Date Published: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Date Updated: Friday, June 30, 2023
HealthAlliance Hospital Gala 2023 to Support Cancer Infusion Center and Oncology Support Program
Esteemed physicians Elias Lader, MD, Somsak Bhitiyaku, MD and O+ Festival to be honored May 5 at Diamond Mills in Saugerties
KINGSTON, N.Y. (May 5, 2023) – The HealthAlliance Hospital Gala will be held on Friday, May 5 at Diamond Mills in Saugerties. This year’s event will support HealthAlliance Hospital’s cancer infusion center and its oncology support program.
Amanda Batista knows the importance of these programs firsthand. Batista was first diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2020 just after she gave birth to her daughter. Even though her mother had worked for the American Cancer Society for 30 years, and she grew up knowing the symptoms of cancer, Batista was unprepared for the weight of such a diagnosis. The support she received at HealthAlliance Hospital’s infusion center made all the difference.
“I wondered whether I would live to see my daughter turn 1, but after my first time at the HealthAlliance Hospital infusion center, I felt like they understood me as a person. They were so thoughtful and caring, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am,” said Batista.
Amanda, who is now two years cancer free, will be among the speakers at the HealthAlliance Hospital Gala.
Exceptional Honorees
The 2023 HealthAlliance Hospital Gala honorees will be:
- Ellis Lader, MD – Dr. Lader has had a long and distinguished career serving the Kingston community, where he began practicing in the 1980s. He is currently Director, Division of Cardiology, HealthAlliance Hospital.
- Somsak Bhitiyaku, MD - Dr. Bhitiyakul practiced internal medicine and nephrology for over 50 years. Dr. Bhitiyakul founded the first dialysis unit in Ulster County in 1977 and served as its Medical Director for 34 years. He also served as President of the Medical Staff at the former Kingston Hospital as well as Chief of Medicine there and the former Benedictine Hospital, as well as President of the Mid-Hudson Society of Internal Medicine.
- Joe Concra/O+ Festival – The O+ Festival was established in 2010 in Kingston by a small group of artist-activists. The effort helps to provide healthcare to creative professionals. Joe Concra is an O+ Festival co-founder.
HealthAlliance Hospital Gala Sponsors
- Leadership Sponsors: Dr. and Mrs. Somsak Bhitiyakul, HealthAlliance Medical Staff and Medical Associates HV.
- Honoree Sponsors: Bruderhof Communities and Ulster Savings Bank.
- Patron Sponsors: Darlene Bover, Gateway Hudson Valley, The Rothlein Family, Sholes & Miller, PLLC, SVN Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty and Ulster Federal Credit Union.
- Event Underwriters: Hudson Valley Hospice, Rondout Savings Bank and Turner Construction Company.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://bit.ly/3MPRGBV.
New HealthAlliance Hosptial
In December, the newly reimagined HealthAlliance Hospital opened after a $113M expansion and enhancement project that included a new, two-story, 79,000-square-foot building adjoining the hospital's legacy structure and a full renovation of 48,000 square feet of the previous hospital environment.
About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with nine hospitals on seven campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 13,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. The Network has Level I (adult and pediatric), Level II and Level III trauma centers, the region's only acute care children's hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, home-care services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State. Today, WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated health care in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org or follow WMCHealth on Facebook.com/WMCHealth or Instagram.com/WMCHealth.