital will host a birthday party to celebrate a century of caring for its community. Valley residents are invited to "come back where it all began."

The phlebotomy course will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and run for 12 consecutive weeks with both morning and evening schedules. The course is open to anyone age 18 or older with a High School Diploma or GED. Tuition includes CPR certification, a 40-hour externship, national certification, lab coat and books.

Griffin Hospital's 100th Birthday Party promises to be a fun-packed event. Free cake and ice cream, kids' activities, musical entertainment and "behind the scenes" tours of the Operating Room, Childbirth Center, Digestive Disorders Center and Health Resource Center are...

DERBY, CT - The Griffin Hospital Dining Room will again serve as the setting for the 2nd Annual "Desserts for the Heart" program sponsored by the Women & Heart Disease Committee. The event will take place on Thursday, May 28, at 6:30 p.m., 130 Division St., Derby. This year's program features Griffin Hospital's newest cardiologist, Dr. Lavanya Bellumkonda, a specialist in heart failure, cardiac imaging and women's heart disease. In addition, in conjunction with Stroke Awareness Month, free stroke assessments will be offered from 5 - 6:30 pm and immediately following the program. A variety of desserts and heart-healthy treats will be served.

Dr. Bellumkonda is affiliated with Doctors Anthony D'Souza, Martin Plavec and Stephen R. Woodworth at Heart Specialists PC of Southern Connecticut in Oxford and Shelton.

The Women and Heart Disease Committee is focused...

DERBY, CT - More personal than "putting out the welcome mat" for its patients, Griffin Hospital staffs its main entrance with volunteer Ambassadors who are the first smiling faces patients see upon arrival at the hospital. Every morning and afternoon a team of two volunteers, donning navy blue blazers with white carnations tucked neatly in the lapels, stand at the mahogany podium in the front hospital lobby welcoming visitors and guests with open arms. Acting as a liaison for patients, the Ambassadors willingly assist them to their desired destination with the hospital - whether that is to the admitting area, physician's offices or the lab.

John Radovich, a Seymour resident and hospital volunteer who has served over 900 hours has been a part of the Valley all his life and a part of the volunteer corps since 1998 (left click link to download image). "I get such a kick out of being an Ambassador," said Mr. Radovich. "I think I have the greatest job here -- being able to meet new people and catch up with old...

DERBY, CT - CNN Espanol Correspondent, Carolina Jaramillo-Johnson, representing the Manhattan based HealthCare Chaplaincy, presented Griffin Hospital employee, Grace Malasankas, with the Wholeness of Life Award last week at a ceremony at the hospital. Malasankas is a Multi-skilled Technician in the Emergency Department. The award is presented annually to recognize and honor caregivers for providing holistic care to patients and their families by attending to the whole person: mind, body and spirit.

In addition to the care she has provided to Griffin Hospital patients for the past seventeen years, Grace Malasankas has been involved with a number of humanitarian projects. The projects include donating Easter baskets for safe house children, helping with Christmas dinners for the homeless and , traveling to medically underserved countries to provide medical care to those in need....

DERBY, CT - Community residents rate Griffin Hospital the most improved hospital in the region with the highest quality of care. The ratings are the results of a community telephone survey of 360 residents in Valley towns conducted by an independent market research company. The hospital uses the market research company to assess perception of programs, services and care, and to assist in determining community health service needs. The survey compares hospitals in Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury as well as Milford and Griffin Hospital.

The survey results confirm a study released recently by Solucient, a nationally recognized health industry research company that named Griffin Hospital as one of the nation's "Top 100" performance improvement leader hospitals. Solucient analyzed the performance of more than 3,500 U.S. hospitals over a five year period to identify the hospitals that demonstrated the most dramatic...