Senator Hassan Recognizes Dr. Bob Andelman of Portsmouth as February’s Granite Stater of the Month

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan recognized Dr. Bob Andelman of Portsmouth as February’s Granite Stater of the Month. After a 34-year-long career as an anesthesiologist, Dr. Andelman retrained and volunteered at Greater Seacoast Community Health for seven years administering medication-assisted treatment – which cuts the craving for addiction and is the gold standard of addiction treatment – to Granite Staters.

The biggest difference for Dr. Andelman in retraining in medication-assisted treatment was the importance of building a rapport with his patients, learning about their lives and developing trust over time. He also saw firsthand the impact that support and positive reinforcement have in helping patients push through to recovery. His long career and volunteer work in medicine exemplifies the Granite State spirit of lifting up others and doing what we can to help each other out.

Senator Hassan launched the “Granite Stater of the Month” initiative in 2017 to recognize outstanding New Hampshire citizens who go above and beyond to help their neighbors and make their communities stronger. To nominate a New Hampshire citizen to be a “Granite Stater of the Month,” constituents can complete the nomination form here.

To read Senator Hassan’s statement for the Congressional Record, see below.

I am honored to recognize Dr. Bob Andelman of Portsmouth, New Hampshire as February’s Granite Stater of the Month. After a 34-year-long career as an anesthesiologist, Dr. Andelman retired and retrained in addiction medicine. He then spent the next seven years volunteering with Greater Seacoast Community Health, helping patients get the addiction treatment that they need and demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to his community and state.

Dr. Andelman began his career as an anesthesiologist at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in 1979, where he worked for six years before moving to Portsmouth Regional Hospital in 1985, where he worked for 28 years. He also volunteered for the New Hampshire Board of Medicine for 10 years. In the later years of his practice, addiction grew from a problem into a crisis and spread throughout our state, touching nearly every community in New Hampshire. As Dr. Andelman began to contemplate retirement and the time came to decide whether to renew his medical license or let it lapse, Dr. Andelman decided that he could not stop practicing medicine – instead, he chose to change course and work to address the opioid epidemic. Given the dire need for more doctors to prescribe medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder – which cuts the craving for addiction and is the gold standard for treatment – Dr. Andelman connected with Greater Seacoast Community Health and underwent new medical training in order to prescribe medication-assisted treatment to Granite Staters.

This transition required learning entirely new medical content and a new electronic medical record system as well. But for Dr. Andelman, the biggest difference was in the one-on-one relationships he developed with his patients. As an anesthesiologist, Dr. Andelman was used to gathering information about the patient, consulting with doctors, and helping patients understand the process of being anesthetized before, during, and after medical procedures. In his role at Families First Health Center, part of Greater Seacoast Community Health, he started to build long-term relationships with patients, often learning about their lives starting from childhood on – and this rapport was essential for building trust with his patients to help them stay in recovery. For seven years, Dr. Andelman volunteered at Families First, helping countless patients and their families change their lives.

Dr. Andelman was inspired by his time at Families First Health Center, particularly by patients who courageously sought treatment and faced their conditions head on. He understands that addiction is a chronic illness where people can relapse, but some patients continue to push through the illness and work to get better. Many patients who come in for addiction treatment have not had any positive reinforcement, and Dr. Andelman saw the impact that such reinforcement provided when he complimented their efforts to seek help and communicated his belief in the patient’s strength and ability to succeed. 

Dr. Andelman’s selfless determination to help others is truly inspiring. His long career and volunteer work in medicine exemplifies the Granite State spirit of lifting up others and doing what we can to help each other out. I am proud to recognize Dr. Andelman’s compassion, hard work, and the difference he has made for countless Granite Staters when they need a doctor – and a friend.

###