Medical Director

EASTON -- A doctor who stunned a courtroom this week when he admitted signing blank death certificates for Hartley Hall Nursing Home has resigned as its medical director.A key prosecution witness in the murder trial of former Hartley Hall nursing director Marjorie Karen Alpaugh, Dr. Edward J. Colwell resigned yesterday after the trial ended when Deputy State's Attorney Joel J. Todd agreed to drop the charges.Mrs. Alpaugh was on trial in connection with the death of patient Maidie Lang Shay, 91, who authorities said was given an illegal and lethal dose of morphine medication almost a year ago. Problems with the credibility of Dr. Colwell's testimony forced Mr. Todd to abandon the Alpaugh case.

Upper Chesapeake Health (UCH) is pleased to announce that it has named Dr. Philip Nivatpumin has been named by Upper Chesapeake Health as medical director of the UCH Patricia D. and M. Scot Kaufman Cancer Center. The Kaufman Cancer Center is currently under construction on the UCMC campus in Bel Air and is expected to open in the fall. Nivatpumin is well-known to Harford County, where he is a medical oncologist with Upper Chesapeake Hematology/Oncology, a mainstay in the community.

Erickson Living, manager and developer of Oak Crest retirement community, announced the promotion of Dr. Jeff Landsman, of Bel Air, to vice president and regional medical director. Landsman has served at Oak Crest for more than 10 years where he began as a staff physician and received prior promotions to associate medical director, medical director and regional medical director.  His current responsibilities include leadership for the medical group at Erickson Living communities in Virginia (Ashby Ponds and Greenspring)

Dr. Alice Heisler Hissey, medical director of the University of Maryland Medical Center's Behavioral Pediatrics Clinic who also was a consultant to city public schools, died Oct. 18 of pancreatic cancer at her Columbia home. The former Catonsville and Laurel resident was 75. "When I arrived here six years ago, Alice befriended me and took the time and effort to come by my office and talk about the glorious history of this department," said Dr. Steve J. Czinn, professor and chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he is also physician-in-chief.

Dr. Frances H. Trimble, a gynecologist who had been medical director of Planned Parenthood of Maryland for nearly three decades, died Friday of pneumonia at Roland Park Place. She was 94. "She took Planned Parenthood from a highly criticized small organization at the time and made it into a force," said Dr. J. Courtland Robinson, who succeeded Dr. Trimble as medical director. "It was about women's rights and contraception, and she gave it the medical leadership to make it go. And it grew into a large, large organization.

Dr. Aubrey DeVaughn Richardson, the retired medical director of Keswick Multi-Care Center, died Friday of a heart ailment in his sleep at Roland Park Place. He was 76 and had lived in Guilford.Recognized as a physician advocate for improved medical care in nursing homes, he set criteria that were later adopted by the Maryland Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the federal government."He was an exacting person who set an example of high standards," said Dr. Isabelle MacGregor, Keswick's medical director.

Dr. Charles J. Blazek Jr., a retired internist and former Maryland Casualty Insurance Co. medical director, died of complications from an infection Sunday at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 82. Dr. Blazek was born in Baltimore and raised in Flushing, N.Y. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Columbia University, and served in the Army briefly at the end of World War II. After completing a residency in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, he returned to Baltimore in 1950 and established a private medical practice on St. Paul Street.

A PHYSICIAN serving as the medical director of a managed care company has vast power over patients. Does your primary care physician think you need gall bladder surgery? You better hope the medical director agrees.Despite all this power, there is no way to hold these physicians accountable for their professional judgments. And unless the House Environmental Matters Committee agrees to consider a bill passed by the Senate earlier this week, that egregious loophole in Maryland law will remain in place.

Dr. Conrad Louis Richter, 87, a longtime medical director for the former Glenn L. Martin Co., later Lockheed Martin, died of congestive heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center on Saturday. The former longtime Homeland resident lived at Blakehurst Life Care Community in Towson. The Baltimore native grew up as an only child in the Morrell Park neighborhood and graduated from City College in 1932. His mother was a German immigrant and his father, also of German descent, worked as a brewmaster.

Dr. Arthur T. Hall Sr., a retired surgeon, died Thursday after undergoing surgery at Atlantic General Hospital in Salisbury. The Ocean City resident was 81 and had previously resided in Ten Hills. A general surgeon, he served his internship at St. Agnes Hospital and later practiced there and at Bon Secours. For many years, he saw patients at the Professional Arts Building in Catonsville. In 1958, he was appointed medical director of the Westinghouse Space and Defense Center in Linthicum, a position he held until he retired in 1983.

