Marshall Miles Interviews Dr. Mark Hirko, Sharon Hospital Update - Monday June 29, 2020

Dr. Mark Hirko, a healthcare executive with diverse clinical and academic leadership experience, is the leader of Sharon Hospital, now part of Nuvance Health.

“Sharon Hospital takes pride in its highly skilled and compassionate clinical care, and I am fortunate to join this team of dedicated professionals to enhance the way we deliver care to patients,” said Hirko, a board-certified vascular surgeon and physician leader with more than 25 years of experience.

Hirko began his tenure with Health Quest Medical Practice in 2017 as associate vice president of surgical services, women’s health and medical specialties throughout the parent organization’s facilities: Sharon Hospital, Northern Dutchess Hospital, Putnam Hospital Center and Vassar Brothers Medical Center. He collaborated with senior and physician leadership to enhance care across the system and helped develop undergraduate and post-graduate medical and surgical education programs.

Nuvance Health recently welcomed 139 new medical residents and fellows across its healthcare system during orientation for the 2020-21 academic year.

These incoming physicians will begin their advanced clinical training on Wednesday, July 1, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Putnam Hospital and Northern Dutchess Hospital in New York and Danbury Hospital and Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. 

Nuvance Health currently sponsors 14 residency and four fellowship programs accredited  through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. These programs will host and teach 274 residents and 16 fellows this academic year. 

Graduate medical education was recently expanded in the Hudson Valley, NY, region, with residencies added in Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry and Transitional Year.

“Adding these five programs to the existing complement of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Surgery residency training programs will help us to continue to mentor bright and engaged physicians in the communities we serve,” said Dr. Christopher Stenberg, Vice President for the Nuvance Learning Institute.

At Nuvance Health’s Connecticut hospitals, where training programs have been embedded in the clinical arena and surrounding communities for decades, Danbury Hospital’s new residents begin their journeys in Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pathology and Surgery as well as fellows for Cardiovascular Disease.

New classes of Radiology and Internal Medicine residents and Pulmonary, Sleep Medicine and Gastroenterology fellows join Norwalk Hospital.

Residents and fellows are medical school graduates with doctorate degrees in medicine or osteopathic medicine, or equivalent international degrees — and are practicing physicians in their advanced training years, who are working towards independent practice.

“Our commitment to training these new physicians is reflective of the Nuvance Health promise to ensure the communities we serve have access to the latest treatments, technology, services and top-notch physicians and care teams,” Stenberg said. 

To learn more, visit meded.healthquest.org or westernconnecticuthealthnetwork.org/education