Get to Know Your Hospital - Joyce Barber

By Matthew Avitabile

DELHI — Joyce (Joie) Barber has served on the board of O’Connor Hospital in Delhi since around 2020. Prior to that, she was and has remained on the board of Friends of Bassett, the nonprofit organization that provides philanthropic support for the Bassett Healthcare Network.

Barber is a South Gilboa native and Stamford Central School grad. She studied music at SUNY Oswego, attended Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, and earned her Master’s Degree in Home Economics at SUNY Oneonta. Barber once worked at the former Golden Acres in Gilboa (the current Oorah Girls Zone) before dedicating herself to a career teaching home and career skills and running a bed and breakfast at her and her husband’s Hobart home, Breezy Acres.

Barber and her family work on a number of efforts to help local families. They gave scholarships to valedictorians and those who aided others at Stamford and South Kortright school districts. Barber says that they have always been involved in volunteer projects, including work with the Community Foundation of South Central New York, the Schoharie County Maple Festival, the Planned Parenthood Association in Oneonta, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Stamford Garden Club, and the Stamford Village Improvement Association, among others.

Barber has been involved in a number of major O’Connor Hospital projects, citing her pride in work to bring a new CT Scanner and inpatient monitoring system with smart beds to the hospital. She sent personal handwritten letters with notes and worked with the local Rotary Clubs to make this happen.

“No matter where I go and no matter who I speak with, all of the comments about O’Connor Hospital are positive. The community sees the hospital and its staff as caring and compassionate, which is so important to all of us,” said Barber.

Barber serves as the board’s secretary and says that each member of the board is equally as friendly and kind. She enjoys the welcoming presence of the board and looks forward to meetings.

“I was in awe of board members Dr. Frank Silagy and Dr. Don Harris, who started our partnership with the Delaware County Office for the Aging, New York Connects, SNAP-Ed New York, and Schoharie Valley Farms to provide boxes of fresh produce to the elderly each summer. I was amazed by the thought that went into this program,” she said.

Now finishing its second year, the fresh produce partnership has proven to be extremely beneficial for hundreds of local seniors.

Barber also mentioned her admiration for the President of O’Connor Hospital and Bassett Healthcare Network’s other critical access hospitals Susan Oakes Ferrucci, DNP, MSN, RN, CNS and O’Connor Hospital Board President Peter Hamilton.

“Both are incredible and have such a commitment to excellence. I can’t say enough about them,” she said.

According to Barber, the hospital is prepared for whatever comes next and she is looking forward to helping and meeting any challenge together with her fellow board members.