Dr. Frances H. Trimble, a gynecologist who had been medical director of Planned Parenthood of Maryland for nearly three decades, died Friday of pneumonia at Roland Park Place. She was 94. "She took Planned Parenthood from a highly criticized small organization at the time and made it into a force," said Dr. J. Courtland Robinson, who succeeded Dr. Trimble as medical director. "It was about women's rights and contraception, and she gave it the medical leadership to make it go. And it grew into a large, large organization.

Dr. Georgina Y. Goodwin, a retired anesthesiologist and Postal Service medical director who was an activist for the addicted, died of congestive heart failure Sept. 27 at her residence at St. Elizabeth Hall in Timonium. She was 87. She was born three months' premature at her parents' home in Queens, N.Y. Friends said that at her birth, she weighed 1 pound, 11 ounces. A midwife carried her in a shoe box to a hospital, where she spent three months in an incubator. Her father was an oil company executive and her mother a concert pianist.

IndyCar chief executive officer Randy Bernard seemed to be picking up positive vibes at the Grand Prix of Baltimore. "I'm very tickled with the way it's going," Bernard said during a meeting with a small gathering of media Sunday morning. "The Andretti group has done a good job organizing the event and J.P. Grant has stepped up. All the venders have been taken care of, eliminating any embarrassment. " Bernard also said he was pleased with the Saturday crowd for the American Le Mans Series race Saturday and expects to see even a bigger crowd today.

Erickson Living, manager and developer of Oak Crest retirement community, announced the promotion of Dr. Jeff Landsman, of Bel Air, to vice president and regional medical director. Landsman has served at Oak Crest for more than 10 years where he began as a staff physician and received prior promotions to associate medical director, medical director and regional medical director.  His current responsibilities include leadership for the medical group at Erickson Living communities in Virginia (Ashby Ponds and Greenspring)

Dr. Lewis B. Newberg, a retired ear, nose and throat specialist who turned his personal battle with sleep apnea and snoring into a book in which he combined humor and practical medical advice for those similarly afflicted, died Oct. 22 of heart failure at his Edgewater home. He was 72. The son of a businessman and a homemaker, Dr. Newberg was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and raised in Jamaica, N.Y., where he was a graduate of public schools. After earning a bachelor's degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, he earned his medical degree in 1964 from the Chicago Medical School.

Dr. Lewis B. Newberg, a retired ear, nose and throat specialist who turned his personal battle with sleep apnea and snoring into a book in which he combined humor and practical medical advice for those similarly afflicted, died Oct. 22 of heart failure at his Edgewater home. He was 72. The son of a businessman and a homemaker, Dr. Newberg was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and raised in Jamaica, N.Y., where he was a graduate of public schools. After earning a bachelor's degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, he earned his medical degree in 1964 from the old Chicago Medical School.

Dr. Peter VanVechten Hamill, who was medical director for the pivotal 1964 U.S. surgeon general's report that linked smoking with lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases, died of pneumonia Saturday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 80 and lived in St. Margaret's near Annapolis. Dr. Hamill was scientific director and medical coordinator for the landmark "Smoking and Health" study. Congress responded a year later by requiring cigarette packages to include this warning: "The surgeon general has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health."

State prison officials continued yesterday to debate whether they should add medical staff to evaluate inmates coming into the Central Booking and Intake Center, despite a memorandum from the medical director for the prison system expressing concern about health-care policies there.In the memorandum, written July 25 and obtained by The Sun, Dr. Newton Kendig wrote to Dr. Anthony Swetz, director of inmate health services for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, that he was particularly concerned about Central Booking, and about the view of top prison officials that there was a "minimal need" for medical services there.

As a family physician who delivers babies, I read the article regarding competition among maternity wards ("Baby Battle," Sept. 25). Although the focus of the short piece was clearly on the style of local labor and delivery facilities, it seems remiss to neglect the quality of care as a major influence in a woman's choice of where to deliver. A savvy pregnant medical consumer will not only view the "walls with warm, earthy colors" and hardwood floors during her tour, she will ask relevant questions regarding the hospital's cesarean section rate, support of breast-feeding, and use of episiotomy.

Dr. James Patrick Connaughton, a psychiatrist who was the founder and first director of what became the Johns Hopkins Children and Adolescent Mental Health Center, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at his Cloisters home in the Woodbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 80. The son of a government worker and a shopkeeper, Dr. Connaughton was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. After graduating from Rockwell College, a Tipperary boarding school, he entered University College in Dublin, where he earned his medical degree in 1956.