Community Health Advocate, Rebecca Bialecki, Joins Heywood Healthcare as Vice President for Communi

GARDNER, Mass. - Nov. 14, 2014 - PRLog -- Athol, MA – Heywood Healthcare is pleased to announce that long-time community advocate and Athol Hospital and Heywood Healthcare Trustee, Rebecca Bialecki, has joined the Heywood Healthcare Senior Leadership team as Vice President for Community Health. “We are extremely pleased to welcome Rebecca to our leadership team at Heywood Healthcare,” said President and CEO Win Brown. “Her incomparable background of community health innovation and advocacy is not only an exceptional asset to our organization; she is a catalyst that drives health empowerment for people in need in the North Quabbin region.”

Well-known in the North Quabbin area as a visionary and voice for under-served and at-risk populations, Bialecki, who most recently served as Executive Director of the North Quabbin Community coalition, brings her extensive leadership skills to Heywood Healthcare focusing on improving the overall health of our region’s families. In her role, she is responsible for directing the development of Heywood Healthcare’s proposed behavioral health campus in Petersham, coordinating the health system’s multi-million dollar CHART grant projects and helping to spearhead planning, fundraising and implementation of Athol Hospital’s new Emergency Department and medical office building.

A longtime resident of Orange, Bialecki is a graduate of Orange public schools and holds a doctorate degree from Harvard University. She belongs to a number of area boards including the Montachusett Enterprise Center, Athol Credit Union, Orange Board of Health and the Opiate Task Force. Bialecki also serves as Area Board President of the Department of Children and Families and was past president of the Athol/Orange Rotary Club and the Leadership Team for Children's Behavioral Health.

As part of the transition from her role of Executive Director of the North Quabbin Community Coalition, the agency will become an affiliate of Heywood Healthcare.

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About Heywood Healthcare
Heywood Healthcare is an independent, community-owned healthcare system located in the North Central region of Massachusetts. It is comprised of Heywood Hospital, a non-profit, 134-bed acute-care hospital in Gardner, MA; Athol Hospital, a 25 bed not-for-profit, Critical Access Hospital in Athol, MA; Heywood Medical Group with primary care physicians and specialists located throughout the region; and four satellite facilities -Winchendon Health Center and Murdock School-based Health Center in Winchendon, West River Health Center in Orange and Heywood Rehabilitation Center in Gardner.

About Athol Hospital
A member of the Heywood Healthcare system, Athol Hospital is a 25-bed non-profit, acute care and outpatient facility serving the communities of the North Quabbin region of Massachusetts. It is designated as a Critical Access Hospital and Primary Stroke Center, licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and accredited by the Joint Commission.

About Heywood Hospital
Part of the Heywood Healthcare system, Heywood Hospital is a 134-bed acute care hospital in Gardner, MA, which provides a broad range of high quality medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric and behavioral health services on an inpatient and outpatient basis. The hospital’s Centers of Excellence include the Watkins Center for Emergency and Acute Care; the Center for Behavioral Health; the LaChance Maternity Center; the Diabetes Center; and the Heywood Heart Center, an affiliate of the Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence at UMass Memorial Health Care.