We are writing to commemorate an outstanding, local medical provider who is retiring from her private practice, WomanCare Health, in Athol. My partner and I have been close friends and patients of Shali Sanders OB/GYNP for over 30 years and it is her standard of care that we wish to address and applaud.
Shali opened her private practice office in Athol in 1999, where she began diagnosis and treatment for women in their adolescent to elder years. Many women in the local area did not have insurance during that time and due to grants, Shali was able to secure basic health care rights for Mammography, Pap protocol and birth control coverage. She treated those who had Mass Health Insurance in the face of many providers who did not accept it.
Her practice flourished in the community and we are personally aware of how hard she fought for the rights to access care for women struggling to make ends meet. Insurance panels began accepting her services as an independent provider and she was able to assist many others through this process. She was one of only several private-practice providers in the state of Massachusetts who was accepted to insurance panels across the board.
In 2010, she was voted Nurse Practitioner of the Year due to the commitment of her practice and patients. She was awarded this high honor among colleagues and providers at a ceremony in Rhode Island and was then flown to a medical conference in California to speak in front of 1,500 providers about being in private practice.
What is most important to impart in this letter is that we have seen a dramatic shift in health care over the past 20 years. Time feels like a premium during an office visit and it is getting more difficult to keep a consistent provider, let alone be seen in a timely manner for arising concerns.
Even as a solo practitioner, Shali always made time for emergency office visits. She saw her patients in a timely manner. No one was kept waiting for their appointments, unless circumstances were urgent. Each office visit offered a sit-down, face-to-face discussion about the problems concerning the patient; we felt heard and listened to, no matter the detail of the issue. Then the exam and diagnosis were always done with care, gentleness, clarity and respect. Shali was always able to refer anyone to another provider when further care was needed. We always walked out of an appointment having much more knowledge about ourselves and the issues we were dealing with. We felt empowered, cared-for, listened to and strengthened by our time with Shali.
We live in a small community and many of us know one another. In all the years of Shali’s practice called WomanCare Health, her service to her patients became well-established and respected. She also spent six years as a Specialist provider for patients at Connecticut River Internists, serving women with uro-gynecologic concerns. At that time, she was overseeing patients in two offices and providing much acknowledged care and attention.
Shali’s basic nature in the medical field has been a pleasure, a much-needed boost in the world of stream-lined patient care. Her broad knowledge in the field of women’s health care and her commitment to continued learning/application has made her an outstanding provider in our community. Her message of self-awareness, self-care and self-motivation has been her foundation.
It has truly been an honor to be her patient and friend for the duration of her office practices and we are not alone in the experience of her as our GYN provider. We want to personally applaud her insight and commitment, her focus and loving attention for all the years she has serviced our local women. Her services will be missed by many, as we were the fortunate ones to have been cared for by her.
May the current state of the medical model rise to the level of care and application toward wellness that we all received by Shali. We wish her the best on her journey forward and want to thank her publicly for outstanding care and remarkable endurance in longevity as a stable-based provider for us all.
With the Greatest of Appreciation.
Pauline Bixby and Karen Grzesik live in Orange.