Last fall, an accomplished freelance photographer working for The New York Times was given access inside Mount Sinai Brooklyn to document the care being provided to COVID-19 patients.
One of the images recently appeared in a lengthy photo essay titled “A City Ruptured” showing the changes to New York’s economy due to the pandemic. And the photographer, Ashley Gilbertson, a New York City resident known for his photographs of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, shared additional images.
The black and white photos are dramatic and moving, and they provide a rare glimpse of a hospital doing what is necessary to care for patients and serve its community during a time of crisis.
“As I look at these images, what I see is staff, nurses, techs, and doctors, providing care for very sick and fragile patients,” says Peter Shearer, MD, FACEP, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Medical Staff, at Mount Sinai Brooklyn.
He adds, “One year into this pandemic we only have a few, modestly effective new medications for COVID-19. What keeps these patients from dying is the endless care that staff provides: care is encouraging confused patients to keep their uncomfortable oxygen masks on; care is helping a patient spend time lying on their belly; care is ambulating patients so they don’t weaken during their stay. Providing this care is hard work, and these people have been doing it day and night for over a year. The staff also provides care to co-workers, and that sense of community keeps us going.”
On Thursday, March 11, 2021, Mount Sinai Health System employees marked one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic with a day of reflection.
Across Mount Sinai, at 10:30 am, 4:30 pm, and 11:30 pm, employees paused to reflect on everything they have experienced this last year—the loss of loved ones and cherished colleagues, the struggles that have helped them grow, the ways our world has changed, the means by which they find resilience, and the moments and people for whom they are grateful. Sharing this moment together allowed members of the Mount Sinai community to acknowledge where they have been, how they feel today, and how they will move forward together.
Employees at Mount Sinai Queens gathered outside to share the moment together while the Rev. Rachelle Zazzu, DDS, read a blessing and eloquently stated, “One year ago, COVID-19 changed the world. We could suddenly see the top of the tallest mountains, but not our friends and our family. And it changed us forever.”
At Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and many of the surrounding ambulatory sites, leaders, chaplains, and wellness committee members rounded on all three shifts over a 24-hour period. They brought LED tea lights and sticky notes to work areas and invited staff to remember and reflect. Many expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate. Recurrent themes included sadness about loved ones lost to COVID-19, hope about the approaching end of the pandemic, and pride in their “work families.”
The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai-Union Square, and other ambulatory locations collected notes of resilience and loss in a central location with tea lights for the community to view and experience collectively. Many sites also shared information on Mount Sinai’s employee wellness resources.
“We had quite a bit of patient participation and a lot of valuable conversations about what people have endured in the past year, whom they have lost, and what they are grateful for,” said Lititia Satpathy, Project Manager, who organized the event at Mount Sinai-Union Square. “Hosting the event in the atrium attracted a lot of attention toward the table, and even if people did not choose to write a note or light a candle, almost everyone acknowledged the meaning behind this important day.”
Like the rest of the world, the Mount Sinai community has experienced immeasurable loss and sacrifice on an individual and community level. And yet, through groundbreaking innovation, an unwavering commitment to our patients, and exceptional agility and teamwork, Mount Sinai employees have saved thousands of lives and have vaccinated tens of thousands of people, bringing us closer as a community and closer to the end of this pandemic.
Multiple sclerosis is a neuroinflammatory disorder that disrupts the flow of information between the brain or spinal cord and the rest of the body, and may lead to symptoms such as fatigue and problems with mobility, balance, vision.
The symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) can vary from person to person, and even from day to day for an individual—and this causes stress and uncertainty for both people with MS and their families. These psycho-social effects, and how to handle them, were the subject of a virtual talk by Andrea Arzt, LCSW, MSCS, Director of Healthcare Engagement, and Debby Bennett, Program Implementation Manager with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It can be viewed here.
Andrea Arzt, LCSW, MSCS, Director of Healthcare Engagement, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
“MS is variable and unpredictable, with no clear road map,” Ms. Arzt said in the talk, “Multiple Sclerosis: A Clinicians Update.” It was part of a series featuring speakers from around the Mount Sinai Health System as well as the community to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable health care environment for people with disabilities.
MS is a neuroinflammatory disorder that affects the central nervous system. It disrupts the flow of information between the brain or spinal cord and the rest of the body, and may lead to symptoms such as fatigue, problems with mobility, balance, vision, and bowel and bladder function. Many of these symptoms are not visible to casual observers, adding another layer of challenges for people with MS as they seek accommodation and support. “It’s the ‘but you look so good’ syndrome,” Ms. Arzt said.
