It is two days before the St. Mary’s medical mission embarks for Haiti and the team just got great news: Trip leader Richard Garvey was named doctor of the year by the Greater Bridgeport Medical Association.
Pretty cool timing, if you ask trip organizer Michael Mercurio.
“I think it’s absolutely outstanding,” he said.

Garvey is a veteran surgeon at Bridgeport Hospital with more than three decades of experience under his belt and a stellar reputation in his field. But the award is just as much for his community outreach as it is for his work in the operating room. He was selected from about 200 physicians for the honor and will receive the award in May.

The news comes just two months after another team member, Susan Marchitto, was named Connecticut School Nurse of the Year. Marchitto is a school nurse at Washington Elementary School in West Haven.

The children and adults of Marbial (pictured at left/photos by Garvey) stand to benefit when the superstar-studded team of medical professionals and church volunteers pays them a visit next week. And though not everyone on the team has a “best physician of the year” designation at the end of their name, everyone on the trip has impressive medical credentials, inspiring stories of past volunteer work and medical missions, and big hearts. Mark Bianchi is an ear, nose and throat specialist who has spent the last 13 years engaging in countless hours to pro-bono health care for underprivileged children in Bridgeport. Mary Lou Gaeta, director of the pediatric inpatient unit at Bridgeport Hospital, accompanied a medical team to Thailand to help children with cleft lips, facial deformities or severe burns. Frederick Ramos, a second-year medical resident at Bridgeport Hospital, went on an average of four medical missions a year as a med student in the Philippines.

And that’s just to name a few…