Aloha … from BethCGifford welcomes new hospitalist PA
After 25 years caring for area residents,
Dr. William Minsinger retires from Gifford
RANDOLPH, Aug. 4, 2009 – Gifford Medical Center’s hospitalist team has grown to include certified physician assistant Joshua Gleiner.
Gleiner of Orleans comes to Gifford from North Country Health System, where he worked for the last two years providing primary care to rural patients of all ages at Community Medical Associates in Newport.
A 2001 graduate Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gleiner went on to attend Finger Lakes School of Massage Therapy in Ithaca, N.Y., and then the physician assistant master’s degree program at Albany Medical College, also in New York.
Before becoming a physician assistant, he worked as a medical assistant at Champlain Valley Urgent Care in Burlington, as a chiropractic assistant in Colorado and as a massage therapist in New York and Colorado. He’s also volunteered in a host of other hospital settings, including the emergency department Porter Adventist Hospital in Colorado, as an emergency medical technician in New York, and massaging stroke victims and post-surgery patients at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca.
Gleiner grew up in a family of physicians. His dad is an internal medicine provider and his mom was a pediatrician. They now live in Stowe, where the family had vacationed for years. Gleiner moved to Vermont in 2003.
“I had an interest in expanding what I could do as far as diagnosing conditions,” says Gleiner of what prompted him to pursue a physician assistant degree.
Looking to move closer to central Vermont, Gleiner fielded four job offers before deciding on Gifford.
“Gifford’s reputation precedes it,” he says of why he chose the Randolph hospital. “Everybody just seems to love it.”
He started work at Gifford as hospitalist in July. He joins physicians Dr. Martin Johns and Dr. Josh Plavin and physician assistants Sue Burgos and Fred Staples.
Hospitalists treat inpatients, or hospitalized patients.
Caring for the acutely ill, the ability to diagnose illnesses through timely laboratory and diagnostic imaging results, seeing patients through their illness in the hospital setting and making a difference at a difficult time in patients’ lives are among the aspects of the job that attracted Gleiner.
The opportunity to work with Dr. Johns, Gifford’s first hospitalist, was another.
“I’m excited about the atmosphere and the general attitude of everyone I’ve met so far,” Gleiner said. “It’s a good unit. It really functions as a beehive.”
Dr. Johns called Gleiner an “excellent addition to the hospitalist team.”
“I’m excited to work with Josh, as his character and experience are topnotch,” said Dr. Johns.
Gleiner is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. His clinical interests include preventative medicine and holistic and alternative health care, and he aims to be an excellent diagnostician.
In his free time, Gleiner is an outdoor enthusiast. He rock climbs, skis and bikes. He enjoys cooking, woodworking and traveling, and he is also busy looking for a home closer to Gifford and planning a wedding. He and fiancé Sky Barsch will marry in September.