Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, New York.

South Nassau Communities Hospital—a 90-year-old institution that serves 900,000 residents on the South Shore of Long Island—will now operate as Mount Sinai South Nassau to reflect its partnership with the Mount Sinai Health System.

“The new name reflects not only the hospital’s proud history and regional geography, but also its future,” says Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. “South Nassau’s team of highly skilled physicians, nurses, and support staff will now have the opportunity to expand services to the community through new synergies with Mount Sinai, including access to an array of specialists and clinical trials that have, until now, only been available by traveling into the city.”

Mount Sinai and South Nassau announced their plan to establish a partnership in January 2018 and received New York State regulatory approval in December 2018. During the past two years, administrative and clinical leaders have worked to combine the Mount Sinai Health System’s academic, clinical, and research expertise with the award-winning community-based care of Mount Sinai South Nassau. “The rebranding reflects a shared vision and collective goal to provide the highest quality of care to patients on Long Island,” says Arthur A. Klein, MD, President of the Mount Sinai Health Network.

Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians, and 3,500 employees. It has added new services that are growing rapidly, such as maternal fetal medicine, interventional endoscopy, and pediatric cardiology, and plans to expand its cardiac surgery, cancer care, neuroscience, and colon and rectal surgery programs. Mount Sinai South Nassau is in the midst of a $400 million long-term strategic growth initiative that will transform its campuses in Oceanside and Long Beach, New York. Richard J. Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mount Sinai South Nassau, says, “While the hospital has a new name, our legacy of serving this community and providing patients with extraordinary health care will only grow stronger as a result of our partnership with Mount Sinai.”

The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 nationally in the 2019-2020 “Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report and is ranked nationally in 8 adult medical specialties. South Nassau is ranked No. 20 among the 170 hospitals in the state of New York, as well as No. 20 among the 118 hospitals in the New York metropolitan area, while its Division of Urology is ranked 35th nationally. The Mount Sinai Health System includes more than 400 ambulatory practices and other community locations, and more than 7,000 primary and specialty care physicians, as well as 200 physicians and other experts at 11 multidisciplinary practices based on Long Island.

Combined with Mount Sinai South Nassau’s roster of approximately 900 physicians and 22 ambulatory practices, Long Islanders now have access to a vast continuum of community-based specialty physician practices, including cardiology, internal medicine, primary care, men’s and women’s health, physical medicine and rehabilitation, orthopedics, cancer care, and many other services.

Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only freestanding Emergency Department in Long Beach. The hospital also is nationally recognized for its nursing care and has received honors for orthopedic treatment and women’s care from Healthgrades, a national independent rating agency.

At the announcement of the hospital’s new name, from left: Adhi Sharma, MD, Executive Vice President for Clinical and Professional Affairs, and Chief Medical Officer, Mount Sinai South Nassau; Stephen J. Silich, Vice President, Business Development, Mount Sinai Health System; Rajiv Datta, MD, Chair of the Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai South Nassau; Arthur Klein, MD, President, Mount Sinai Health Network; Richard J. Murphy; President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai South Nassau; and Aaron Glatt, MD, Chair of the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai South Nassau.

Michael A. Crane, MD, MPH, right, gathered with speakers, from left, the Rev. James Hayes, MA, MDiv; the Rev. Amy Strano, MDiv; and Roberto Lucchini, MD, near a plaque outside Guggenheim Pavilion in observance of the World Trade Center attacks.

The 18th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks was solemnly observed on Wednesday, September 11, at Stern Auditorium, in an event led by Michael A. Crane, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the World Trade Center (WTC) Clinical Center of Excellence (CCE) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. More than 22,000 responders are being treated at Mount Sinai’s Center, which is the largest in the World Trade Center Health Program.

At the event, about a dozen staff teams presented videos about their roles in caring for 9/11 patients, in fields such as clinical care, billing, data management, and claims certification. “I think it’s important for us—because we work with this every day—to take a moment to feel proud of the work that we do,” Dr. Crane told the attendees. “While we will always feel the sorrow, let’s not be afraid also to celebrate the excellent work that you do.”

Speakers included Manish Arora, PhD, MPH, the Edith J. Baerwald Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Sandra M. Lowe, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine, and Medical Director of Mount Sinai WTC CCE Mental Health Program; and Roberto Lucchini, MD, Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine, and Director of the WTC CCE Data Center. Another speaker was the Rev. James Hayes, MA, MDiv, a chaplain for The Mount Sinai Hospital, who was present when the World Trade Center towers fell and spent the next year ministering at the site. “You are a blessing to every first responder and every person who spent time at Ground Zero,” Father Hayes told the attendees. “You provide us with respect and hope.”   

Mickie Brown, RN, led a session on mindfulness for staff members involved in the care of 9/11 responders. The meditation, with the theme of loving kindness, began and ended with the tone of a bell.

The event was preceded by a special mindfulness session attended by about 30 staff members of Mount Sinai’s WTC CCE. “On this day—which has left a mark in the history of our world, our country, and our personal lives—we want to honor those who have suffered and those who we have lost, and also the work we have done,” said the leader of the session, Mickie Brown, RN, Clinical Manager of Education, Mindfulness and Patient Well-Being at the Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health, home of the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence.

The session focused on an ancient meditation called Metta, or loving kindness, which Ms. Brown said could serve as “an antidote to anger and fear.” Participants sat in a quiet conference room and were invited to contemplate the phrases “may I be well; may I be happy; may I be free from suffering.” They were asked to gradually broaden those wishes to friends and loved ones, to strangers, to those who have done harm—to lead them toward peace and change—and finally to all beings. “Mindfulness sessions like this provide staff members with a set of evidence-based tools to maintain balance,” Ms. Brown said, “and ensure our capacity to be present to continue to serve the unique patient population that we care for.”