Debby Bennett, Program Implementation Manager, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
When a person and their family are affected by MS, there may be grieving and depression as they face the ups and downs of the unpredictable disease, she said. Although there is no cure for MS, focusing on general wellness is an important piece of managing this disease. This includes continuing treatments, controlling things that one is able to control, such as diet and exercise, and increasing skills of resilience.
Ms. Arzt pointed out that Mount Sinai’s Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, offers holistic and compassionate care for people with MS. The team includes neurologists, nurse practitioners, a neuropsychologist, and social workers. And the Center collaborates with specialists in ophthalmology, rehabilitation, urology, pain management, neuroradiology, psychiatry, and any other area that people with MS might need. The Center also participates in advanced research and offers enrollment in clinical trials.
Ms. Bennett said that the hopeful vision of the Multiple Sclerosis Society for the future is a world free of MS. “To that end we are guided by a plan to mobilize all human and financial resources to find solutions for people with MS every day,” she said. Advocacy, research, and volunteerism are the foundation of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To learn more about clinical treatment of MS, to get support, or to learn how to get involved as a volunteer, visit this site.
There are many reasons why the Mount Sinai community should be thankful for the residents and fellows who help provide care every day. But their contributions during the height of the pandemic a year ago may be one of the most dramatic, and that was on the minds of many recently as they marked “Thank a Resident Day.”
“As New York City entered its darkest days during the peak of the pandemic, our residents and fellows wanted to jump right in and join their colleagues on the front lines in an act of great professionalism and compassion. They were the backbone that kept us all going during a very difficult time,” says I. Michael Leitman, MD, FACS, Dean for Graduate Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “It makes me proud and very, very happy to know them and work shoulder to shoulder with them,” says Dr. Leitman, a surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive surgical innovations to treat abdominal conditions.
Icahn Mount Sinai runs the nation’s largest and one of the oldest training programs for medical residents. Each year, these programs train approximately 2,500 residents and clinical fellows—doctors in training—in every specialty, including several specialty areas that are highly ranked by Doximity, which polls doctors on the best U.S. training programs. Specialties ranked in the top 20 include Dermatology (No. 4), Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation (No. 9), Nuclear Medicine (No. 12), Otolaryngology (No. 12), Psychiatry (No. 15), OB/GYN (No. 18), and Ophthalmology (No. 20).
Andres Arredondo, MD, is a resident in emergency medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital who spent time at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens—considered an epicenter of the pandemic in New York City—when the pandemic struck last spring. Originally from Colombia, he was struck by the disproportionate effect of the pandemic on the Hispanic community.
Ciera Sears, MD
“The impact of the pandemic on the Hispanic community really highlighted the need for us to place an emphasis on addressing the social determinants of health, such as economic stability, crowded living conditions, quality education, and access to health care,” he says. “We worked long, hard hours but we banded together and supported each other. I was impressed by my fellow residents. Some voluntarily worked extra shifts, some started fundraisers for the Queen’s community, while others helped out in departments that were stretched. We all pushed ourselves to give as much as we could. I’m thankful for all of these things.”
Ciera Sears, MD, a fellow in Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, was one of many fellows and residents called upon during the pandemic to embed in the hospital’s emergency department, where she would provide counsel to patients at risk of dying, all the while giving much appreciated support to her busy colleagues in the ED.
“We were seeing patients in the worst days, close to death, and alone. Because it was too risky to allow family to enter the hospital, their only support was their doctors and nurses,” says Dr. Sears. Dr. Sears was infected with COVID-19 during the first week New York State was in lockdown. She lost her sense of smell for six months but is now feeling well.
At the same time, the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining momentum, and Dr. Sears was on the front lines. “Here I was risking my life to fight this pandemic which disproportionately affects Blacks and Hispanics, and simultaneously engaging in protests,” she says.
Click here to watch a special video thanking Mount Sinai residents and fellows from Scott Gottlieb, MD, the FDA commissioner from 2017 to 2019, who graduated from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and was a resident in Mount Sinai’s Internal Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Gottlieb is a member of the Mount Sinai Board of Trustees.
Caitlyn Kuwata, MD
Caitlyn Kuwata, MD, also a fellow in Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, was deployed to the ED where she used her training in palliative medicine to support patients and their families with difficult decisions and symptom management, sometimes with patients who had very little time left.
“Because the COVID numbers were so high, we did a lot of emergency consults on big issues like patient values and goals surrounding quality of life in the context of COVID. It was very eye opening and emotional. One of the hardest aspects of our work was assisting our patients in saying goodbye to family members who were not allowed to visit,” she says.
