Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured, MSBI
Honorees for their support of music and music therapy, from left: Christian McBride, Julia Justo, Deborah Korzenik, and David Amram.
The 2019 “What a Wonderful World” gala, a benefit for the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, was a festive evening of music, dance, and expressions of gratitude to four honorees for their support of music and music therapy. The recent event, held at Space 54 in Manhattan, was hosted by the nonprofit Wonderful World: Friends of Music Therapy Inc.
This year’s honorees were Deborah Korzenik, Senior Associate General Counsel of the Mount Sinai Health System, for her work in patient care and medical ethics; Christian McBride, a Grammy Award-winning bassist and composer and the host of the NPR program Jazz Night in America, who received the Phoebe Jacobs Award, presented by the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny; David Amram, the prolific composer, conductor, and musician, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Julia Justo, a photographer and painter who was honored for her resilience as a music therapy patient.
Bruce Sabath, the star of Fiddler on the Roof, sang “If I Were a Rich Man.”
The gala was hosted by its Chair, Edwin Sirlin, and featured performances by artists including Bruce Sabath, the star of Fiddler on the Roof; the salsa band of Tito Rodriguez Jr.; the Garry Dial Trio; Erik Lawrence; and Mr. McBride. The emcees were Mercedes Ellington and Bill Daughtry.
“We are proud of the breadth and scope of patients we serve and our research projects with doctors and nurses, from neonatal care to oncology, Alzheimer’s and stroke,” said Joanne V. Loewy, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, Founder and Director of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, based at Mount Sinai Beth Israel.
The Department of Music Therapy, with support from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, serves the Mount Sinai Health System, providing a range of clinical services for adults and children, both in-house and within the community. Its music therapists are licensed and board certified to provide care that complements medical treatment, assisting with sedation, pain management, and neurologic and respiratory function.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
From left: Financial Representatives Shiara Gonzalez, Bianela Baez, Benney Mayol, Carmen Abreu, Carmen Cacho, Evangeline Counts, Dawn Wiggins, and Christopher Figueroa.
Amid pink balloons and desk decorations, and prominent pink banners that proclaimed “Courage, Strength & Hope,” Mount Sinai staff located at 160 Water Street also wore pink—and plenty of it—every Friday in October to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The all-pink effort was led by Carmen Cacho, Carmen Abreu, Evangeline Counts, and Dawn Wiggins, Financial Representatives on the Patient Financial Services team.
“Cancer affects all of us, whether you are a daughter, a mother, a sister, a friend, a co-worker, a doctor, or patient,” says Ms. Abreu. Adds Evelyn Placencia, Director, Patient Financial Services, Patient Accounts (Commercial Unit), “Here at 160 Water Street, we are a family. Decorating and acknowledging the month of October signifies our love, support, and unity for family, co-workers, patients, and other colleagues throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.”
Updated on Nov 14, 2025 | Community
At Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, Alicia Thomas, MSPT, MPH, Director of Rehabilitation, right; with Helen Ong Hai, PT, MSHS, GCS, Senior Physical Therapist, demonstrated the use of a sock-aid, an adaptive equipment device for individuals lacking the dexterity, strength, or range of motion for putting on socks.
Two informational fairs about disability awareness drew Mount Sinai faculty, staff, and students, as well as patients and community members interested in learning about local organizations and resources dedicated to the care of people with disabilities.
The events, which were held at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and The Mount Sinai Hospital during Disability Awareness Month in October, were co-sponsored by The Joseph F. Cullman, Jr. Institute for Patient Experience.
Among those providing educational resources were representatives from the Lighthouse Guild, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Access-A-Ride, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Harlem Independent Living Center, as well as Mount Sinai staff from a variety of areas, including Language Services, Rehabilitation Medicine and Human Performance, and the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Alejandro Berenstein, MD, center in white coat; and Michelle A. Sorscher, RN, MSN, CPNP, Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Program Manager, Pediatric Cerebrovascular Program, far left; with members of the Needlers Foundation.
Representatives from the nonprofit Needlers Foundation, which raises funds to support underprivileged children in need of neurosurgery, brought joy to pediatric patients in December when they visited Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital with loads of donated toys.
“We are incredibly appreciative of their partnership and collaboration,” says Alejandro Berenstein, MD, Director of the Pediatric Cerebrovascular Surgery Program and Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Kravis Children’s Hospital, who has partnered with the nonprofit organization for more than 20 years.
“The Needlers Foundation is a unique group of individuals who are dedicated to helping the most fragile individuals in our society, children whose families are unable to pay for their medical care or have to travel great distances to access care. With their support, we have been able to help more than 350 children since 1995.”
Nov 25, 2019 | Community
Stephen E. Goldstone, MD, left, received the award from Gal Mayer, MD, President of GLMA.
GLMA, a national organization committed to ensuring equity for LGBTQ patients and health professionals, presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Stephen E. Goldstone, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The group, formerly the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, honored Dr. Goldstone at its annual meeting in September in New Orleans.
Dr. Goldstone is a respected mentor to LGBTQ medical students and was instrumental in starting the Icahn School of Medicine’s first LGBTQ student and faculty group. He is also nationally known for his groundbreaking research in HPV and anal cancer prevention and treatment for gay and bisexual men. “Dr. Goldstone’s work is truly remarkable,” says David L. Reich, MD, President, The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens. “He richly deserves this recognition for his dedication to student development and to LGBTQ health equity.”
Nov 25, 2019 | Community
When Vanessa Rivera, Staff Accountant for New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, learned about the 2019 Reach Your Peak (RYP) 3.0 Walking Wellness Challenge earlier this year, she knew it would be the motivation she needed to commit to an exercise program.
So did many others. Approximately 4,000 faculty and staff throughout the Mount Sinai Health System—a record number for the third installment of the program—enrolled and aimed to walk 10,000 steps a day over a 12-week period. Ms. Rivera talked up the effort among her Department of Finance colleagues at the Mount Sinai Corporate Services Center. Ultimately, 13 of them formed “Team Turtle,” they appointed Ms. Rivera captain, and they started walking, each tracking steps through apps and logging them weekly.
They walked individually and, occasionally, as a group. “We were not alone,” says Ms. Rivera. “We definitely encouraged each other. I would send daily motivational emails.” On workdays, Team Turtle members, like other participants, walked during lunchtime, and for their commutes, they walked to more distant bus or train stops. Ms. Rivera gained extra steps playing soccer on the weekends, she says.
Providing motivation to all participants across the Health System were videos posted on the Mount Sinai Wellness website that featured stretches and exercises to improve strength. At the conclusion of the program in August, participants not only achieved their walking goals, but reported other improvements—weight reduction, healthier eating habits, and a desire to return to former active hobbies, for example.
Says Ms. Rivera: “The trick is to keep walking. Find any excuse to walk. Every step you take adds up.” For Team Turtle, it surely did: they logged an average of 20,909 daily steps. “We all feel we are more fit and more energetic,” says Ms. Rivera.
To learn more about RYP, personal nutrition coaching services, exercise videos, and additional wellness offerings, visit www.mountsinai.org/about/ms-fit/wellness, and watch for announcements about registering for RYP 4.0 in 2020.
