Jennifer Wuerz new leader of Family and Child Service of Schenectady | The Daily Gazette
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SCHENECTADY – Family and Child Service of Schenectady, Inc. has a new executive director.
The 91-year-old private, non-profit organization that offers essential services – respite, community habilitation, elder care, and fiscal intermediary services – for individuals and their families across the life span named Jennifer Wuerz to succeed Bob VanZetta, who retired in April after helping lead the organization for more than 12 years.
Wuerz has served as an adjunct professor of social psychology at Marist College, and worked at the Devereux Foundation, the Maternity Infant Services Network of Columbia Memorial Health, and the Office of Community Research, Inc.
click to enlarge If you ve scheduled a doctor s appointment in the last year, chances are you ve had a virtual appointment. With hospitals and medical practices on high alert for the spread of Covid, minor ailments and health concerns that didn t require an in-person visit shifted largely onto computers and smartphones, where a provider could talk you through your symptoms and even provide a diagnosis from the comfort of your own home. It s hard to believe, then, that prior to the pandemic, many healthcare providers simply didn t offer virtual appointments. We didn t do telehealth because New York State didn t cover it at the time, says Dr. Ronald Pope, Vice President of Medical Services, Care Centers for Columbia Memorial Health (CMH). There were many states that had been working with telehealth previously, but every state was different, and New York had to ramp up pretty quickly when Covid hit.
click to enlarge Dr. Hank Bacon
As the region’s only comprehensive primary and specialty care health system, Columbia Memorial Health (CMH) serves a vital role in keeping our communities in good health. An affiliate of the Albany Med Health System, CMH’s team of expert providers is conveniently located in care centers across Columbia, Greene and Dutchess counties.
One of those providers is Dr. Hank Bacon, who joined the primary care team at CMH in July of 2020. He practices at the Columbia Memorial Family Care office in Hudson, where he sees patients from early childhood through adulthood. Get to know Dr. Bacon in our Q&A below.
HUDSON â Several local businesses are allowing employees to wear plastic face shields and health authorities say they might not be as safe as face masks in protecting against the novel coronavirus.
Store employees at Hannaford Supermarket in Livingston, ShopRite in Hudson and Loweâs in Greenport have been seen wearing clear face shields instead of face masks.
Plastic face shields, which are affixed to the wearerâ head with a headband, may not protect against COVID-19 as well as face masks, according to the Columbia County Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
âThe face shieldâs as not as protective as a mask is,â Jack Mabb, director of the Columbia County Department of Health, said Tuesday. âIt is an alternative that the CDC allows for individuals who truly canât wear a mask.â
HUDSON â A Hudson police officer jumped into the back of a United Parcel Service truck to stop it after the truckâs driver suffered a suspected drug overdose while driving in the city, Hudson Police Chief L. Edward Moore said.
Hudson police responded at about 9:44 a.m. Friday to a report that a UPS truck had struck a vehicle and the victim thought the driver was intoxicated, or that something was wrong with him.
Two police vehicles and the bicycle patrol rushed to the area and located the truck at the corner of North Second and Columbia streets, Moore said.