Author: Kristin Mosher
Dr. Vikram Verma joins St. Mary’s Amsterdam Family Practice
Dr. Ashley Telisky Joins St. Mary’s Healthcare as Director of Specialty Practice Operations & Physician Advisor
AMSTERDAM, N.Y., July 20, 2026—St. Mary’s Healthcare has named Dr. Ashley Telisky director of specialty practice operations and physician advisor. She has 10 years of leadership experience in emergency medicine and hospital operations, most recently as chief logistics officer and vice chair of system integration for the Albany Med Health System.
At St. Mary’s, Dr. Telisky will be instrumental in ensuring the continued success of the hospital’s specialty practices, including ear, nose and throat (ENT), gastroenterology, general surgery, OB/GYN, podiatry, pulmonology and urology. Dr. Telisky will also work across the organization to advance strategic initiatives around length of stay, readmission and clinical documentation.
Since 2025, St. Mary’s has welcomed more than 40 providers in 13 specialties as part of its emphasis on strategic growth. Many are attracted by the opportunity to be part of a community-based organization that’s quickly earned a reputation for quality, safety and its positive work culture.
With a Leapfrog Safety Grade of “A” and an infection rate of zero for Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections, St. Mary’s is one of the safest hospitals in the Capital Region. In addition, its associates have voted St. Mary’s a Top Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
“As word spreads about the transformation underway at St. Mary’s, we’re seeing increased interest from talented applicants who want to be part of a smaller, independent organization, where they can have a more direct impact on care outcomes for our community,” said Jeff Methven, president and CEO of St. Mary’s Healthcare. “At a time when hospitals are finding it hard to recruit and retain talent, our growing reputation for quality and workplace culture has allowed St. Mary’s to have success.”
A graduate of the University at Albany, State University of New York, Dr. Telisky earned her medical degree from Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed a fellowship in clinical anatomy at Kansas City University and a residency in emergency medicine at Albany Medical College.
Dr. Telisky also has an MBA in healthcare leadership from Rockhurst University in Kansas City. She is board certified in emergency medicine.
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About St. Mary’s Healthcare: St. Mary’s Healthcare has been providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to the people of Montgomery and Fulton counties since 1903. At St. Mary’s Hospital, the Rao Outpatient Pavilion and other locations, the local, independent healthcare organization offers the comprehensive, critical services its community needs and deserves. For more information: (518) 842-1900, www.smha.org or www.facebook.com/smha.org.
Contact:
Kristin Mosher
Director, Marketing and Communications
St. Mary’s Healthcare, Amsterdam
(518) 770-7505
St. Mary’s Healthcare Names Director of Emergency Management and Workplace Safety
AMSTERDAM, N.Y., June 29, 2026—Caitlin Shanley has joined St. Mary’s Healthcare as director of emergency management and workplace safety.
She plays a key role in ensuring a safe environment for St. Mary’s patients, associates and visitors. Shanley also collaborates with regional partners on disaster preparedness and response, and other emergency-related challenges.
Emergency management has taken on increased significance in recent years. Communities and organizations must be prepared to respond to the heightened risk of workplace violence, more powerful and frequent storms, and cyberattacks and other technology-related threats.
“Safety is paramount at St. Mary’s,” said Jeff Methven, president and CEO of the local, independent healthcare organization. “Whether you’re an associate, patient or visitor, you deserve to be able to focus on the care experience without other worries or distractions.
“Caitlin’s knowledge and expertise will be instrumental in ensuring that St. Mary’s keeps pace with our community’s evolving emergency management needs,” he added. “She also has strong ties to the region and shares our commitment to keeping our community healthy and safe.”
A Ballston Spa native, Shanley returned to the region after spending the past decade studying and working in healthcare systems in Providence, Rhode Island; St. Louis, Missouri; and Boston, Massachusetts.
