QMG Stories

At 20 years old, Abi­gail L. faced an unex­pect­ed health cri­sis after mov­ing from Arkansas to attend Quin­cy Uni­ver­si­ty. What seemed like typ­i­cal adjust­ment symp­toms — fatigue, weight loss, and feel­ing cold — turned out to be warn­ing signs of some­thing much more seri­ous. After falling asleep unex­pect­ed­ly at work, Abi­gail sought help at QMG Now Urgent Care, lead­ing to a colonoscopy at the QMG Surgery Cen­ter. There, she received a life-alter­ing diag­no­sis: col­orec­tal can­cer. Though rare for some­one so young, her case reflects a ris­ing trend of younger adults diag­nosed with the disease.

Our fifth and final annu­al award recog­ni­tion is for the QMG Ris­ing Star Award and it was pre­sent­ed to Natal­ie D., Patient Access Coor­di­na­tor. Recip­i­ents of this dis­tin­guished award demon­strates out­stand­ing promise in their respec­tive field, exhibits lead­er­ship and integri­ty in serv­ing patients and the com­mu­ni­ty, cul­ti­vates col­lab­o­ra­tion amongst their team, and dis­plays curios­i­ty, cre­ativ­i­ty, and diver­si­ty of thought to cre­ate change and make an impact in field of healthcare.

Our fourth QMG Annu­al Award recog­ni­tion is for the Ris­ing Star Award and it was pre­sent­ed to Chase M., Reg­is­tered Phar­ma­cist in Infu­sion Ther­a­py. Recip­i­ents of this dis­tin­guished award demon­strates out­stand­ing promise in their respec­tive field, exhibits lead­er­ship and integri­ty in serv­ing patients and the com­mu­ni­ty, cul­ti­vates col­lab­o­ra­tion amongst their team, and dis­plays curios­i­ty, cre­ativ­i­ty, and diver­si­ty of thought to cre­ate change and make an impact in field of healthcare. 

Joan­na Shipe’s health jour­ney began after her father’s mas­sive heart attack and con­ges­tive heart fail­ure diag­no­sis dur­ing her col­lege years. She left school to care for him, but his pass­ing became a wake-up call that high­light­ed the toll neglect­ing her own health had tak­en. Inspired by her father’s resilience, Joan­na com­mit­ted to trans­form­ing her health. Through weight loss surg­eries, revers­ing dia­betes, and stay­ing active, she achieved sig­nif­i­cant mile­stones despite set­backs. Con­cerned about her fam­i­ly his­to­ry of heart dis­ease, she sought care from QMG providers, includ­ing Dr. Divya Batra and Dr. Adam Rafi, who helped her address severe heart block­ages. Joan­na cred­its their com­pas­sion­ate sup­port for her progress and remains moti­vat­ed by her father’s exam­ple, embrac­ing the fight to pri­or­i­tize her health every day.

Each hol­i­day sea­son, Quincy’s Waver­ing Park trans­forms into a daz­zling win­ter won­der­land for the Fes­ti­val of Lights, a cher­ished tra­di­tion led by Eric Doo­ley and his fam­i­ly. For years, Eric’s health chal­lenges, includ­ing severe knee pain stem­ming from a high school ACL injury, made the phys­i­cal­ly demand­ing work of cre­at­ing the dis­play near­ly impossible.

Turn­ing to Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) for help, Eric began treat­ment with Nurse Prac­ti­tion­er Mary Beth Deck­er and even­tu­al­ly under­went knee replace­ment surgery with Ortho­pe­dic Sur­geon Dr. George Crickard III. The surgery was life-chang­ing, allow­ing Eric to walk with­out pain and ful­ly embrace his role in the Fes­ti­val of Lights.

A strong rela­tion­ship with a pedi­a­tri­cian can make all the dif­fer­ence in car­ing for chil­dren, as one fam­i­ly expe­ri­enced with Dr. Todd Porter from Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG). Dr. Porter has pro­vid­ed valu­able sup­port, includ­ing coor­di­nat­ing care with spe­cial­ists, which has eased the fam­i­ly’s stress. His abil­i­ty to lis­ten and con­nect with the kids helps them feel com­fort­able dis­cussing their health, build­ing trust over time. The fam­i­ly is grate­ful for Dr. Porter’s com­pas­sion­ate care, know­ing their chil­dren are always in good hands.

Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) and Cathe­dral of Wor­ship are team­ing up for the fourth annu­al Man Up, an event aimed at encour­ag­ing men to pri­or­i­tize their health. The event offers expert advice and free screen­ings to help atten­dees make proac­tive steps towards a health­i­er lifestyle, and in Fonza’s case, a life-sav­ing diagnosis. 

Nation­al Sis­ters’ Day pro­vides a per­fect oppor­tu­ni­ty to cel­e­brate the spe­cial con­nec­tion shared between sis­ters. At Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG), nurs­es Evan P. and Mor­gan S. are not only sis­ters, but they also work side-by-side in our Obstet­rics & Gyne­col­o­gy department.

Rebec­ca Mot­ley, a nurse at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) for 25 years, and her daugh­ter LeighAn­na Hill, who has been with QMG since 2001, share a spe­cial bond — not just one of fam­i­ly, but of a call­ing to care for oth­ers. Both work at our QMG Pitts­field Clinic.