Greenwich Residents Honored at Fairfield Forum on Compassion and AI in Healthcare

Greenwich Residents Honored at Fairfield Forum on Compassion and AI in Healthcare

The late Claudio Pannunzio and Dr. Robin Bennett Kanarek were recognized as 86 people gathered to ask how AI can strengthen, not replace, human care.

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Submitted by The Patient is U Foundation · Dr. Stephanie R. Paulmeno, Co-Chair

Two Greenwich residents were honored on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at a Fairfield University breakfast forum that tackled one of the biggest questions facing healthcare today: what happens to compassion when artificial intelligence enters the exam room?

"Compassionate Care in the Age of AI: Exploring the Opportunities, Responsibilities and Risks" was organized by The Patient is U Foundation (TPIU), a Connecticut nonprofit that works to keep compassion at the center of every healthcare encounter. The event drew 86 attendees and nine sponsoring organizations.

A Neighbor's Idea, Realized

The program was dedicated to the late Claudio Pannunzio, a longtime Greenwich resident, Connecticut State Chaplain and Greenwich Hospital volunteer who served as TPIU's board chair. Pannunzio came up with the idea for the forum and opened the conversations that led Fairfield University to host it, but he died less than a year into his term. Jonathan Goldberg, a neighbor of Claudio and Gabriella Pannunzio for more than 35 years, shared remarks and accepted a posthumous award in his honor.

Greenwich resident, Dr. Robin Bennett Kanarek, received the TPIU Founders Award for her longtime support of the foundation and her work on the planning committee. She and her husband, Joe Kanarek, supported the program through the Kanarek Family Foundation.

What the Experts Said

Moderator Joanne Palmer, TPIU co-chair and IT portfolio manager at Yale University, led a panel of:

•Rohit Bhalla, MD, MPH, Chief Clinical & Quality Officer, Stamford Health

•Patricia Boyce, PhD, RN, Dean of Nursing, Fairfield University

•Jennifer Cox, Healthcare Attorney, Cox & Osowiecki

•Brian Lacey, Technology Developer and CEO, ScribeBrain

•Sumit Sajnani, Health Information Technology Officer, State of Connecticut

Key takeaways from the morning:

•AI is already changing clinical documentation, workflow, diagnosis and healthcare jobs.

•AI-generated images, voices and data summaries raise real questions about whether what patients and clinicians see and hear is accurate.

•Every AI result should be checked for accuracy and intended impact, and someone must be accountable for overseeing it.

•Technology should enhance, not replace, compassionate care, and a person must always stay in the loop.

"We needed to explore what compassionate care looks like in this new landscape, and why that matters to patients and families, to clinicians and other staff, to quality of care and quality of life, and to the bottom lines of healthcare practices and organizations," said Dr. Stephanie Paulmeno, TPIU co-chair and a longtime Greenwich healthcare leader.

The Rev. Kevin O'Brien closed the program by connecting the conversation to Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," issued May 25 and focused on artificial intelligence, and to the compassionate care the Pope was receiving after his recent surgery.

Why It Matters Here

AI tools are reaching every corner of the network Greenwich families rely on: Greenwich and Stamford hospitals, The Nathaniel Witherell, the town's Department of Health and Department of Human Services, River House Adult Day services, Family Centers' Health Center, Optimus Health Care, Jewish Family Services, and local urgent care, dental, vision, mental health, radiology and lab services. The questions raised at Fairfield will shape the care residents receive in all of them.

Learn More

•See the event's sponsors: tpiucompassionatecare.org/meetoursponsors

•Photos and posts from the morning: LinkedIn

•About the foundation: www.TPIU.org

Fairfield University, host and in-kind sponsor, is thanked for its generosity of time, talent and treasure.

Media contact: Dr. Stephanie R. Paulmeno, Co-Chair, The Patient is U Foundation, Inc. · 203-326-0400 · stephanie.paulmeno@tpiu.org · www.TPIU.org

With warm regards
Stephanie R. Paulmeno
Dr. Stephanie Paulmeno
Co-chairman/Prior Board Chair: The Patient is U Foundation, Inc.
http://www.tpiu.org
spaulmeno47@yahoo.com ~ Stephanie.paulmeno@tpiu.org
203-326-0400