My mission is to provide compassionate care for patients in challenging times.

It is a privilege and an honor to stand alongside patients and their families during some of the most difficult times they may face. I strive to provide thoughtful, effective, and compassionate care while maintaining clear and honest communication throughout the treatment and recovery process in the ICU. So you can get to know me, some of my hobbies include Dodgers baseball, music, gaming, and exercise. I also enjoy traveling around the world with my lovely wife.

I enjoy the challenge of the diagnostic process of medicine, which is one of the many reasons I have chosen to work as a nocturnist, which is a hospital-based physician who works overnight. In my free time, I've been known to read books about the American Revolution and Colonial Period, or attend hard rock/metal concerts. Also, '90s music is in my head all of the time. 

Being trusted as a physician to treat patients', sometimes life threatening, medical conditions is a privilege and responsibility I thrive to honor every day. Helping hospitalized patients and their families to cope with changes during these stressful times is crucial to achieve better medical outcomes and to improve the well-being of the community as a whole. 

Outside of work, I like to watch soccer, Crossfit training, travel the world and take photographs. 

I have been a vascular surgeon for more than 25 years since completing my training at the then Deaconess Hospital in Boston. A native New Englander, I returned to my home state to practice, and was Chief of Vascular Surgery at Brown/Rhode Island Hospital until I left to join the team at Brigham Vascular Surgery in October 2016. Having led an academic department for many years, I sought to bring that level of experience with state-of-the-art vascular care to the community hospital setting and was recruited specifically to lead the division at South Shore Hospital. Since my arrival, South Shore Health has supported this vision for vascular care, opening a new Endovascular OR Suite for complex aneurysm repair; developing a multidisciplinary limb preservation team together with Podiatry, Plastic Surgery, and the Wound Care Center; and organizing community outreach and education events to allow for screening and prevention of vascular disease.

In my occasional free time, I am an avid boater and the South Shore has proven to be the perfect environment for me to pursue my other passion!

Patients with vascular disease often face many challenges—medical and otherwise. Consequently, I recognize that there are many important aspects to your care.  I also appreciate that having surgery is a major life event. With all of this in mind, I will do my best to provide you with patient-centered, high quality, effective and compassionate care.

William Tollefsen, MD is the EMS and MIH Medical Director for South Shore Health. Dual-boarded in Emergency Medicine and EMS Medicine, Dr. Tollefsen works clinically as an Emergency Physician at South Shore Health in addition to his role as EMS Medical Director.

One of few physicians in the country to receive the prestigious "FAEMS" recognition, Dr. Tollefsen is also the Medical Director for OEMS Region IV, serving 61 cities and towns of the Metro-Boston EMS Council. As the current EMS Medical Director for eight municipal and three private ambulance services on the South Shore, Dr. Tollefsen interacts and provides oversight for over 400 Paramedics.

Dr. Tollefsen graduated from New York Medical College and completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's, and Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed a fellowship in Emergency Medical Services and Critical Care Transport at the University of Massachusetts, where he worked as an Emergency Physician and Flight Physician for UMASS LifeFlight. He completed an MBA at the Isenberg School of Management at UMASS Amherst, and holds a Master of Medical Science degree from the Boston University School of Medicine.

A former pre-hospital provider, he is actively involved in EMS system design, paramedic education and Critical Care Transport Systems. He works closely with multiple EMS, Fire and Law Enforcement agencies throughout Massachusetts.

His research interests include systems of care, resuscitation, airway management, and paramedic education.