Milton Doctor receives award for 30 years of Exemplary Service

From the Milton Times
By Florence Rawls
January 7th, 2009

Dr. Jim Mahoney, a Milton resident and recipient of The Boston Home (TBH) 2008 “Excellence in Care” award is being honored for 30 years of service to residents of the facility where he serves as Medical Director. TBH is a Center for Care of adults with advanced multiple sclerosis and other progressive neurological diseases. He will be honored at TBH benefit “Cabaret for Care” November 17th at the Stuart Street Playhouse.

“Over the years he has become an expert in the care of people with advanced neurological diseases. New neurologists and seasoned healthcare professionals from across the U.S. come to The Boston Home to learn from him. He absolutely personifies excellence in care with his unflagging curiosity and constant quest for what is the best for his patients — and what is most impressive is that he delivers this care with straightforward, compassionate clarity, a sense of humor, and deep respect for each individual.” offers Marva Serotkin, President & CEO of The Boston Home.

After graduating from Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., Dr. Mahoney received a medical degree from McGill University in Canada, and returned to Milton with a clear purpose. “I enjoyed all aspects of General Medicine and did not want to sub-specialize…my full intention was to pursue clinical care. My role models were mostly self-employed private practitioners. I soon opened a practice with Dr. Steven Carr in a small office in Hyde Park,” reflects Dr. Mahoney.

As a young doctor with many options open to him, he stayed in the area, built a local practice that now has offices in Milton and Hyde Park. Dr. Daniel Driscoll and Dr. John Barravecchio have since joined the practice that serves a wide clientele in surrounding communities.

Shortly after joining the staff at the Carney, Dr. Mahoney took on a unique and ongoing mission at The Boston Home and has stayed for three decades. He explains his introduction to the facility, “Dr. John Manuelian, who conducted my oral exam for the Board of Internal Medicine, was looking for a replacement for his role there. The case focus of the exam was a patient with a neurological disease, ALS (Lou Gherig’s disease), and he asked if I wanted to check out the nearby nursing home. Though not excited about the prospect, I thought it was worth an interview.”

Dr. Mahoney can still recall his first day at TBH in 1978, "The first resident I met was Ruth Gardner. She had been a teacher, and though she was severely physically disabled she had a blackboard and a desk in her room so she could keep tutoring children with dyslexia. I knew then this was a very special place.

I have a lot of love for TBH.”

"Today, internists Dr. Steven Carr, Dr. Mark Ostrem, Dr. Mary Lou Asher and I are scheduled to be on-site two days a week but often stop in three or four days a week,” says Dr. Mahoney. "This is more physician coverage per patient per day than at any other nursing home." This commitment enables the physicians to develop strong, lasting relationships with TBH residents. For example, Dr. Mahoney has known Anna Holland, a resident since 1974, for over 30 years.

Eleanor Kasilowicz, a TBH resident for 14 years, and former ICU nurse at MGH has “total confidence in him. He has complete knowledge of our condition. He gives me all the information I need to make informed choices…and he is a great story teller.”

“The Boston Home has given Jim an opportunity to fully express his gifts of clinical brilliance, intellectual curiosity, faithful service, humor and love of his patients. It takes a very special person to become a strong advocate for and compassionate physician to chronically ill patients,” says Carney Radiologist Dr. John Parlee, a colleague and friend of Dr. Mahoney for over 25 years.

According to his mother, Helen Champe of Lebanon, CT. “Jim knew from a very early age what he wanted to do…and what he wouldn’t do. At 8-yrs old he said he wanted to be a teacher. A little while later he said he also wanted to be a doctor. Now he does both! But we couldn’t get him to go back to the second year of kindergarten…he announced he had made enough friends the first year…and that was that.”

His colleagues appreciate him as a colleague and mentor. Eileen Tolan, RN has worked with Dr. Mahoney for 25 years at TBH shares, “[Dr. Mahoney] …has wonderful bedside manner, really connects with the residents…He is compassionate, explains everything…gives them his total focus. For us, the staff, he is always available ….you feel you can ask him any question…he encourages that, and is always available to answer questions…. he really listens. He is an absolute expert, still very curious, wanting to find answers, always willing to teach.”

Dr. Mahoney lives in Milton where he and his wife Ruth have raised three children, Elizabeth, Meaghan, and Timothy. Affiliated with Carney Hospital, he has served on many committees, as well as Chief, Section of General Medicine, ’86 – ‘94, VP Carney Hospital Medical Staff ‘88 – ‘90 and President of Carney Hospital Medical Staff ‘90 – ‘92.

---- Florence Rawls