Our Providers

Patricia Murphy, FNP/AGACNP-BC

She/Her

Family Nurse Practitioner Patricia Murphy serves with the hospitalist team on Howell Pavilion, Gifford’s inpatient unit. She sees patients of all ages who are admitted to the hospital, and takes a patient-centered approach to care.

“My style is to find out what’s most important to patients, their goals, and to be their resource,” she says. “I am here to answer questions that will help patients make decisions—not make those decisions for them. I am here to guide.”

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Alexander Orem, MD

Dr. Alexander Orem is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in adult hip and knee replacement surgery. He has completed a fellowship in adult joint replacement surgery and has special interest in anterior approach total hip replacement. He also performs partial and total knee replacement surgery. He greatly enjoys helping patients regain their quality of life after suffering from degenerative joint disease and strives to help each patient meet their best possible outcome.

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Leslie Osterman, PA-C

She/Her

Leslie Osterman has a special interest in preventive care and managing chronic conditions like COPD, diabetes, and hypertension. Her personal goal is to form a partnership with her patients – encouraging attainable goals, jointly agreeing on medical intervention and offering encouragement to promote overall well-being.

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Averill Pazdro, DPT

Averill Pazdro, DPT enjoys working with all age groups and diagnoses but has a special interest in lymphedema/cancer patients and those with neurological conditions. She works to incorporate fitness, strength, balance, and pain free movement into all treatment approaches to promote health and wellness. She prioritizes each patient’s goals and works to get people back to the activities that they love.

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Joseph Pelletier, MD

Dr. Joseph Pelletier received his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has been in practice for more than 20 years. Dr. Pelletier is a board certified pediatrician and completed a residency at Baystate Med Center.

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Stacy Pelletier, RD

Stacy Pelletier, RD specializes in nutrition and dietetics. She particularly enjoys working with our geriatric population in the acute care and long-term care setting. Working with patients and their families to achieve their individual health goals and improve quality of life brings her joy. And she finds it especially rewarding to help patients better understand the connection between the food we eat and our health.

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Deanna Perreault, PT

Deanna works with patients from infancy to geriatrics and believes in treating not just the injury site, but the whole patient.
Before becoming a physical therapist, Deanna worked in the mental health system which enables her to recognize and empathize with patients on both the physical and emotional aspects of their recovery. She sees herself as a partner in her patient’s recovery and works to ensure they understand their diagnosis and plan of care.

Her family is very active. Both of her children have grown up playing many sports, her husband coaches, and Deanna herself has been both a player and coach and enjoys treating athletes of all ages.

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Jim Pratson, DPT

The goal of Jim Pratson, DPT, is to get his patients back to the activities that are important to them. He believes educating his patients on why they feel the way they do, why he has them performing certain activities, and how they can improve a patient’s quality of life are important aspects of his work. Along with listening to his patients, he strives to understand their needs and find changes they can make within their everyday life.

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Marzouq Qubti, MD, MBA

“I’m on a mission to give back in any way,” says Dr. Qubti, who provides rheumatology care in Randolph and Berlin*. “Whether that’s helping Gifford from a clinical care standpoint, or representing Gifford as a volunteer in community-based programs.”

During the early days of his medical education, Dr. Qubti’s interests leaned toward internal medicine rather than the surgical field. He finished his internal medicine residency at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Mass., before completing his fellowship at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. He has familiarity with our area having served as an adjunct professor at UVM’s Department of Family Medicine.

*Patients should call the 802-728-2430 number for appointments in both Randolph and Berlin.

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Courtney Riley, MD

Courtney Riley, MD rejoined the Pediatrics team at Gifford Primary Care in Randolph in 2021 after taking a brief hiatus. Dr. Riley originally joined Gifford in 2016.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Biomolecular Science with University Honors from Clarkson University, Riley had initially planned a career in medical research. But while pursuing an MD at New York Medical College, Dr. Riley quickly discovered she wanted to be out of the lab and caring for patients, especially children.

“The patient/child is my priority and I try to engage them directly as much as possible. I look for verbal and nonverbal clues and I solicit information from other sources as needed.”

Dr. Riley is honored when her former patients chose her to provide care for their own babies. She already has a few “grand patients,” having met the parents when they were teens.

 

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Rachel Salloway, FNP-BC

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Nurse Practitioner Rachel Salloway is passionate about helping to ensure access to high-quality preventative medicine in rural areas. She enjoys working with patients at all stages of life. She has a particular interest in providing gender-affirming care as well as care to older adults, women, and patients with diabetes. She describes her style with patients as collaborative: “I enjoy learning about patients and helping patients feel comfortable so they can meet their health care goals.”

Rachel brings to Gifford a background in global health, providing care in Uganda and India, and also experience working with underserved communities, including incarcerated women and Somali refugees.

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Brad Salzmann, PA-C

Brad(ford) Salzmann PA-C specializes in evaluating and treating a variety of orthopedic issues in all age groups. He combines detailed history taking, thorough examination, appropriate testing and procedures (when indicated) to properly diagnose and treat musculoskelatal disorders and injuries. He works closely with orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine, primary care, and specialist providers, therapists, and ancillary staff to obtain the best possible outcome. His experience and training in disaster medicine has influenced his compassion and commitment for those afflicted with injury and exacerbation of ailments.

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Rebecca Savidge, PA-C

Rebecca Savidge joined the Gifford family in 2013 as a Certified Physician Assistant working in family practice at the Chelsea Health Center. She enjoys coming to work in a rural area where each day is different and poses its own challenges.  One of the highlights of Rebecca’s job is forming relationships with the diversified patient population.

