Meet the incredible members of Hadassah’s Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Council.
We invite you to join us!

Joyce Backman is the third of four generations of Hadassah Life members. Born in New Jersey, Joyce attended Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, worked in the Cardiothoracic ICU at New York Presbyterian Hospital and went on to obtain a master’s in public health from Columbia University.

Joyce, her husband Ken, and their two children, Spencer and Kate, moved to Westport, Connecticut in 2000, after living in Chicago and New Jersey. Active in Hadassah since 2000, Joyce has held many roles within Hadassah, first within the Westport, CT Chapter of Hadassah, and then Hadassah Connecticut, overseeing 6,000+ members as the President.

Upon completion of the Hadassah CT Presidency, Joyce joined the Evolve Hadassah team as part of outreach to young women all over the US. Presently, Joyce serves as the Vice Chair of the Professional Councils which includes overseeing the programming for the following councils: Attorneys and Judges, Educators, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals and Physicians. Joyce has been a member of the Hadassah National Board since 2022.

Joyce’s full-time job is as Practice Manager to a five-provider Allergy Practice overseeing 25 employees. Joyce holds a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and also enjoys yoga and hikes with the family dog.

Joyce Backman is the third of four generations of Hadassah Life members. Born in New Jersey, Joyce attended Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, worked in the Cardiothoracic ICU at New York Presbyterian Hospital and went on to obtain a master’s in public health from Columbia University.

Joyce, her husband Ken, and their two children, Spencer and Kate, moved to Westport, Connecticut in 2000, after living in Chicago and New Jersey. Active in Hadassah since 2000, Joyce has held many roles within Hadassah, first within the Westport, CT Chapter of Hadassah, and then Hadassah Connecticut, overseeing 6,000+ members as the President.

Upon completion of the Hadassah CT Presidency, Joyce joined the Evolve Hadassah team as part of outreach to young women all over the US. Presently, Joyce serves as the Vice Chair of the Professional Councils which includes overseeing the programming for the following councils: Attorneys and Judges, Educators, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals and Physicians. Joyce has been a member of the Hadassah National Board since 2022.

Joyce’s full-time job is as Practice Manager to a five-provider Allergy Practice overseeing 25 employees. Joyce holds a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and also enjoys yoga and hikes with the family dog.

Becoming an RN at midlife is the most challenging thing I have ever done. Elsie Shemin Roth, public health nurse from St. Louis, inspired me when I read about her starting nursing school at age 54 in Hadassah Magazine. At the time, I was working as Office Manager at Hadassah Greater Kansas City — where my passion for Hadassah began.

After graduation, I decided to revive our Hadassah Nurses Council and served as its president for three years. Later, I became president of Hadassah Greater Kansas City and am currently local Team Coordinator and Hadassah Great Plains Engagement Coordinator. A few years ago, I helped form our local Hadassah Physicians Council, and we are also hoping to start a Hadassah Attorneys & Judges Council here.

Using my nursing knowledge, I was fortunate to work for 13+ years as Medical Library Coordinator at a local community hospital before I retired 9 years ago. My personal mission is to help family and friends and contribute to making the world a better place with my time, talent and treasure through Hadassah and other charities. I am blessed to have my two sons and daughters-in-law plus my six grandchildren all living near me. This year, our local Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Council will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of our Walk for Health on Mother’s Day. Each year I sponsor a drawing for a free Hadassah Life Membership in memory of my mother. This is open to everyone at www.hadassahmidwest.org/GKCwalk.

Becoming an RN at midlife is the most challenging thing I have ever done. Elsie Shemin Roth, public health nurse from St. Louis, inspired me when I read about her starting nursing school at age 54 in Hadassah Magazine. At the time, I was working as Office Manager at Hadassah Greater Kansas City — where my passion for Hadassah began.

After graduation, I decided to revive our Hadassah Nurses Council and served as its president for three years. Later, I became president of Hadassah Greater Kansas City and am currently local Team Coordinator and Hadassah Great Plains Engagement Coordinator. A few years ago, I helped form our local Hadassah Physicians Council, and we are also hoping to start a Hadassah Attorneys & Judges Council here.

Using my nursing knowledge, I was fortunate to work for 13+ years as Medical Library Coordinator at a local community hospital before I retired 9 years ago. My personal mission is to help family and friends and contribute to making the world a better place with my time, talent and treasure through Hadassah and other charities. I am blessed to have my two sons and daughters-in-law plus my six grandchildren all living near me. This year, our local Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Council will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of our Walk for Health on Mother’s Day. Each year I sponsor a drawing for a free Hadassah Life Membership in memory of my mother. This is open to everyone at www.hadassahmidwest.org/GKCwalk.

Being a new member of this Council is very special to me. Hadassah and the council are the vehicles that feed my passion for Israel and my love of social work.

I am currently President of Hadassah Northern New Jersey. I am married, have three adult children and seven grandchildren, and I am a social worker. I graduated from Wurzweiler School of Social Work, part of Yeshiva University in 1988. I have an MSW and a LCSW from NY and NJ. I was a hospital social worker at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Medical Center for over 25 years. I worked in many different units including surgery, ortho, neuro, rehab and oncology. I provided supportive counseling to both patients and families, assisted with discharge planning, led support groups and was a member of the interdisciplinary team. I worked with the homeless population as well people with AIDS in the early 1990s.

