From left: David A. Feinberg, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Mount Sinai Health System; and Mount Sinai Morningside leaders Berthe Erisnor, MBA, Vice President, Ambulatory Services; Arthur A. Gianelli, MBA, MPH, President; Brian Radbill, MD, Chief Medical Officer; Audrey Madison, PhD; Director, Marketing and Communications; and Lucy Xenophon, MD, MPH, Chief Transformation Officer.
Mount Sinai St. Luke’s will now operate under the name Mount Sinai Morningside, reaffirming its commitment as the primary provider of health care in West Harlem, including Morningside Heights, and its integral role in the Mount Sinai Health System. The change was approved by the Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees and the appropriate regulatory agencies. It becomes effective immediately.
“This new name not only reaffirms our 124-year legacy of serving the local community, but also our commitment to delivering technologically advanced Mount Sinai-level care to our patients, who are increasingly coming to us from all five boroughs, Westchester, New Jersey, and even internationally,” said Arthur A. Gianelli, MBA, MPH, President of Mount Sinai Morningside and Chief Transformation Officer, Mount Sinai Health System. “We have undergone a transformation that positions Mount Sinai Morningside as an integral part of the Mount Sinai Health System. Our patients now have convenient access to a vast network of world-renowned physicians and cutting-edge medical care.” Mr. Gianelli announced the change on Thursday, February 6, in two Town Hall meetings for hospital staff—one at 2 pm for the day shift, and one at 11 pm for the night shift.
Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, said, “Mount Sinai Morningside has grown into a top-tier health care facility that serves as this region’s gateway to the Mount Sinai Health System, expanding access for Upper Manhattan, New Jersey, Yonkers, Westchester, and surrounding areas. The hospital’s rebranding and transformation efforts reaffirm our commitment to setting standards for excellence and innovation in health care.”
The renaming was announced to Mount Sinai Morningside faculty and staff at Town Hall meetings.
The transformation of Mount Sinai Morningside is the result of hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in clinical services, facilities, equipment, and information technology. Centers of excellence have been established in cardiology and cardiac surgery; diabetes/endocrinology and bariatric surgery; geriatrics; and trauma services. The hospital has also introduced a state-of-the-art electronic medical record (EMR) system and acquired advanced surgical robotic technology.
Mount Sinai Morningside has earned a number of important designations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently awarded the hospital a 4-star out of 5-star rating for safety, quality, and patient experience. Two of the hospital’s clinical services—diabetes/endocrinology and nephrology—are ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report. It has secured accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians as a Geriatric Emergency Department and by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age Friendly Health System. Mount Sinai Morningside operates one of just two Trauma Centers certified by the American College of Surgeons located north of 60th Street in Manhattan. And the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society granted Mount Sinai Morningside the highest rating (Stage 7) for the adoption and utilization of its EMR, a designation received by only 7 percent of hospitals across the country.
The hospital was founded by the Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg in 1846 and opened its doors in 1858.
The hospital in 2018 opened the James P. Jones Daily Management and Incident Command Center, an innovative facility that uses the EMR system and data science to provide descriptive and predictive information to decision-makers so that they can respond quickly and effectively to emergencies. In addition, Mount Sinai Morningside has opened a new Ambulatory Care Center at 114th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, which includes outpatient exam space for a variety of clinical specialties, an imaging center, an infusion suite, and numerous diagnostic and procedural centers. Primary care services are now available in a new space at 91st Street and Columbus Avenue, as well as at 147th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in the Sugar Hill community.
Since the mid-19th century, the hospital has been a vital part of health care in New York City. It was founded as St. Luke’s Hospital in 1846 by the Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg, and in 1858 opened its doors to patients at Fifth Avenue and 54th Street. It relocated to 113th and Amsterdam in 1896, and merged with the Woman’s Hospital in 1953, with Roosevelt Hospital in 1979, and with Mount Sinai in 2013.
In every iteration, the hospital has been dedicated to the care of all patients—especially women and underserved populations—and to innovation in health care. Among many milestones, in 1897, St. Luke’s pioneered the diagnostic and therapeutic use of X-rays; in 1935, it performed one of the earliest removals of a cancerous lung; in 1975, it opened the first hospital-based hospice program; and in the 2000s, it has set national benchmarks in cardiac surgery and HIV clinical care.
At the afternoon Town Hall meeting, a capacity crowd greeted the name change with surprise and applause. During the question-and-answer session, there was a candid and spirited discussion about how best to recognize the historic legacy of the St. Luke’s name. Lisa Renaud, Practice Manager, said to Mr. Gianelli, “This is an emotional roller coaster, but I just want to thank you for taking a few minutes to share with us the importance of change.” Keith Guerra, Associate Director of Security, was enthusiastic: “I’m psyched about this. This is reality; this is where we are. And the people who are here are the people who are going to make this work. So let’s go, Morningside!”
Circa 1908, St. Luke’s Hospital, right, was already a mainstay in Upper Manhattan. At left is the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, still under construction.
The hospital pioneered the diagnostic and therapeutic use of X-rays in the 1890s.
The men’s hospital ward in the 1940s.