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FDRHPO Announces 2021 Community Health Hero Award
Recipients for Lewis, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence Counties
Published: November 18, 2021
at 03:45 p.m.
By: Press Release from Fort Drum Regional Health
Planning Organization
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THREE NORTH COUNTRY RESIDENTS HONORED AS
COMMUNITY HEALTH HEROES
Individuals from Jefferson, Lewis, and St.
Lawrence counties receive 2021 Community Health Hero Award, given by the
Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization (FDRHPO) and North Country
Health Compass partners.
WATERTOWN, NY November 18, 2021 – Fort Drum Regional Health Planning
Organization (FDRHPO) and North Country Health Compass Partners are pleased
to introduce the recipients of the 2021 Community Health Hero Award. One
Health Hero was chosen in each of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence
counties. This year’s Community Health Heroes are:
· Jefferson County – Asim Kichloo,
MD, Chief of Hospital Medicine,
Samaritan Medical Center
· Lewis County – Suzanne Matuszczak, Licensed Practical Nurse (Retired), Volunteer
· St. Lawrence County – Andrew Williams, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Community Health Center of
the North Country; Associate Chief Medical Officer, St. Lawrence Health;
President, St. Lawrence County Board of Health; Assistant Clinical Professor,
University of Rochester School of Medicine
The Community Health Hero Award – given in honor of National
Rural Health Day (November 18, 2021) – recognizes North
Country residents who have demonstrated outstanding public service and a
commitment to improving the health and wellness of their community.
Nominations were accepted from the community-at-large, and winners were
selected by members of the North Country Health Compass Partners.
“Rural communities often face unique challenges that can have
a lasting impact on overall health and wellness, a current example being
the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to disproportionately impact our
region,” states Pat Fontana, FDRHPO’s Director of Population Health. “The
purpose of the Community Health Hero awards is to recognize special
individuals in our rural communities who have done extraordinary things to
help mitigate those health challenges and provide a better quality of life
for rural residents. We are fortunate to have Sue Matuszczak,
Dr. Williams, and Dr. Kichloo caring for the
North Country community.”
Here is some background on each of the recipients:
Dr. Asim Kichloo is a Hospitalist and Chief of Hospital
Medicine at Samaritan Medical Center. Over the past year, Dr. Kichloo has served as Director of Samaritan’s COVID-19
unit. According to his nominators, “he has embraced this role with all its
risks, responsibilities and exposure to death,
because he feels a great responsibility to help those around him. He is
selfless and dedicated not just on good days but in times of uncertainty
and tragedy. This benefits his patients, their families, and even the staff
around him who look to him for reassurance and leadership.” Dr. Kichloo helped to spearhead a live television call-in
event, “The Doctors Are In: COVID-19 Questions and Answers,” during which
over 250 calls were answered by a panel of physicians in the span of two
hours. In addition to his work during the COVID pandemic, he mentors and
educates doctors-in-training as Program Director of Samaritan’s Internal
Medicine Residency Program.
“The best part of caring for our patients, especially in
COVID times, was to connect with them at a very different level. At this
time, we did not only take care of patients as physicians, but we had to
take care of them as family members as well. When their family members
could not come and visit them; when their loved ones could not come and
feed them, there were a lot of times when we did it personally. And I think
that was the most beautiful part of what we did.”
To view Dr. Kichloo’s Community
Health Hero video, follow this link: https://youtu.be/dI3HRk-AcGM
Suzanne “Sue” Matuszczak is a Lewis County native, working in the
healthcare field in Lewis County her entire career, including being a
nursing instructor at Jefferson-Lewis BOCES. Sue’s students have shared
what an inspiration she was to them, helping many single moms complete their
continuing education through her mentorship. As soon as COVID vaccines
became available, she assisted Lewis County Public Health in vaccinating
community members. According to her daughter (and nominator), “She is a
huge advocate for individuals to get vaccinated and took it upon herself to
reach out to her friends and family to let them know when she was working
so she could give them the vaccine. In addition to her passion for caring
for humans, she volunteers every day at the Lewis County Humane Society.
She is also a member of Lewis County Friends of Hospice.”
To view Sue’s Community Health Hero video, follow this
link: https://youtu.be/rkE3m4DXWAk
Dr. Andrew Williams holds many roles, including Chief Medical Officer for
Community Health Center of the North Country, Associate Chief Medical
Officer at St. Lawrence Health, President of the St. Lawrence County Board
of Health, and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Rochester
School of Medicine. Dr. Williams spends a great amount of time providing
care to many members of the Amish Community in St. Lawrence County, where
he provides care, offers professional advice and
educates the Amish without offending their way of life. During the
pandemic, he provided lifesaving education on physical distancing and
mask-wearing to the Amish community. According to his nominator, Dr.
Williams’ “leadership throughout the COVID pandemic has been
mission-critical to the response of healthcare providers in St. Lawrence
County and the entire North Country region. Decisions were always based on
the facts available, and not delivered through fear tactics, but via
measured and well-designed responses to the situation on the ground.”
To view Dr. Williams’ Community Health Hero video, follow
this link: https://youtu.be/G60loPx9QzU
For more about National Rural Health Day,
visit https://nosorh.org/calendar-events/nrhd/.
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