at
COMMENCEMENT
Celebrant:
Welcome everyone to
the Grande Opening Celebration of Her Space. My name is Charlotte Eulette, I am
the National Director of the Celebrant Foundation, dedicated to Celebrating the
special milestones in life. I am very honored to say that Dr. Beth Deutch is my
long time friend. I am, as well as many of us are, so proud of her in so many
ways. This amazing healing and technological Women’s Breast center she has
created with the support of her loving family – truly defines her crowning
achievement. Tonight we celebrate a new era in pioneering and revolutionizing
women’s medical care. And now, I would like to read a blessing to my dear and
much loved friend Beth…and to “Her Space”…her Heart… and her dreams come true
on this her Birthday too.
Let us find such a place
within ourselves.
We give thanks for places
of refuge and beauty.
Let us find such a place
within ourselves.
We give thanks for places
of nature’s truth and freedom, of joy,
inspiration and renewal,
places where all people may find acceptance and belonging.
Let us search for these
places: in the world, in ourselves and in others.
Let us restore them.
Let us strengthen and
protect them and let us create them
May we mend this outer
world
according to the truth of
our inner life
and may our souls be
shaped and nourished by
nature’s eternal wisdom.
Celebrant:
It’s an honor to
introduce to you - the founder of Her Space, Dr. Beth Deutch.
Dr. Beth
Deutch:
Thank you all for
being here this evening, a very special evening for me. HerSpace is the realization of a
long-standing professional dream of mine.
It is the culmination of my years of training and practice in breast
imaging, in both University academia and
community medicine. It is the end
result of all of the interactions and conversations I have had with women over
my 12 years in practice and my resulting understanding of their breast care
needs. What is good for their health,
what brings them peace of mind and comfort is all here: prompt and direct access to experts, the
latest technology and a soothing feminine and contemporary space. What
infuriates and frustrates them about the breast imaging experience – long waits
for access to care, seemingly unnecessary delays in getting resolution to
frightening issues, the lack of privacy and personal space—is not here.
I envisioned and
created HerSpace to be the safe haven for women who need a prompt appointment,
thorough diagnostic workup of a breast problem and the peace of mind that comes
with knowing that experts are producing and interpreting the studies. In our first few weeks in operation, we have
already diagnosed several breast cancers in women who came in for their routine
yearly studies. They left the same day
having undergone the diagnostic biopsy ( a process that elsewhere often takes
weeks). Eliminating all of those hours,
days and weeks of anxiety and distress has been very rewarding for all of us
here.
And “all of us
here” is really a remarkable team. Dr.
Rose Heller-Savoy brings to HerSpace considerable expertise in all aspects of
breast imaging, a very keen eye and commitment to quality patient care. She and I work together as a team and share a
common approach and outlook that few physician colleagues enjoy. Rose is a tremendous asset to us currently
two days a week and will shortly join us full time. Sue Williams, my breast imaging supervisor
and dear friend without whose knowledge, commitment and support I could not
have done this, and BJ Thorne each have over 25 years of experience as
mammography technologists. We have shared the last nine of them together.
Cheryl Cashiell brings tremendous skill, enthusiasm and warmth to
HerSpace. A woman’s breasts could not be
in better hands than theirs. Liz Kelly,
my secretary, who spent three months in my carriage house scheduling patients
as the build out here proceeded, sitting along side my three year old boy whose
playroom she inhabited, sharing cookies and watching choo choo
tapes—is like a member of my family. My
newer staff, no less wonderful—includes our ever affable and unflappable
receptionist Kissy, file room assistant Liz, cashier
Liz and the most enthusiastic, capable office manager any practice could wish
for, Lorna Vaughan. We have known each
other briefly but yet share the same vision and goal like long-time colleagues
and friends.
This evening is
particularly special for me because not only does it symbolically launch this
new and exciting form of practice, concretely mark my 42nd birthday,
but it also officially ends the long, arduous, nerve-racking and fascinating
journey getting here. I could not have
taken the first steps without the tremendous good will and support of many of
you here tonight—family, friends, professional colleagues, women in the
community. Many of you shared my vision
, saw the same need in our community and believed in me. We at HerSpace believe that women in
Let me now give the
floor over to Rose, who needs no further introduction to most of you…..
Dr. Rose
Heller- Savoy:
I would like to
thank all of you again for joining us tonight.
As many of you know, I moved to
Prior to my
arrival, I had the opportunity to work in a few different community based
groups. In that time, I learned about
the wide range of clinical practice in radiology, particularly in the area of
breast imaging.
More importantly,
working with these groups reinforced what I already knew: Having specialty training in Breast Imaging
makes an incredible difference in patient care.
Experience, judgment and good technique are irreplaceable.
I very quickly
realized how important it is for me to be in a professional environment that
views breast imaging and intervention as I do.
As I’m sure you
can see, it was a very easy career decision for me to join Beth. She was someone whom I knew only by her great
reputation, and has become not only someone I highly respect but also someone I
will continue to learn a great deal from.
Her immeasurable skills and work ethic make her a wonderful mentor and colleague.
This is truly the
Breast Imager’s dream position. HerSpace
not only offers me the opportunity to be the practicing breast imager that I
have trained and desired to be, but it allows me to take care of patients in a way
that I would have never believed possible in so many different ways.
For instance, I
cannot describe how satisfying it is for me both professionally and emotionally
to be able to see a woman for her routine or diagnostic mammogram and to be
able to perform her necessary biopsy within the same visit. The patient’s appreciation is beyond
words.
HerSpace is truly
medicine at its best. I am proud to be part of the team.
Celebrant:
Both Dr. Beth
Deutch and her partner Dr. Rose Heller
Mammograms are
transmitted to HerSpace for expert interpretation from remote sites, where such
expertise is not available. They hope to foster a happy work environment for
their staff, in which they can function optimally and provide stability to the
business. And in their heart of hearts they wish to earn the loyalty of their
patients who will want to return year after year for their breast care.
On this long
arduous and inspiring, journey that has led us all to celebrate together today,
Beth and Rose are deeply thankful that they have received an abundance of good
will and support from many of their patients, referring physicians,
professionals in numerous other fields, and especially their loving family and
friends. Those here tonight are a physical reminder of this support for all of
us at HerSpace and for the type of service we hope to bring to this community.
They would not have been able to accomplish this so far or continue in the
development of HerSpace without all of your support and kindness.
As we continue with
this evenings festivities; the toast, the cake cutting and the ribbon ceremony,
Beth and Rose and the entire HerSpace staff would like this to resonate with each of
you when you think of HerSpace -
tomorrow and in the future. Here are people that have made a strong personal
commitment and investment to this practice, and have forged a new philosophy in
the betterment of personal healthcare for woman, their families and their
communities. We congratulated all of you! You are part of this grand event,
marking this milestone, the grand opening of an innovative and successful
practice in your journey through life.
Toast By Beth:
We
toast to new things and to glorious change.
To
change ourselves and to change our world.
To
know the need for it.
To
deal with the pain of it.
To
feel the joy of it.
To
undertake the journey without
understanding the destination.
The art of gentle revolution.
We toast to HerSpace!
HERSPACE CAKE CUTTING CEREMONY
(Cake with HerSpace Logo Design)
RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY
Celebrant:
And now we will
officially open HerSpace with the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!
Viva HerSpace!
“Here ends a Ceremony and here
begins a wonderful future ahead for HerSpace”