Goodbye to 2013, with a glance at the year about to end and a look ahead to the fresh one.
Again this year, The Martha’s Vineyard Times invited several Island leaders and community members to consider some of the accomplishments and challenges of 2013, and to look at what may lie ahead in 2014. Links to their essays are below.
For VNA and its caregiving mission, fresh challenges lie ahead
Michael Goldsmith, a lawyer with the Edgartown firm of Reynolds, Rappaport and Kaplan, is the chairman of the board of the Vineyard Nursing Association, the Island’s only Medicare-certified Home Health Care agency. The VNA provides a full complement of home care staff who deliver customized health care for short-term, long-term. and chronic illnesses through a variety of programs and services.
Martha’s Vineyard school chief takes stock
James H. Weiss, superintendent of Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, was hired to lead the Island school system in 2005. Over the years he has consistently received high marks from school committee members for his leadership of a system that includes 2,087 students in six schools.
2014: The national landscape has changed health care
Dr. Pieter Pil, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital chief of staff, is a graduate of Yale University School of Medicine (1996). He did post-graduate training at Brigham & Women’s, where he was chief resident. He led the effort to make changes in clinical care and information technology at the hospital in 2013.
Round and round the Vineyard goes
Adam Darack is the information technology manager for Edgartown. A self proclaimed quirky computer geek, he has also tried his hand at stand up comedy. He lives in Vineyard Haven with his wife Ruth and their two children.
For the Wampanoag tribe, a year of change, with more to come
Tobias Vanderhoop is the former tribal administrator for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and is also a former three term tribal councilman. He was elected chairman of the tribe in November 2013. His term will begin January 4, 2014.