She became infected with COVID-19 in March. “The two week quarantine while sick was really hard. I wanted to work and I wanted to be useful,” she says.
“Like all of our wonderful staff, my fellows were rock stars during the pandemic and beyond,” says Helen Fernandez, MD, MPH, Professor and Program Director for Geriatrics and Palliative Care at Icahn Mount Sinai, the top rated Department of Geriatrics in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report. “They were true advocates for patients and caregivers, helping them navigate complex decision making. I consider myself extremely lucky to work with such gifted and talented staff. Our future is bright.”
Thank a Resident Day, created in 2018, was marked on February 26. It is one of a number of programs run by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to champion humanism in health care. The foundation also established the White Coat Ceremony in 1993 as a way to welcome first year medical students.
Jonathan Novick, Outreach Manager for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
Under normal circumstances, people with disabilities face discrimination, inaccessibility to services, and other challenges to independent living. The COVID-19 global pandemic has added more hurdles for people with disabilities and caregivers, said Jonathan Novick, Outreach Manager for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). Mr. Novick discussed the office’s efforts to address these issues in a virtual talk. The talk, intended to provide information to the Mount Sinai community on the services and resources available through the MOPD, can be viewed here.
“As a result of COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of activities for institutions were forced to go online,” Mr. Novick noted. “And if I had to pick out one bright spot at least for the disability community, it enabled a level of social interaction that was not there before.”
The virtual talk, titled “Providing Resources for People with Disabilities during the Pandemic,” was held in observance of Disability Awareness Month, part of a series featuring speakers from around the Mount Sinai Health System as well as the community to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable health care environment for people with disabilities.
MOPD is a liaison between New York City government and the disability community and works to ensure that the rights and concerns of people with disabilities are addressed in all of the city’s initiatives, programs, and policies. This includes equal access to everything the city has to offer, including housing, employment, transportation, benefits, arts, culture, and parks.
Resources Available in Toolkit, and on Mount Sinai ODI Site
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, people with disabilities are not inherently at higher risk for becoming infected with or having severe illness from COVID-19. However, some people with disabilities might be at a higher risk of infection or severe illness because of their underlying medical conditions. For example, adults with disabilities are three times more likely to have heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer than adults without disabilities.
In one constructive response to the pandemic, Mr. Novick said, MOPD has created a Virtual Activities Toolkit, which offers accessible resources and information in one centralized location. The pandemic also highlighted the importance of communication, such as digital access to COVID-19-related briefings and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene public health guidance and materials.
Weekly calls were set up between MOPD and advocates and organizations to address the needs to people with disabilities during the pandemic. Among the many concerns addressed were access to medical care, personal protective equipment, food/supplies, fear of losing home health providers due to social distancing guidelines, mental health and domestic violence support, and anxiety over health care rationing due to disability.
The Inventor of the Year team conducted research that led to diagnostic tests for antibodies to COVID-19. (Standing) Florian Krammer, PhD, PhD, Professor of Microbiology, left, and Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD, Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given Professor and Chair of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine. (Seated, from left) Daniel Stadlbauer, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Fatima Amanat, Graduate Assistant; Adolfo Firpo-Betancourt, MD, Professor of Pathology, Molecular and Cell Based Medicine; Viviana Simon, MD, PhD, Professor of Microbiology; Ania Wajnberg, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine; and Damodara Rao Mendu, PhD, Director of Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine.
Individuals and teams from the Mount Sinai Health System were honored for advances in biomedical research, technology, and medicine at the sixth annual Mount Sinai Innovation Awards ceremony, a virtual event held Tuesday, December 8, 2020.
Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP) presented the award for Inventor of the Year to an eight-member team led by renowned virologists and pathologists, whose efforts led to the development of multiple diagnostic tests for the detection of antibodies against the COVID-19 spike protein—the principal target of neutralizing antibodies.
The Innovation Awards also honored winners of the Faculty Idea Prize, the 4D Technology Development Award; the KiiLN Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Award; and the Trainee Innovation Idea Award.
The event, which can be viewed here, was hosted by: SINAInnovations, MSIP, the Office of Faculty Development, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Department of Medical Education, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, the Graduate Medical Education Office, and the Keystone for Incubating Innovation for Life Sciences Network (KiiLN).
At Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and many of the surrounding ambulatory sites, leaders, chaplains, and wellness committee members rounded on all three shifts over a 24-hour period. They brought LED tea lights and sticky notes to work areas and invited staff to remember and reflect. Many expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate. Recurrent themes included sadness about loved ones lost to COVID-19, hope about the approaching end of the pandemic, and pride in their “work families.”
