Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center announced the upcoming expansion of several of its clinical programs. President and CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo made the announcements.
Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery
Gurteshwar Rana, M.D., a surgeon with experience in advanced surgical techniques, including minimally invasive metabolic and bariatric surgery, will join the hospital's medical staff Sept. 1.
Rana, who is completing a yearlong fellowship in advanced gastrointestinal and minimally invasive surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will join Dr. Venkat Kolli and Dr. Vikram Vattipally as an advanced gastrointestinal and bariatric surgeon.
Rana received her Bachelor of Science degree in genetics from the University of British Columbia. She graduated from Ross University School of Medicine (Dominica, West Indies) with highest honors and subsequently completed a five-year general surgery residency at Providence Hospital/Michigan State University. During her fifth year, she served as the chief academic surgical resident and was presented the Teacher of the Year award.
A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, she has published research in the American Journal of Surgery, the Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons and other medical journals.
Rana is a member of the American College of Surgeons, Midwest Surgical Association, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic surgeons and American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Archana Sonig, M.D., a former resident surgeon in gynecologic oncology at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bengaluru, India, will join the medical staff as the sixth physician providing patient care at the OB/GYN Center at Memorial.
Sonig, who is entering the final year of her OB/GYN residency at the University of Buffalo, is expected to begin working at Memorial in 2019.
She is a graduate of the Kasturba Medical College, India, and the Rabindranath Tagore Medical College, India, where she was awarded a master's degree in obstetrics and gynecology. She has previously worked as a clinical researcher and research coordinator at both the University at Buffalo and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (Shreveport).
Sonig will join doctors Meaghan Aalto, Renee Baughman, Hannah Bailey, Donna Feldman, Shrutika Vasudeva and physician assistant Laura DeBacco Malysza in providing care at the OB/GYN Center's offices at Memorial Medical Center and the Summit Healthplex.
To schedule an office appointment, call 716-278-4747 or 716-215-0732
Behavioral Health
Memorial's busy behavioral health service will soon add a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner to its medical staff.
Steven Gordon, M.D., will complete his residency in psychiatry at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, in June and begin seeing patients at Memorial this summer.
Gordon is a graduate of Cornell University and the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. In addition to his work as a research assistant while at Thomas Jefferson University, Gordon was vice president of Jeff Mentors, a volunteer organization that pairs students in the health professions with identified at-risk youth from North Philadelphia. The program provides guidance and support to educate those youth about a potential career in medicine.
Sheena Fant, M.S.N., P.M.H.B.P.-B.C., will join the staff as a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. A former licensed practical nurse who went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing at the University of Cincinnati, she most recently worked in the inpatient mental health service at the Veterans Association Iliana Health Care System in Danville, Illinois.
In addition to her assessment, diagnostic and therapeutic treatment skills, Fant is a level I, II, III and IV certified trainer in prevention and management of disruptive behavior and a former adjunct clinical professor of nursing and course instructor at the University of Cincinnati.
She and Gordon will be seeing patients at Memorial's Niagara Wellness Connection Center. To schedule an outpatient behavioral appointment at the center, call 716-278-4541.
Primary Care
Two experienced nurse practitioners are joining the primary care staff at the Golisano Center for Community Health.
Theresa L. Arida, FNP-BC, earned a master's degree in nursing leadership from Daemen College and completed family nurse practitioner certification studies at D'Youville College.
An assistant professor of nursing at D'Youville, she previously worked at DeGraff Memorial Hospital and Hospice House Niagara and has led more than a dozen health service mission trips to Belize, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
She is a member of the New York State Nurses Association and the American Medical/Surgical Nursing Society.
Megan Calos Granchelli, DNP, ANP, is a graduate of the Memorial Hospital (Albany) School of Nursing and the University at Buffalo School of Nursing, where she completed studies leading to Doctor of Nursing Practice and adult nurse practitioner degrees.
Granchelli has been a member of the Memorial Medical Center's inpatient care staff since for the past six years, primarily on the intermediate care/telemetry unit. She previously worked as a senior research technician at the Albany Medical College's Center for Neuropharmacology & Neuroscience.
She is a member of the American College of Nurse Practitioners and the American Nurses Association.
To schedule an appointment at Memorial's Golisano Center primary care office, call 716-278-4151.
Perioperative Services
Andrew J. Mikac, P.A., has joined the medical staff as a member of Memorial's surgical team.
Mikac is a graduate of West Virginia University and D'Youville College, where he earned a master's degree in physician assistant studies. A former EMT and emergency medical services captain, he has worked as a patient care technician for DaVita, a national provider of kidney care services, and has additional clinical experience in primary care, surgery and orthopedics.
