Year in Review: Health

A Boston Public Schools (BPS) student practices chest compressions on a CPR dummy as part of Children’s Hospital Boston’s BPS Sports Medicine Initiative, supported by Philips Healthcare, the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation and Comcast SportsNet. This year, the initiative placed HeartStart automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in 17 BPS schools to help treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest, a leading cause of death in young athletes. (Photo courtesy of Children’s Hospital Boston)

Valerie C. Caldwell, Esq., sings during the musical selection of Children Hospital Boston’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, held in January, 2008, in honor of the late civil rights leader. (Photo courtesy of Children’s Hospital Boston)

Douglas Brooks, vice president of health services for JRI Health (center), joins Wendell K. Chestnut, senior vice president of global business banking at Bank of America (left) and Dr. Valerie E. Stone, associate chief of the general medicine unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in this December 2007 photo. A division of the nonprofit Justice Resource Institute, JRI Health celebrated its 17th year in existence in 2008, continuing its efforts to bring health care to those on the margins of society. (Kathryn Hall photo)

Last year, Children’s Hospital Boston earned Magnet status, an exclusive designation developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to recognize health care organizations that exemplify nursing excellence. Only 5 percent of hospitals worldwide earn such recognition. Children’s became the first exclusively pediatric hospital in New England to receive the distinction. (Photo courtesy of Children’s Hospital Boston)

Partners HealthCare and its founding hospitals, Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General, hosted National Public Radio political correspondent, Fox News analyst and “Eyes on the Prize” author Juan Williams in a daylong tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Joining Williams (center) were (from left): Thomas Glynn, Matt Fishman, Lisa Ponton, Wanda McClain, Dr. Selwyn Rogers and Angela Crutchfield. (Photo courtesy of Partners HealthCare)

Dr. Francis Fynn-Thompson (standing, left) stands with all of the children on whom he operated during his medical mission to Accra, Ghana. In April, the Banner told the story of how Fynn-Thompson, a cardiac surgeon at Children’s Hospital Boston who is originally from Ghana, traveled to his homeland with a staff of 27 health professionals to not only perform life-saving operations on Ghanaian youth, but also teach his African counterparts how to provide care for their own. (Matt Cyr photo)

In March, the Banner profiled the staff of the local health services project Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT), who use a gentle human touch to help HIV patients manage their illnesses and emotional well-being. PACT staffer Jason Villarreal (front row, left, seated) said he makes house calls to boost clients’ spirits and help them stick to the complex combination of medicines they must take. Executive Director Dr. Heidi Behforouz (seated behind Villarreal) said PACT’s team of community health promoters, like Villarreal, are chosen for “their incredible passion and compassion.” (Photo courtesy of PACT)