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Erica Schleif, LCMHC

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Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) Erica Schleif has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, families, and new mothers. Erica provides clinical support for a range of conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and postpartum depression, and describes her counseling style as compassionate and responsive: “I don’t just sit and listen. I provide feedback—not advice—to express encouragement and support.”

When not at work, she enjoys spending time with family, hiking, biking, skiing, and cooking.

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Robin Schwartz, MD

Dr. Robin Schwartz specializes in general neurology and has completed a fellowship in neurophysiology, including training in performing EMG (electromyogram) studies and interpretation of EEG (electroencephalogram) studies. “I take special care to ensure my patients fully understand their conditions and treatment. Having close family members and friends with neurologic conditions has enhanced my appreciation and empathy for my patients.”

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Jessica Shedd, FNP-BC

Jess brings her experience as a nurse and busy mom of three to her work with an appreciation that everyone has daily responsibilities that can sometimes make it difficult to take care of your health. Her goal is to make health care obtainable and individualized to each person’s needs.

Jess will work with her patients to collaborate on decision-making and develop a long-lasting relationship to educate and empower them to manage their health the best they can.

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Bryan Smith, MD

An internal medicine physician, Dr. Smith has practiced hospital medicine for the better part of his career. He brings to his role at Gifford more than 20 years of experience and a deep commitment to providing the highest-quality care to all patients:

“I think of the practice of medicine as a calling and access to excellent health care to be a fundamental human right. Because each of my patients historically has entrusted their care, and in many cases their lives, to me, I really am honored by this and indebted to them, and obligated to be the kind of doctor I would wish to have caring for me or my loved ones.”

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Aleksandr Sokolovsky, DO

Dr. Sokolovsky grew up in Northern Russia. After graduating High School, he immigrated to the U.S  as a refugee along with his mom and sister. While as a medical school student in Chicago, Dr. Sokolovsky met his future wife, Dr. Dawn Holman. The two spent about 20 years working in private practice before both arriving at Gifford in the spring of 2022. Dr. Sokolovsky has performed various types of general surgery, with his specialty being laparoscopic hernia surgery, which is minimally invasive.

“In a small hospital environment like Gifford, you get to really know your patient, which is how Dr. Holman and I have always practiced. We’re excited to be a part of a team where we can make the most difference.”

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Pascale Stephani, FNP-BC

Pascale Stephani takes a team approach to patient care and believes “the more informed patients are, the better off they are. We work as a team. I am here to help people—to teach and to help them get better.” Stephani provides care to patients of all ages.  She is a registered nurse (RN) and nationally certified nurse-midwife (CNM), women’s health nurse practitioner (WHNP) and family nurse practitioner (FNP). When not at work, she stays active with her four children and enjoys snowboarding, biking, hiking, and visiting family in Montreal.

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Troy Stratton, PT

Troy Stratton, PT enjoys treating each patient as an individual and listening to what the patient is looking for from therapy. He will listen to your symptoms and limitations and work with you to develop reasonable goals for your treatment. He will assist you and motivate you to reach your goals with a thorough treatment plan that will involve an independent home program. No matter your age or activity level, he will work with you to improve your overall function.

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Jennifer Stratton, RD, CDCES

As the diabetes educator for all of Gifford, Jennifer helps patients better self-manage their diabetes. She provides education for anyone with diabetes, whether Type 1, Type 2, gestational, or prediabetes, and covers all aspects of diabetes care, including monitoring, taking medication, problem-solving, reducing risks, healthy eating, being active, and healthy coping.

Jennifer spends an average day seeing patients, answering their questions, triaging when problems arise, and helping with prescriptions when there are issues with insurance coverage. She cites technology, such as the use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) or insulin pumps, as being a driving factor in improving management of the disease.

“I absolutely believe the patient drives the bus with their care, and my goal is to help them find ways to realistically manage their disease with what works for their life,” she says.

In her free time, Jennifer enjoys reading, the outdoors, and spending time with her family.

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Emily Swint, PA-C

Emily Swint, MPAS, PA-C, loves working with patients from their first visit through their post-procedure care. She enjoys providing solutions to medical concerns. She takes care to explain treatment options as clearly as possible as she believes communication with patients leads to better results and patients who are more active in their health care.

Emily’s mother taught her how to sew. She feels that training improved her hand-eye coordination and made her more skilled in a clinical setting.

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Hillary Sylvester MSN, RN, CNM

Hillary Sylvester is a graduate of the Frontier Nursing University Midwifery program and has extensive nursing career experience. Her passion for midwifery came from her love of women’s health and advocacy for sexual assault programs. She fell in love with the birthing process after experiencing an emergency room delivery while working as a nurse.

“Being a midwife is about teaching women how to be the healthiest version of themselves in an environment in which they feel comfortable.”

Sylvester enjoyed studying and learning about postmenopause and would like to pass on that knowledge to patients at Gifford.

 

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Susan Thievon, MS, APRN, FNP-BC

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Susan is a nurse practitioner in Gifford’s Diabetes Clinic at Kingwood Health Center.

She enjoys working with patients and discovering what’s important to them and their health, and understands the importance of getting patients to engage in their own health care.

Susan enjoys gardening and cycling with her husband in her free time.

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Azaliah Tillinghast, FNP-BC

Azaliah specializes in family medicine, seeing patients of all ages and backgrounds. She particularly enjoys caring for individuals and families in central Vermont, where she served the community first as a nurse before becoming a nurse practitioner. “I enjoy being able to care for people in the same area I grew up in. I like the small community feel where everyone knows everyone.”

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