I thought I was retired! But when I learned of an opportunity to work part time at Northampton Area Pediatrics, I jumped at the chance. I feel incredibly lucky to be joining this amazing team of smart, compassionate caregivers, committed to the health and well being of the community.
My path here in some ways seems inevitable, but it has had many interesting turns and bends. I have always loved working with children and studied child development at college. Shortly after graduation, I read an article about nurse practitioners, including pediatric NPs and in that moment I found my calling. The next eight years were devoted to school and work as a nurse, first as a maternal child visiting nurse in East Harlem and then a NICU nurse at Yale New Haven Hospital, becoming a PNP in 1988.
My first job was at Tumutumu Hospital in Kenya East Africa, where I worked with my husband during our first year of marriage. It was an honor to run the pediatric ward and to live and learn and work amongst the Kikuyu people . I came home pregnant with the first of my 3 wonderful children and was bitten by the bug of international work and community medicine.
We soon moved to Northampton and I took a job at Holyoke Pediatrics where I worked happily for over 20 years. While there I found that I loved helping moms with breastfeeding and soon became certified as a lactation consultant. A few years later, I joined forces with another PNP to help run a clinic in rural Haiti. I left Holyoke Pediatrics only to pursue my passion for community medicine more locally and joined the Holyoke Health Center in 2016. I was fortunate while there to have the opportunity to start a program to improve the care for the children and youth in foster care. I retired last year to help care for my new granddaughter when she was born.
I love primary care pediatrics and feel so lucky that I get to listen, to learn and to share together with families in the service of their children and watching them thrive. I believe that kindness is the highest form of wisdom and this has always guided my work. I am honored to be working at NAP where the whole team puts this philosophy into action, while always striving for excellence.
I look forward to meeting you and your beautiful children, helping wherever I can: with your nursing baby, with your sick teen or a check in with your child with complex care needs or a simple pre college or well child physical.
Special interests:
Lactation
Children with complex care needs
Children in foster care
Trans children and youth.
When I am not working you can find me in my flower garden or reading books , knitting , quilting, baking cookies, walking in the woods with my dog Molly or caring for my new granddaughter, Luisa Elena.
Education: Cornell University, College of Human Ecology Bachelor of Science, 1981 Columbia University School of Nursing, BSN 1984 Yale University, School of Nursing MSN 1988
