Bassett Healthcare Network Names Dr. Adam Hockensmith Associate Chief of Emergency and Trauma Services and Medical Director of A.O. Fox Hospital's Emergency Department

Bassett Healthcare Network is pleased to welcome Adam Hockensmith, MD, as the network’s new Associate Chief of Emergency and Trauma Services and A.O. Fox Hospital’s new Medical Director of the Emergency Department. He began these roles in July 2025.

While Dr. Hockensmith is new to these leadership positions, this is not his first time working in the network and the local area. After earning his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and completing his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospitals in New York City, Dr. Hockensmith started his clinical work at A.O. Fox Hospital.

“People aren’t just going through the motions at A.O. Fox Hospital and at Bassett Healthcare Network as a whole. They truly care about the people around them. I really believe that the caregivers see our patients as neighbors and because of that there’s a special touch of care,” says Dr. Hockensmith.

Last year, Dr. Hockensmith left Bassett Healthcare Network to complete a fellowship in hospice and palliative care at the University of Chicago. Once this was complete, he says his first choice was to come back to Bassett Healthcare Network and bring the new skills and experiences he gained back to the communities he already felt connected to.

“My current position is one that I hadn’t even considered, but some of the staff that I worked with closely mentioned this opportunity and that they thought I would be a great fit,” explains Dr. Hockensmith. “That was really heartening to hear. When you’re working with others and they appreciate your leadership skills on that personal, one-on-one level and recommend that you try to take those skills and share them with the rest of the network, it’s very humbling.”

A total of 82,475 patients visited Bassett Healthcare Network’s Emergency Departments in 2024. That number increased from 78,783 visits in 2023. At A.O. Fox Hospital alone, 25,837 emergency department visits occurred in 2024. Dr. Hockensmith feels the quality of care, and the often-reasonable wait times are reasons why patients are choosing Bassett Healthcare Network for their emergency care needs.

“One of the things that we offer at Bassett is local care. Oftentimes patients get in quicker than they might in Binghamton or Albany or some of the larger tertiary care medical centers, and we still provide the expertise of well-trained healthcare providers in the full spectrum of high quality, state of the art care,” said Dr. Hockensmith.

In the months and years ahead, Dr. Hockensmith plans to be part of Bassett Healthcare Network’s ambition to continue evolving and growing services offered in Oneonta and beyond.

“People take a lot of pride in A.O. Fox Hospital. It’s a priority for me and for the network to grow back some of the services that were scaled back during the COVID-19 pandemic and the years that followed. As we scale up operations, we hope to keep more patients here in Oneonta, in their community,” said Dr. Hockensmith. “I’ve always, whenever I’ve come to work here, felt that there is so much opportunity in this hospital.”

Most recently, A.O. Fox Hospital opened a new universal inpatient care unit that will serve patients admitted to the hospital that require varying levels of inpatient care. Plans are also currently in motion to expand the Bassett Cancer Institute located inside the hospital’s FoxCare Center. Additionally, A.O. Fox Hospital recently welcomed a new vice president of operations, Michael Guiry, PA-C.