Casartellos receive JGS Chairman’s Service AwardDate: 6/12/2014 LONGMEADOW – Jewish Geriatric Services, Inc. (JGS) presented the 2014 JGS Chairman’s Service Award to Carol J. Kantany Casartello and Charles (Charlie) R. Casartello Jr., and elected officers and new directors at the Annual Meeting on May 20 at the Julian J. Leavitt Family Jewish Nursing Home.
The Chairman’s Service Award is given annually by JGS board members to individuals who have demonstrated an extraordinary dedication to JGS and the elders and families served by the organization.
Kantany Casartello has served as the clerk-magistrate of the Westfield District Court for more than 20 years. Charlie Casartello is a partner of Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley, PC, in Springfield, focusing on personal injury litigation, workers’ compensation and Social Security law.
Their commitment to JGS and the people they serve began in 2001 when Kantany Casartello’s parents, Christopher and Jane Kantany, moved into Ruth’s House, an assisted living residence.
Kantany Casartello has served on the JGS Board of Director and Executive Committee, as well as many other committees, including Strategic Planning, Governance, and Nominating. She coordinated and participates in an interdenominational Protestant Worship Service at the nursing home, and has trained and served as a Spectrum Home Health and Hospice volunteer. Charlie Casartello is a Eucharistic Minister for Roman Catholics at the nursing home and Ruth’s House. He has also served on the JGS Rebranding Committee since 2012.
“It is an honor to pay tribute to Carol and Charlie for their long and varied support and service to JGS. It has been my pleasure to work with them on several projects, like the formation of the Ruth’s House Family Council, that have had a positive impact on the quality of service delivered across our service continuum,” Susan Kline, outgoing chair of the JGS Board of Directors, said.
Dr. Robert Baevsky, physician, and director of Informatics at the Emergency Department of Baystate Medical Center, was installed as the new chairman of the board. Baevsky first started volunteering with JGS in 1972, and has served as treasurer and participated on numerous committees, including the Medical Services Committee. He has also had loved ones cared for at JGS. “It is a privilege to be your next chairman and a true honor to join the ranks of those before me, who helped govern and shape JGS, and plan for a new JGS that will transform not only our brick and mortar, but also usher in a new world of care across all services,” Baevsky said in accepting the appointment.
"This is an exciting time for JGS a continuation of a long tradition of caring and embracing culture change that will culminate with a new name for our organization and a new world of person-centered care in more home-like, intimate surroundings, improving not only the care we provide, but also enhancing the dignity of those living here,” Martin Baicker, president and CEO, JGS, said.
Other officers elected to a two-year term are: Susan Goldsmith, 1st vice chair; Rudy D’Agostino, treasurer; and Carol J. Kantany Casartello, clerk. Elected to new second year terms on the board of directors were: Mark Dindas; Brad Foster; and Amy Wistreich.
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