Most recently, she worked with Boston Medical Center’s Emergency Management and Special Pathogens Unit, where she supported hospital preparedness initiatives, infectious disease response planning, disaster exercises, and systemwide hazard vulnerability analysis.
Shanley earned a Master of Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a post-baccalaureate certificate in pre-medical and pre-health studies from Providence College.
About St. Mary’s Healthcare: St. Mary’s Healthcare has been providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to the people of Montgomery and Fulton counties since 1903. At St. Mary’s Hospital, the Rao Outpatient Pavilion and other locations, the local, independent healthcare organization offers the comprehensive, critical services its community needs and deserves. For more information: (518) 842-1900, www.smha.org or www.facebook.com/smha.org.
St. Mary’s Healthcare Recognized as National Safe Sleep Hospital
AMSTERDAM, N.Y., June 15, 2026—St. Mary’s Healthcare has earned gold certification—the highest level of recognition—as a Cribs for Kids® National Safe Sleep Hospital.
This designation is reserved for hospitals that demonstrate adherence to all Cribs for Kids guidelines for promoting safe infant sleep. Guidelines cover staff, patient and other caregiver education and training, community outreach, quality improvement efforts, and other safe sleep practices recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Sleep-related deaths are a leading cause of U.S. infant mortality, claiming the lives of about 3,500 babies each year. The national Cribs for Kids initiative is dedicated to preventing these deaths by educating parents and caregivers about safe-sleep practices. Hospitals like St. Mary’s play a key role in this life-saving program.
“We know that one of the most effective ways to prevent sleep-related infant deaths is to teach parents and caregivers about safe sleep practices and to model that behavior at St. Mary’s,” said Macey Rorick, director of women and family services and maternity at St. Mary’s. “Parents and other caregivers whose infants receive care at St. Mary’s will see these safe-sleep practices in action and will be encouraged to use them at home.”
Earning the certification required a comprehensive, coordinated effort, within and beyond the St. Mary’s organization. Rorick cited support from the hospital’s nursing, maternity, education and other teams, OB/GYN practices, urgent care centers, and community organizations that promoted—and continue to promote—the safe-sleeping initiative.
“We are all partners in safeguarding the region’s babies,” she said.
The Cribs for Kids certification is the latest example of St. Mary’s commitment to best practices that help ensure the highest levels of quality and safety. The hospital is recognized by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield as a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care. St. Mary’s also has an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group, making St. Mary’s one of the Capital Region’s safest hospitals.
More information on the Cribs for Kids® National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program is available at www.cribsforkids.org/hospitalcertification
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About St. Mary’s Healthcare: St. Mary’s Healthcare has been providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to the people of Montgomery and Fulton counties since 1903. At St. Mary’s Hospital, the Rao Outpatient Pavilion and other locations, the local, independent healthcare organization offers the comprehensive, critical services its community needs and deserves. For more information: (518) 842-1900, www.smha.org or www.facebook.com/smha.org.
Contact:
Kristin Mosher
Director, Marketing and Communications
St. Mary’s Healthcare, Amsterdam
(518) 770-7505
kristin.mosher@nysmha.org
Meet Our Nurses: Courtney Dicarlo, RN
Finding Family and Purpose in Nursing at St. Mary’s
Growing up in Scotia, NY, Courtney DiCarlo knew at a pretty young age that she wanted to be a nurse. But it wasn’t until she got on the job at St. Mary’s Healthcare that she fully understood just how much she wanted this career. Because that’s when she discovered that being a nurse, in addition to helping others, was also about becoming part of a team, pulling together, to help make a real difference in people’s lives.
“Working at St. Mary’s I became part of a tight-knit community,” Courtney says.
“Everyone knows each other here. It feels like family. And it’s such a great place to learn and grow.”
After graduating from Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Courtney started out in Med Surg at St. Mary’s. What she appreciated right away was how easy it was to get guidance. “I feel like at a big city hospital that would have been difficult,” she says. “I always found that my fellow nurses with years of experience were right there for me, happy to share their knowledge and expertise.”
