Around BIDMC

Little Leaguers
Make a Big Trip to Fenway

On April 22, the Boston Red Sox reached out to kids on a namesake community team coached by BIDMC's Paul Spirn, MD, radiology, when they invited the Mission Hill Little League Red Sox (right) to tour Fenway Park. Spirn coaches the little league team with George Brennan, the league's founder and a coach since 1953. “As little league programs go, ours is a particularly friendly and supportive one," says Spirn. "We never turn anyone away, thanks to sponsorships from local merchants and medical and educational institutions in the Longwood Medical Area – including BIDMC.”

Spirn’s team of third through sixth graders, plus two members of last year’s championship team, made the excursion to Fenway Park as guests of the Boston Red Sox.  “We toured the entire park,” Spirn said. “The boys were surprised how far it is from deepest center field to home plate.  They loved the stories our Red Sox guide told about the decal commemorating Jackie Robinson’s number ’42,’ retired by all major league baseball teams, and the bleacher seat where a Yankee fan was beaned by a Ted Williams home run, then changed his allegiance to the Red Sox, prompting the Boston Herald to proclaim, ‘Williams Knocks Sense into Yankee Fan.’”

Spirn adds, “I am always looking for ways to keep the kids on my team engaged and enthusiastic. This visit really meant a lot to them.”

Staff Appointment

Robert C. Hagberg, MD, has joined the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Department of Surgery, division of cardiothoracic surgery at BIDMC. Hagberg specializes in open and endovascular complex aortic surgery, as well as minimally invasive atrial fibrillation and valvular surgery. His clinical and research interests include novel modalities for the treatment of valvular and cardiovascular diseases, including percutaneous valve technology. Prior to joining BIDMC, Hagberg was in private practice and an assistant professor of clinical surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He previously served as an attending cardiothoracic surgeon at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Virginia, where he was the first in the region to use advanced robotic systems to perform intricate cardiac procedures. Appointments: (63)2-8381

New Benefits Programs

Human resources is pleased to let BIDMC employees know about several new and expanded benefits:

• BIDMC will offer a Retiree Medical Access Program as of May 1. Employees who are retiring, and their spouses, will have the opportunity to purchase either Retiree Medical or Retiree Medical with Medicare part D coverage at group rates. The plan is administered by National Employee Benefit Companies (NEBCO), which is mailing detailed information on this plan to BIDMC employees who are age 63 and older. Written information will also be available in the benefits office at 169 Pilgrim Road, after May 1. Questions about this program can be addressed to benefits at (63)2-9400 or by e-mailing benefits@bidmc.harvard.edu.

• Long-term care insurance is now available to BIDMC employees through Allianz Life of North America. The primary purpose of this type of insurance is to protect retirement savings and other assets from the high cost of long-term care. Human resources has selected RetirementGuard, LLC to explain the long-term care benefits available to you. Details about long-term care and about our plan are available online at www.retirementguard.com/bidmc. If you have questions, or would like to schedule a meeting on campus, please contact RetirementGuard at helpme@retirementguard.com,
or call them toll free at 888-793-6111.

• Parents in a Pinch, Inc., has long provided BIDMC employees with dependable, 24/7, in-home backup childcare. Now BIDMC employees can take advantage of Parents in a Pinch’s new around-the-clock, in-home backup eldercare program. Certified nursing aides and home health aides contracted through Griswold Special Care are available to provide elders with short-term companionship, prepare meals, do light housekeeping, give prompts for medications and accompany elders to doctors’ appointments.

Of course, Parents in a Pinch still offers great childcare programs as well. Thoroughly screened, experienced caregivers are available to watch your children during school vacations, when your child is under the weather, or any other time when you have a gap in childcare arrangements and need to work.

BIDMC subsidizes the fees for eldercare and work-related backup childcare, so you pay $13 per hour plus the caregiver’s transportation costs. You can use your childcare/ eldercare benefits up to 20 times per contract year.

Information on Parents in a Pinch: www.parentsinapinch.com or 617-739-5437