I retired in 2016 from the hospital, although my license is still active. Since my retirement, I have been leading a monthly support group for women with gyn/cancer in person and more recently on Zoom.

Being a new member of this Council is very special to me. Hadassah and the council are the vehicles that feed my passion for Israel and my love of social work.

I am currently President of Hadassah Northern New Jersey. I am married, have three adult children and seven grandchildren, and I am a social worker. I graduated from Wurzweiler School of Social Work, part of Yeshiva University in 1988. I have an MSW and a LCSW from NY and NJ. I was a hospital social worker at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Medical Center for over 25 years. I worked in many different units including surgery, ortho, neuro, rehab and oncology. I provided supportive counseling to both patients and families, assisted with discharge planning, led support groups and was a member of the interdisciplinary team. I worked with the homeless population as well people with AIDS in the early 1990s.

I retired in 2016 from the hospital, although my license is still active. Since my retirement, I have been leading a monthly support group for women with gyn/cancer in person and more recently on Zoom.

Shortly after I completed my Bachelor’s in Nursing at the University of Michigan in 1969, I became intrigued by a newly emerging concept of teaching patients about their health condition and how to take measures to improve their health. Health care knowledge was more or less a mysterious process, in the sole hands of highly educated health practitioners. At that time, you needed a doctor’s order to teach a patient about diabetes management. No one but the physician could inform a patient what his/her blood pressure reading was. After working in in-service education and public health nursing, I pursued a Master’s in Public Health (University of Michigan), determined to devote my career to creating programs and systems to help people learn to improve their health.

It was an exciting, innovative time. I created one of the first Patient Education Departments at Harper Hospital in Detroit. Because of successes we had in programs geared for the general community, I launched a Community Education Department. These were new concepts at the time.  All programs included the full complement of health disciplines (physicians, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation specialists, and pharmacists). We created a multidisciplinary community with a by-product of further educating health professionals about patient needs. During that time, you could see gradual changes in attitudes towards educating and engaging the public about health.

One program we developed focused on Parkinson disease (PD), of which little was known at the time. When people got wind of the classes, calls to participate came from all over southeast Michigan. Thanks to the support of the hospital, I worked closely with a neurologist specializing in PD and other select volunteers, to create the Michigan Parkinson Foundation. Over the years, I participated on the Board and Professional Advisory Board and took the position of Chief Executive Officer during the last 16 years of my working career. Due to the commitment of many people, MPF is now one of the strongest independent organizations nationally for people with PD.

Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to have been able to work with a diverse group of talented professionals and lay people; to expand my skill set into areas outside of nursing (management, organizational development, marketing, finance, creative writing); and to meet inspirational people in Michigan and beyond.

I retired 6 years ago. In addition to my hobbies (piano, entertaining, being with dear friends and travel), I wanted to become more active in Hadassah, having attended some of the first meetings of the Nurses Council. When the opportunity arose to morph the Council into one for all Health Professionals, I jumped on it. This took me back to my earlier years when we developed teams back at Harper Hospital. The current Steering Committee is dynamic and committed to expanding our reach to include all health fields. This is an interesting new purpose, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share it with others.

Shortly after I completed my Bachelor’s in Nursing at the University of Michigan in 1969, I became intrigued by a newly emerging concept of teaching patients about their health condition and how to take measures to improve their health. Health care knowledge was more or less a mysterious process, in the sole hands of highly educated health practitioners. At that time, you needed a doctor’s order to teach a patient about diabetes management. No one but the physician could inform a patient what his/her blood pressure reading was. After working in in-service education and public health nursing, I pursued a Master’s in Public Health (University of Michigan), determined to devote my career to creating programs and systems to help people learn to improve their health.

It was an exciting, innovative time. I created one of the first Patient Education Departments at Harper Hospital in Detroit. Because of successes we had in programs geared for the general community, I launched a Community Education Department. These were new concepts at the time.  All programs included the full complement of health disciplines (physicians, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation specialists, and pharmacists). We created a multidisciplinary community with a by-product of further educating health professionals about patient needs. During that time, you could see gradual changes in attitudes towards educating and engaging the public about health.

One program we developed focused on Parkinson disease (PD), of which little was known at the time. When people got wind of the classes, calls to participate came from all over southeast Michigan. Thanks to the support of the hospital, I worked closely with a neurologist specializing in PD and other select volunteers, to create the Michigan Parkinson Foundation. Over the years, I participated on the Board and Professional Advisory Board and took the position of Chief Executive Officer during the last 16 years of my working career. Due to the commitment of many people, MPF is now one of the strongest independent organizations nationally for people with PD.

Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to have been able to work with a diverse group of talented professionals and lay people; to expand my skill set into areas outside of nursing (management, organizational development, marketing, finance, creative writing); and to meet inspirational people in Michigan and beyond.

I retired 6 years ago. In addition to my hobbies (piano, entertaining, being with dear friends and travel), I wanted to become more active in Hadassah, having attended some of the first meetings of the Nurses Council. When the opportunity arose to morph the Council into one for all Health Professionals, I jumped on it. This took me back to my earlier years when we developed teams back at Harper Hospital. The current Steering Committee is dynamic and committed to expanding our reach to include all health fields. This is an interesting new purpose, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share it with others.