Courtney has her eyes set now on becoming like those nurses who’ve given her a leg up. With the financial help and encouragement of St. Mary’s, she’s pursuing her BA and hopes eventually to earn her MA.
“At the beginning I have to admit it was a little scary,” she says. “But I feel confident now. I’m on my way. St. Mary’s has done that for me.”
To learn more about nursing at St. Mary’s Healthcare, visit our Nursing Careers page.
When it Comes to Patient Safety, We Get an A.
There’s a story behind the story of how St. Mary’s earned an “A” from the Leapfrog Group.
The main story, of course, is how this hospital made patient safety a top priority, and did such an outstanding job that Leapfrog gave it the highest possible grade.
But there’s also the story of how St. Mary’s went about proving how deserving it is to receive this A grade – something that’s not easy to do, especially for a community hospital of this size.
From the start, let’s be clear about why this whole story matters: Leapfrog Group is a highly respected national organization that reports critical safety and quality information to help patients find the best medical care. It makes hospitals undergo a pretty rigorous exam in order to achieve a high grade.
Okay, now let’s pick up the story from the perspective of Meredith Borak, executive director, quality and performance excellence and chief nursing executive. She was one of the key players in the effort to achieve the Leapfrog A designation.
“First, let’s recognize that it takes consistency, accountability, and a commitment from every single person across the organization to makes this happen,” she says. “What this is really about is our people — our nurses, physicians, technicians, environmental services teams and support staff. Everyone who shows up every day with a focus on doing the right thing for our patients. Because it’s the small moments that matter – the double checks, the attention to detail, the willingness to speak up – that all creates a culture of safety.”
But, according to Meredith, there also needed to be a series of concrete measures taken to meet the demanding Leapfrog criteria. She and her team, including Julie Fenton, executive director, clinical operations in nursing, spent months putting new systems and protocols in place.
These included:
- Nurses using bar code scanning to ensure the right meds and right doses are going to the right patient — every time and in every clinical setting
- Providers electronically ordering meds and establishing the built-in safety alerts
- Ensuring that the most critical patients have certified providers managing their care, and bringing a multidisciplinary team to the bedside to discuss the patients plan of care
- Putting hand hygiene at the forefront through consistent education, surveillance and feedback to prevent the spread of infection
- Creating a culture of trust and transparency that rewards good catches and encourages all hospital staff to speak up for patient safety
- A point of care leadership approach that fosters a culture of safety through open communication and inclusive decision making.
In other words, it takes a village. And it takes a plan that’s carefully executed over time.And, of course, it’s not just about earning an A.
“We did all this for our patients and families,” Meredith says. “It’s about earning their trust and providing them with peace of mind. It means when you come through our doors, you can trust that your safety is our top priority, not just in what we do, but how we do it.”
In the end, this A is something our entire community can be proud of. It means the level of care available right here at home is something special.
St. Mary’s Healthcare Earns an A for Patient Safety
St. Mary’s Healthcare Earns an A for Patient Safety
Fewer than one-third of N.Y. hospitals received Leapfrog Group’s highest grade
AMSTERDAM, N.Y., May 6, 2026—St. Mary’s Healthcare earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety. Just 28.2% of New York state hospitals—including two in the Capital Region—received Leapfrog’s highest grade.
Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country using evidence-based measures of patient safety focused exclusively on errors, accidents, injuries and infections. Grades are updated twice a year, in the spring and fall.
“Our ‘A’ grade is a national validation of the level of safety St. Mary’s patients can count on when they turn to us for care,” said Jeff Methven, St. Mary’s president and CEO. “In 12 months, we’ve improved our grade from a low C to a high A. That’s a remarkable affirmation of our commitment to our community and our determination to become their most trusted choice for healthcare.
“It’s also a total team effort,” he added, “an accomplishment made possible by the dedication of every St. Mary’s associate, in every area of our organization, every day.”
