At the annual meetings of Canton-Potsdam Hospital (CPH), Gouverneur Hospital (GH), and St. Lawrence Health System (SLHS), Dr. John Dewar and Dr. Sandra McCloy, and the Gouverneur Rescue Squad were presented with 2018 Board of Directors’ Community Service Awards.

The award is the highest honor bestowed by each board of directors and is given annually to individuals or organizations that have improved the health of communities in the North Country.

Dr. John Dewar and Dr. Sandra McCloy were presented with Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s Community Service Award for their leadership and dedication to enhancing access to care. Dewar served multiple terms as a CPH board member and as medical director of the detox program. McCloy helped found Hospice and Palliative Care of St. Lawrence Valley and served as their medical director, a role from which she only recently stepped down. She continues to provide Hospice with on-call provider coverage and provides in-person patient evaluations. She has demonstrated unending devotion and compassion to countless families who have faced the death of a loved one.

“Drs. Dewar and McCloy have set the model for delivery of care. They have built community health networks, enhanced access to healthy food options, progressed hospice care, and continue to serve as mentors for the next generation of physicians,” said CPH Board of Directors Chair Mark Cornett. “Together they recognized the need for rural practitioners who are familiar with our unique North Country culture, and founded our Rural Medical Education program (RMED). This program has helped to recruit in areas with an acute shortage of physicians, including within our own region. Dr. Timothy Atkinson is a product of the RMED program and a provider we’ve come to respect and trust with our healthcare,” Cornett said.

The Gouverneur Rescue Squad was presented with Gouverneur Hospital’s Community Service Award for its commitment to high-level transport care. The squad provides critical-care transport within the tri-county area. They are available 24/7 and are authorized to hang blood during transport, a designation that only three other squads in New York State hold. Over the course of a year, the team provided over 400 transports and responded to 1,498 emergency calls. In addition, they are actively engaged in the Gouverneur community where they provide first aid and CPR training, and attend events like the Breast Cancer Walk, the St. Lawrence County Fair, and Let’s Not Meet By Accident.

“They have advanced level-care that’s comparable to none. Upon arriving at the Hospital, Gouverneur Rescue Squad’s team is prepared, professional, and very thorough throughout the transition of care with the emergency room providers,” said GH Board of Directors Chair Mike Burgess. “They are an integral part of our emergency team, even serving as consultants during the design phase of the emergency room expansion project. Their outside perspective ensured that we considered all points of care related to emergency services.”

Awardees are chosen by each Hospital’s Board of Directors from a slate of nominations. For more information, contact Corporate Communications at (315) 261-5404.