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Meet our 2021 AmplifiHER Honorees
An institutional leader at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) and at the Geisel School of Medicine, Antonia Altomare, DO, MPH, has worked relentlessly to ensure specifically that the people of New Hampshire and northern New England are safe from high-threat infectious diseases. Never has this work been more important and impactful than it is now.When the threat of Ebola came to the U.S. in 2014, Dr. Altomare helped establish DHMC as one of two Ebola assessment hospitals in New Hampshire. Based on that work, she was asked to create and lead a High Threat Infection Team – a group of highly-trained staff and leaders who respond to the clinical care needs of high-threat infection patients, while maintaining staff safety. “The creation and maintenance of this program has been the greatest accomplishment of my career thus far, particularly since it positioned Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health [D-HH] where we needed to be when the global pandemic of 2020, COVID-19, hit.” Her expertise in interpreting ever-changing federal and state guidelines and research on high-threat infections for D-HH, the state and the region is, in part, why New Hampshire and Vermont have lower-rates of COVID-19 prevalence.
She continues to be one of the leading voices internally for our clinical and non-clinical staff on COVID-19, through emails, in both internal and external articles, and through Facebook Live and informational videos (such as ongoing updates, the proper use of masks and face shields, testing and others). We are privileged to have Dr. Altomare as a member of the D-HH provider community.
An institutional leader at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) and at the Geisel School of Medicine, Antonia Altomare, DO, MPH, has worked relentlessly to advance the cause of population health broadly and to ensure specifically that the people of New Hampshire and northern New England are safe from high-threat infectious diseases. Never has this work been more important and impactful than it is now. As the Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of the Collaborative Healthcare-associated Infection Prevention Program (CHIP) and Readiness and Response to Epidemic Threats Committee, she and her colleagues monitor and respond to healthcare-associated infections and high-threat infections like COVID-19. When faced with penalties in recent years from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for higher than expected healthcare-associated infections, D-H looked to Dr. Altomare for guidance. In a mere two years, she expanded the CHIP program, implemented electronic surveillance systems, educated staff and patients, initiated quality improvement projects, and created new policies and procedures. The result? Greater patient and staff satisfaction, improved patient safety and financial benefits.
She is also the Director for the Ryan White Part D HIV program, which provides care to HIV-infected patients. Since access and adherence to care remains a challenge for HIV-infected patients, Dr. Altomare established a Clinical Quality Management group to help standardized care, making it easier to provide the best care for these patients, as she continues to educate other providers on how to treat HIV and sexually transmitted infections.
Much of Dr. Altomare’s volunteer work comes through her teaching role. As a leader, Dr. Altomare is passing on her expertise and knowledge to the next generation of fellows, residents and medical students that will be taking care of patients throughout the country. Through her teaching, she is able to reinforce ìin real-timeî many of the policies, procedures and practicesólike good hand hygiene, preventative immunization counseling and othersóthat she has helped to develop in her role as D-Hís Hospital Epidemiologist. That teaching goes well beyond the walls of D-H. Dr. Altomare also visits, local schools and colleges and emergency medical services, teaching on the importance of basic infection prevention and staying healthy.
Dr. Altomare completed her medical training at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and residencies in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine, and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at D-H. Additionally, she completed her Masters of Public Health at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, where she also received Greenbelt certification in Lean Six Sigma process improvement. In seven eventful years at D-H, Dr. Altomare has become a sought-after voice at the national, regional, state and local levels on the topics of hospital-acquired infection, infectious disease, HIV care, sexually transmitted infections and immunization.
The demand for her expertise has never been greater since the start of the pandemic. In her numerous mainstream media appearances over the past seven months, she has demonstrated a tireless energy to help educate others on COVID-19, including: