Trashana Smith
Trashana Smith, a Medical Office Assistant at Mount Sinai West, was recently recognized with a STAR submission by Kimberly Fields, Administrative Manager, Department of Operations at the Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice.
Trashana sometimes works as a screener in the lobby of the building at 5 East 98th Street. On one of those days, she noted that the wife of a patient was distraught. The woman had left her husband—who has Alzheimer’s—in the lobby while she brought her car to pick him up, and when she returned he was no longer there. Though her shift had ended, Trashana listened while the wife described her husband to security and gave them his picture. Determined to help, Trashana took a picture of the picture and set out to look for the patient. She walked around the corner to Madison Avenue, where she saw a man who looked like the patient, and when he acknowledged his name, Trashana walked him back to the building.
Kimberly praises Trashana for demonstrating empathy and compassion. “When I first learned of Trashana’s help in locating the patient,” she says, “my heart was so full.” She adds, ”Trashana is the personification of Mount Sinai’s core values. Her compassion and unwavering dedication to assisting the wife in locating her husband is admirable. She told me personally that she wouldn’t be able to travel home without knowing that he was found and safe. I’m so proud to have her as part of my team, and her call to action is inspirational to us all.”
Trashana, who has a background in hospice care, is humble about the instinctive and selfless action she took. “I just always think about how I would want my family to be treated when I am working with patients, and how each patient is a person deserving of the most compassionate care.”