The local independent healthcare organization is in the midst of a comprehensive, strategic turnaround plan that emphasizes smart growth; enhanced recruitment and retention; quality, safety and the patient experience; and a supportive work culture. The Leapfrog A is the latest in a string of successes.
In the past two years, St. Mary’s has added 90+ providers and 130+ associates, reopened shuttered offices, introduced much-needed medical specialties, increased investments in equipment and employees, and been recognized as a “Top Workplace” two years in a row.
The goal is to help secure St. Mary’s financial future by differentiating the community hospital on quality, safety, compassion and employee engagement. “We are on a journey together,” Methven said, “creating an organization where associates feel valued and, even more important, take pride in recommending us to family and friends.”
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About St. Mary’s Healthcare: St. Mary’s Healthcare has been providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to the people of Montgomery and Fulton counties since 1903. At St. Mary’s Hospital, the Rao Outpatient Pavilion and other locations, the local, independent healthcare organization offers the comprehensive, critical services its community needs and deserves. For more information: (518) 842-1900, www.smha.org or www.facebook.com/smha.org.
About The Leapfrog Group: Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
Contact:
Kristin Mosher
Director, Marketing and Communications
St. Mary’s Healthcare, Amsterdam
(518) 770-7505
kristin.mosher@nysmha.org
St. Mary’s Healthcare Recognized as Top Workplace—Again
AMSTERDAM, N.Y., April 14, 2026—St. Mary’s Healthcare has earned a place among the Capital Region’s “Top Workplaces” for the second year in a row.
The independent community hospital is a Times Union Top Workplace 2026. St. Mary’s is the only acute care hospital in the Capital Region to make the list in the 15 years the Times Union has been recognizing the region’s top employers.
“We’ve made it a priority to build a culture of collaboration, innovation and inclusion—one that’s committed to the growth of all who work here. This award affirms that we’re succeeding,” St. Mary’s Healthcare President and CEO Jeff Methven said.
“Our team is extraordinary in their commitment to our mission, our community and each other,” he added, “and that is instrumental in making St. Mary’s a Top Workplace.”
The annual Top Workplaces list is based solely on employee feedback, via a confidential survey on work-related measures such as feeling respected and supported, enabled to grow and empowered to execute. The survey is conducted by Energage, a workplace culture research firm.
St. Mary’s is in the midst of a strategic turnaround plan that includes investing in much-needed services, compensation, benefits, recognition programs, and professional and career development. The local community hospital also emphasizes transparency and communication and has increased employee involvement in decision-making.As a result, patient volumes are up, the hospital is adding specialties and providers, and the number of associates has increased by 9% since 2023 to more than 1,600.
“Word is spreading that there’s something really special about St. Mary’s,” said Lisa Mazzoccone, vice president and chief people experience officer. “This is a place where everyone is valued and makes a difference—and it shows in the care we provide and our support for each other.”
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About St. Mary’s Healthcare, Amsterdam: St. Mary’s Healthcare has been providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare to the people of Montgomery and Fulton counties since 1903. At St. Mary’s Hospital, the Rao Outpatient Pavilion and other locations, the local, independent healthcare organization offers the comprehensive, critical services its community needs and deserves. For more information: (518) 842-1900, www.smha.org or www.facebook.com/smha.org.
About Energage: Making the world a better place to work together.
Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 20 years of culture research and the results from 30 million employees surveyed across more than 80,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com.
Contact:
Kristin Mosher
Director, Marketing and Communications
St. Mary’s Healthcare, Amsterdam
(518) 770-7505
Meet Our Nurses: Meagan Hanson, RN
Building a Nursing Career That Works For YOU
There’s an old proverb that goes like this: “A good beginning makes a good ending.” That’s certainly seems true for Meagan Hanson.
She says St. Mary’s Healthcare has been the perfect place to begin her nursing career, and it’s setting her up to have a long, successful road ahead.
