March News from Whittier Health Network

Mar 02, 2026 7:51 pm

MARCH 2026

Our monthly newsletter is dedicated to keeping you informed about people, news and events at our hospitals and transitional care units in Haverhill and Westborough, MA. At Whittier, we are dedicated to your well-being!

Patient Success | Westborough

From coma to home: how Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital helped a West Nile Virus survivor walk again.

What began as a simple mosquito bite became a life-threatening battle with West Nile virus that left Christopher Reardon unconscious for nearly two months and fighting to survive. After Chris was transferred to Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Westborough, the long and difficult work of recovery truly began.

Celebrating Staff | Whittier Bradford

Carolina Guzman from our Environmental Services team was our January Distinguished Service Award winner! 👏

Carolina is a hardworking and dedicated employee who continues to grow both personally and professionally. Her commitment, positive attitude, and pride in her work truly make a difference each and every day for patients and staff.

Fond Farewells | Whittier Bradford + Westborough

We wished two employees well on their new journeys. 👏👏

We thanked Dorothy Jordan, NP, for 3+ years of dedicated service to Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Bradford on our InCare Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists team. From all the social media post comments, we know she will be missed! At Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Westborough, it was a bittersweet farewell to Jim Buttitta after 12 years as our awesome Director of Environmental Services. We bid him "au revoir" as he rode off into the sunset to begin enjoying a well-earned retirement.

Animal Therapy | Whittier Westborough

Hunter ‘sealed the deal’ when it came to Brenda’s choice of where to recover. 🐕‍🦺

When Brenda came to us to recover from an amputation, her decision was based on Whittier’s reputation, but she told us that the presence of Hunter, our therapy dog in training, ‘sealed the deal’ for her. For Brenda, physical therapy at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Westborough provided the ultimate combination of dogs and support/therapy!

Service Spotlight | Outpatient Neurology Rehabilitation

A medically-based, intensive interdisciplinary outpatient program designed for individuals who have a neurological condition.

Our program helps patients who have undergone events such as a stroke or a traumatic brain injury, or have a brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s / other movement disorders. Individually-tailored comprehensive care treats the physical, psychological, cognitive, communicative, and vocational consequences of a neurologic injury. Patients receive skilled therapy and meet regularly with medical staff for education, support and the highest level of medical and rehabilitative care.

National Nutrition Month | Healthy choices

March is national nutrition month, so there’s no time better than now to start eating healthier!

Whittier’s Chief Clinical Dietitian Terry Petruska shared her heart-healthy banana bread recipe with us. Made with low sugar and no oil, and just over 100 calories per slice, it is a delicious and nutritious way to satisfy your sweet tooth. Substitute two egg whites for one egg and it becomes even healthier!

See recipe here

Did you know?

• The Whittier Bistros inside our two rehabilitation hospitals offer fresh, nutritious, and delicious meals to staff, visitors and patients every day! Affordably-priced breakfast, lunch and dinner are available. Sample menu items include seafood casserole, chimichurri steak, chicken parmigiana, tomato caprese salad, and french bread pizza. Hungry? Stop by! Check out our reel with Westborough staff telling us about their favorite Bistro item.

• Did you know that besides physical and occupational therapy, Whittier’s outpatient clinics provide spasticity management, pain management, wound care, prosthetics and orthotics, neurology rehabilitation, diets and therapy for swallowing and speech disorders, and more? Our outpatient services page has more details.

• Did you know that Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Westborough offers Outpatient Physical Therapists mother’s hours? A PT career at Whittier offers flexibility along with quality, consistency, and a sense of purpose. We’re happy to consider early shift hours versus later shift hours depending upon an applicant's availability....because we know life happens outside of work, too! Click below for our Outpatient PT job listings.