Mahler Named Boston Business Journal Champion in Health Care

Miriam Mahler, CNM, MPH, program director of Midwifery, was named a Champion in Health Care in Nursing by the Boston Business Journal, which annually selects “ the best and the brightest in the Bay State’s world-class health industry.

A steadfast advocate for all of the women in her care, Mahler has made it her life’s work to be the voice for those who otherwise would have no voice in the health care system. An exemplary nurse midwife in every aspect of care delivery, she works with her clinician colleagues at 10 community health centers in a constant effort to improve care for all patients.

She leads a team of 20 nurse midwives at BWH and community health centers in providing prenatal care with compassion, dignity and respect while caring for more than 1,200 women in labor each year. The recipient of this year’s BWH Thomson Compassionate Leadership Award, Mahler recently was involved in efforts that resulted in BWH purchasing and donating electronic fetal monitors to the community health centers. She also spearheaded an initiative to translate patient education materials into languages for all patients in the community health centers, including Haitian Creole, Vietnamese and Spanish.

In addition to Mahler, BWH’s Bohdan Pomahac, MD, medical director of the Burn Center, was selected as a Champion in Health Care in the innovator category. Pomahac led a 35-member surgery team in a 17-hour partial face transplant, providing patient Jim Maki with a new nose, upper lip, hard palate and cheeks. It was the second face transplant procedure done in the U.S. and seventh in the world.

And a DF/BWCC team of oncologists, allergists, nurses and IT staff received a team award in the Innovator category for developing a method that greatly reduces the risk of an allergic reaction to chemotherapy. Their method of desensitization relies on mathematical models that account for a drug’s biochemistery as well as patient size and weight.

Pomahac, Mahler, the DF/BWCC team and all recipients were featured in the Aug. 7 issue of the Boston Business Journal and honored at a breakfast in September.