“When I first came here from Fulton-Montgomery Community College,” Meagan recalls, “all the nurses here were so great about mentoring me. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, they have all this experience, they have all these responsibilities, and yet they actually want to take me under their wings.’ They wanted me to thrive.”
And thrive she has. Meagan started out in Med-Surg, flowed into Intensive Care, and continues to explore the various nursing positions St. Mary’s offers for her future in this field.
“I’m working with new technologies,” she says. “I’m interacting with highly skilled professionals. And, I’m learning something new each and every day.”
Meagan admits she was scared at first. “But here I am today, just three years out of nursing school, and taking on challenges that I never could have imagined. I remember, early on, one of my patients saying to me, ‘You know Meagan, you’re a really good person. I can really see you going places.’
She’s determined to prove that patient right. And she believes she’s already arrived at the place where it’s most likely to happen. She’s found a home at St. Mary’s.
To learn more about nursing at St. Mary’s Healthcare, visit our Nursing Careers page.
St. Mary’s Demaree Says Small Rural Hospitals Can Achieve Top Safety Grades Without Big Budgets
This article was originally published on healthsystemCIO
A 130-bed independent hospital in Amsterdam, New York, earned a Leapfrog B safety grade by tackling one of the most daunting challenges in clinical IT: getting medication alerts right. St. Mary’s Healthcare, a rural safety net hospital where roughly 70% of patients are covered by Medicare or Medicaid, had long delivered strong clinical care, but its Leapfrog score told a different story. Because the hospital had not participated in the Leapfrog survey between 2020 and 2024, its grade was based entirely on publicly available data and did not reflect the quality of care the staff was providing. When leadership decided to take control of that narrative by submitting its own data, the organization turned to its CPOE system and set out to maximize every point it could earn.
Julie Demaree, VP and Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer at St. Mary’s Healthcare, said the hospital already had a medication alerting tool in place, but the organization had been cautious about expanding its use. Concerns about alert fatigue, physician disruption, and the governance required to manage changes had slowed adoption. “Safety isn’t about size,” she said. “It’s about discipline and culture and being committed to patient care.”
The Leapfrog initiative gave the team a clear reason to accelerate: Demaree and her colleagues formed a cross-functional committee with the chief medical officer, the director of pharmacy, and the informatics team to determine which alerts to activate and in what order. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is one of the few national ratings that evaluates hospitals exclusively on their ability to prevent errors, injuries, and infections. Hospitals are scored whether they submit data or not; those that don’t participate have their grades calculated entirely from public sources.
Getting the Alerts Right
The CPOE component of the Leapfrog score requires two things: proof that prescribers enter their own orders and evidence that the hospital’s system can flag more than 60% of serious medication errors. The first criterion was easy; St. Mary’s quickly got over 92% compliance by identifying the few outliers who weren’t entering their own orders. The second criterion required expanding the alert categories the system monitored, including drug interactions, drug-allergy conflicts, dosing errors, drug-lab levels, and drug-age warnings. The hospital had a solid alerting foundation in place; the Leapfrog standard called for broadening it. The challenge was doing so without creating alert fatigue among physicians who would encounter notifications dozens of times a day.The governance model made the difference. The committee recruited volunteer physicians from both inpatient and outpatient settings to pilot the new alerts before a broader rollout. The feedback was immediate and specific. A GI physician assistant reported that every bowel prep order triggered a dangerous-dose alert; the team suppressed it before the systemwide launch. Physicians also flagged the lack of appropriate override options: the only choices available forced them to acknowledge a dangerous situation and proceed anyway. The committee added options such as “this is a home medication” and “these medications have a synergistic effect,” giving clinicians a way to document sound clinical reasoning when dismissing an alert.
