North Country physicians named 'United Heroes'

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Hudson Headwaters Health Network has put the spotlight on some of the physicians working at sites among its 21 care centers. This week, the network has highlighted three staff who have received awards from national healthcare and insurance company UnitedHealthcare.

Three doctors from HHHN received UnitedHealthcare's 2022 United Hero awards. Recipients honored include Michael Adams, M.D., who practices family medicine at Moreau Family Health and Warrensburg Urgent Care; Ephraim Back, M.D., M.P.H., a fellow family medicine practitioner out of Ticonderoga Health Center; and Suzanne Bergin, D.O., who practices primary care and internal medicine at Warrensburg Health Center. Dr. Back is Hudson Headwaters' Chief of Clinical Initiatives, and Dr. Bergin is the network's Associate Chief Medical Officer.

“The recognition from UnitedHealthcare is especially meaningful because it is solely based on patient feedback,” said Linda Spokane, Hudson Headwaters’ vice president of population health, in a release. “Dr. Adams, Dr. Back, and Dr. Bergin are deserving of this accomplishment as they consistently demonstrate outstanding efforts to provide high-quality, patient-centered, community-based primary and preventive care to all patients.”

UnitedHealthcare chose award recipients based on patient experience survey feedback. That feedback is sorted into four areas, including getting care when needed (including appointment scheduling and referrals); care coordination (medication review, follow-up and awareness of notes from other physicans and specialists who a patient has seen); and the quality and contents of conversations between doctors and patients.

Hudson Headwaters Health Network operates clinics across several counties. The network's reach for primary and urgent care, as well as other specialized services, encompasses roughly 7,200 square miles.