Cynthia Tejeda
Project coordinator Cynthia Tejeda is a true leader at Mount Sinai Morningside (MSM). No matter the issue, she is ready to give 110 percent of herself to the cause. It is hard to even know where at MSM Cynthia works, as she supports so many different departments and is always ready to jump in and help others.
From Sunday, January 31, to Tuesday, February 2, almost twenty inches of snow fell in Manhattan, at times faster than the city workers and hospital vendor could shovel and clean the roads and sidewalks. Both the City and State declared a state of emergency; much of the transit system shut down, and people were asked to stay off the roads. For MSM, this meant that many staff wanted to come to work over Sunday night, ahead of their Monday shifts. Staff ending a night shift Monday morning were unable to leave the city, and Monday’s day staff were having difficulty getting into the hospital.
Throughout the snowstorm emergency, Cynthia was on the list of Mount Sinai Morningside staff required to support the IMT Command Center, an initiative that provides assistance to the hospital leadership in emergencies. The Command Center was assigned to take over the calls for staff accommodations for the snowstorm, in addition to the COVID-19-related escalation requests the call center was already receiving.
Even before her assigned shifts were to start on Sunday, Cynthia knew a colleague wasn’t feeling well and jumped right in to help, showing her dedication to true teamwork. Over two days, Cynthia supported redeployed call center staff and even answered the phones herself to help ensure that staff had accommodations before, between, and after shifts. The call center answered more than 200 calls from staff between Saturday evening and Monday morning through one phone line.
Along with Kathleen Scanlin, Data Base Manager, and Janet Goldberg, Director of the AIDS Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital—two redeployed staff helping MSM with the COVID-19 response—Cynthia calmly and quickly answered questions about accommodations, parking, food services, shuttle services, and other issues from staff across MSM.
Cynthia worked professionally throughout the response and constantly worked to help calm staff and provide continual information. Her empathy and focus on staff safety were evident throughout all of her interactions with staff, managers, and senior leaders. Cynthia worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone had a safe place to sleep and that everyone knew where the rest areas were. She checked in on staff and answered questions about accommodations. Her concern for the well-being of staff remained strong, despite the sheer number of calls received.
In this emergency, and indeed throughout COVID-19, Cynthia’s dedication to MSM has been truly inspirational. Cynthia is a true leader, and I’m so grateful that she is here and dedicated to supporting our team.
Submitted by: Shannan Saunders, Assistant Director Emergency Management, Mount Sinai Morningside