NEW CANAAN—Bishop Frank J. Caggiano will celebrate the 25th Annual White Mass honoring health care professionals on Sunday, March 18, at 8:30 am in St. Aloysius Church in New Canaan. The Mass will be followed by brunch at Woodway Country Club in Darien.
Noted physician Joseph P. Dutkowsky, MD, will be the featured speaker at the breakfast. Dr. Dutkowsky is an attending orthopedic surgeon at Bassett Medical Center in upstate New York and an associate clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians. The topic of his talk is “Healing Beyond Healthcare.”
“The 25th Anniversary White Mass is an opportunity for us to reaffirm the healing role of healthcare workers and to celebrate their mission of compassion and service in our society,” said Bishop Caggiano. “In his unique practice of treating patients with special needs, Dr. Dutkowsky has worked to bring together the physical and spiritual dimensions of healing. We look forward to his reflections.”
During the White Mass, the bishop will present the Father Rufin Compassionate Care Award to an area healthcare volunteer. The recipients are traditionally drawn from the ranks of physicians, nurses, dentists, healthcare workers or healthcare volunteers in Fairfield County.
The Father Rufin Award is presented to those who exemplify compassionate and loving care for the sick. It is named after the late Father Rufin Kuveikis, a Capuchin Franciscan and chaplain at Norwalk Hospital for 18 years. He died in 2008 at age 86.
About Dr. Dutkowsky: Dr. Joseph P. Dutkowsky has dedicated his career to serving individuals with special needs locally, regionally and internationally. Focusing his practice on cerebral palsy, Dr. Dutkowsky is one of the few practitioners in the country seeing patients from childhood to adulthood.
He is a committed member of academic organizations including the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America, and the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, for which he has been the elected president since October 2011. He serves on the board of directors of the Cerebral Palsy Association of New York State.
Dr. Dutkowsky earned his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He completed residency training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the University of Tennessee/Campbell Foundation, and his United Cerebral Palsy Fellowship at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital in Boston.
(All healthcare workers and their guests are invited to attend the White Mass. The Mass is also open to the general public. Breakfast tickets are $35 per person; table of 10, $250. Sponsors: $100; includes two brunch reservations and name listed in the program. Register online at: www.2018whitemass.org/2018whitemass. For more information, contact Elizabeth Auda: 203.416.1636 or 2018whitemass@diobpt.org.)
