Meet Your Future in Maine:

A Discussion on Healthcare Advocacy

September 21, 2017
4:30-7:30PM 
St. Joseph's College
The Stone Barn 
278 Whites Bridge Road
Standish, ME 04084 

Register Now!

The complexity of the healthcare system poses many challenges. Communication is a key component in navigating it. If you work in the healthcare field, are a healthcare consumer, or are pursuing a career in healthcare or patient advocacy, join us for this energetic panel & mixer bringing educators, industry, young professionals, and students together for a discussion on healthcare advocacy in Maine and beyond.

Panelists:

Joel Allumbough
Joel Allumbaugh is Chief Executive Officer of National Worksite Benefit Group, Inc. (NWBG), which he co-founded NWBG in 2003, as a full service employee benefits insurance agency specializing in patient-centered health plan strategies. Joel serves as the Director of the Center for Health Reform Initiatives at The Maine Heritage Policy Center. He is past director of the Maine Association of Health Underwriters where he served as President from 2002-2003 and from 2007 to 2011. Joel is a licensed life and health insurance consultant and continuing education instructor. Joel hosted Inside Maine Healthcare, a television program aired on the Time Warner Cable network from 2010 to 2012.  Recently Joel partnered with Steve Gerlach, a Chambers rated ERISA attorney and a member of Bernstein Shur's Labor & Employment Practice Group, to develop the Affordable Care Act Essentials Field Guide. This is an accurate, up to date and plain English overview of the major pieces of the law that affects all employers.
 
Diane Atwood
Diane is the first to admit she's been around. In her first career, she was a radiation therapist at Maine Medical Center. She went on to become the health reporter at WCSH 6 for more than 20 years. She left in 2002 to manage marketing and public relations for Mercy Hospital. In 2011, Diane decided to combine the experience and various skills she had acquired over the years and launched a health and wellness blog called Catching Health. Her blog has since won several awards and recently expanded to include a podcast. She has also made several guest appearances on the Channel 6 Morning Report and the station carries many of her blog posts on its web-site. In addition, you'll find Diane's work in the Bangor Daily News and several community newspapers and magazines throughout the state.

Denise Dumont-Bernier, Director of Our Wellness Services at Occupational Medical Consulting (OMC)

Denise is a healthcare leader with over 25 years of experience in the occupational health and wellness field in Maine. Denise is a licensed physical therapist by training and graduated from Simmons College in Boston. Her early career included many years of treating injured employees at the workplace, providing clinical services, ergonomics and preventative training for employers such as Bath Iron Works, UnumProvident, Portland Press Herald, and many more. Since then she has provided leadership and directed several occupational medicine physician practices throughout Maine along with worksite-based clinics. She developed the successful corporate wellness program for Maine’s third largest health system and for many other companies.

Denise has always been passionate about injury prevention and the health and safety of Maine workers. She has collaborated with others to develop population health strategies and believes that employers have a critical role and the power to influence healthcare consumerism and to influence community health through their employees and their families. Healthy and productive employees mean healthier Maine businesses.

She has also served on the Medical Advisory Board at MEMIC for over 15 years, was chair person of the “Health People of the Kennebec Valley” worksite wellness council, and was responsible for the successful wellness program at MaineGeneral Health for over 10 years.

Tony McGuire

Dr. McGuire has served as a critical care RN for 31 years and as a board-certified acute care nurse practitioner for 18 years. Before coming to Saint Joseph's, Dr. McGuire was a faculty member at California State University in Long Beach, California. Dr. McGuire is also a fellow for the American Heart Association, the chair of the Program Committee at the Western Institute of Nursing, an ambassador to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, and a nurse researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles, California. His research deals with the effects of depression in cardiovascular patients with a specific focus on acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients, the utilization of bedside nurses in the identification of depression, and outcomes mediated by depression in this population of patients.

Dr. Johanna Wigg, Vicarage by the Sea
Johanna Wigg, Ph.D. , social gerontologist, is President and founder of The Vicarage by the Sea, Inc., a long term care home for those living with memory impairment.  Founded in 1998, The Vicarage offers an alternative approach to care for its residents, focusing on person-centered care and normalization of their daily experience.  Dr. Wigg has taught at institutions such as Bowdoin College, presented at conferences nationally and internationally, and published in her field.  Dr. Wigg is also an independent consultant in her field, working with individuals and families challenged by the complexities of progressive, neurologically degenerative illnesses.

Hors d'oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available