A dedicated physician trainer rounded daily during the rollout, asking clinicians what was popping up and what felt unnecessary. That in-person presence proved more effective than any help desk ticket system. Physicians don’t call the help desk, Demaree noted; they’re too busy, and many have concluded that IT can’t help them. Having someone physically at their side, capturing frustrations in real time, created a feedback loop the organization had never had. “If we are living in a world where we think no one complaining means things are going well, we are fooling ourselves,” Demaree said. When a clinician flagged an alert as unnecessary, the team evaluated the data, made a decision, and communicated the rationale. That transparency built trust and sustained momentum.
Rebounding from a Sub-Optimal EMR Go-Live
The Leapfrog journey built on years of EMR optimization work. Demaree joined St. Mary’s nearly three years ago after spending 23 years at Saratoga Hospital, where she evolved from a physician assistant into an informatics and operational transformation leader. The hospital had implemented a new Meditech Expanse system in 2022 under challenging circumstances: it had divested from a national health system in 2020, lost significant IT resources, and completed the build during COVID with consultants cycling in and out. Some legacy workflows and data from the old Meditech Magic system carried over into the new platform, creating optimization opportunities.
Demaree’s initial mandate was to bridge clinical leaders and technical teams, fine-tuning the EMR and driving adoption of structured data. She credits the clinical informatics team already in place with having done significant post-go-live work before she arrived. Through reorganization, her role expanded to encompass IT strategy, clinical innovation, and biomedical engineering.
The culture she found surprised her. At a hospital where many employees have worked for 30 or 40 years, she expected resistance to change. She found the opposite. OR nurses who once documented on paper, physicians who trained before gloves were standard: these staff members had already absorbed enormous change over their careers. They asked questions and wanted to understand risks, but they were not rigid. Demaree credits the hospital’s deep ties to its community for that resilience. St. Mary’s, founded in 1903 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, is the only hospital for miles. Closing would leave 400,000 patients a year without a local provider. That urgency shapes every technology decision the organization makes.
AI, Payer Denials, and the Fight to Stay Open
St. Mary’s uses AI primarily through vendor-embedded tools: ambient documentation, payment posting automation that frees billers for higher-value denial management, and features baked into the Meditech Expanse platform. Vendors are now integrating AI directly into their products, which is exactly what smaller organizations need. Demaree is also collaborating with vendors on a project she considers high-impact. “I think AI has a real potential to aggregate and reconcile medication data across disparate sources, which is a huge opportunity right now,” she said. Patients frequently arrive at the emergency department with incomplete or inaccurate medication lists, and unintentional omissions during transitions of care are a persistent concern.
The financial pressures on rural hospitals are intensifying. Payers have deployed AI-driven algorithms to process and deny claims at a scale and speed that small billing departments cannot match. Even if payers deny 10% of claims and half go uncontested, the savings for insurers are enormous; the losses for rural hospitals are existential. Demaree’s billers must now spend their time working denials and rebuilding claims, a labor-intensive process that pulls staff away from other critical revenue cycle functions.
That pressure extends to every corner of the organization: vendor contracts are negotiated with extreme precision, technology investments are evaluated for their ability to attract surgeons and generate downstream revenue, and infrastructure upgrades compete for scarce capital. Vendors who stayed engaged after a major grant application was denied in December 2025 earned Demaree’s loyalty. Those who walked away did not.
Take it Away
- Leapfrog scores hospitals whether they participate or not; submitting your own data ensures your grade reflects actual performance.
- Form a cross-functional committee with clinical, pharmacy, and informatics leadership before activating new medication alerts.
- Provide clinically appropriate override options so physicians can dismiss alerts with documented reasoning.
- Round in person during rollouts; silence from physicians does not indicate satisfaction.
- Respond to feedback transparently, even when changes take weeks to propagate through governance cycles.
- Rural hospitals should expect AI to arrive through vendor products; focus vendor partnerships on collaboration and long-term value.
For Demaree, every budget line and every technology decision at St. Mary’s connects back to a single reality. “We are here because we love this community,” she said. “And we know that nobody else is rushing in to build a hospital here.”