Sep 11, 2018 | Community
Beth Oliver, DNP
The American Heart Association (AHA) New York City recently named Beth Oliver, DNP, Senior Vice President of Cardiac Services, Mount Sinai Health System, as its new President of the Board of Directors. Ms. Oliver is the first nurse to hold the position and is the only nurse to have been a member of the organization’s Board of Directors, which she joined in 2006.
Since then, Ms. Oliver has been involved with multiple initiatives that champion heart health, including the Wall Street Run & Heart Walk. Additionally, Ms. Oliver was the first nurse in New York City to receive the Heart and Stroke Lifesaver Award from the AHA for outstanding support of the organization’s mission to build lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
“I am passionate about helping the AHA continue to raise awareness about heart health and tackle health disparities in the city,” she says.
Sep 11, 2018 | Community, Engagement, Featured
From left: moderator David Epstein, Director, Domestic Human Resources, Doctors Without Borders; with Mount Sinai’s Pamela Y. Abner, MPA, Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, Office for Diversity and Inclusion; and Barbara Warren, PsyD, Director, LGBT Programs and Policies, who was a panelist at the event.
The Mount Sinai Health System recently hosted the National Diversity Council’s inaugural Tri-State Health Care Diversity Summit at the Corporate Services Center, which brought together nearly 100 health care administrators and diversity and inclusion professionals from across the region. The Council, a nonprofit organization that advances inclusiveness in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, presented the Health System with a Health Care Diversity Excellence Award, recognizing Mount Sinai’s deep commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and surrounding communities.
“This event provided a valuable forum for sharing and learning,” says Mary Koshy, MPA, Associate Director, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, Mount Sinai Health System. “The Council received such positive feedback that we were asked to host the event again next year.”
Showing respect and understanding for people of all backgrounds improves patient satisfaction—benefiting both patients’ well-being and a medical institution’s bottom line, panelists said. The keynote speaker, Mecca Santana, Senior Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, Westchester Medical Center Health Network, said it was also important to consider diversity in mentoring, retention, and promotion of staff. “Diversity is being invited to the party,” she said. “Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
Sep 11, 2018 | Community, Engagement, Featured
Students in the Nanotechnology course, from left: Ava Cardillo, Diven Duran, Daniel Musheev, and Kai Kumeno.
Parissa Tabrizian, MD, Professor of Surgery, center, gave a tour of operating rooms at The Mount Sinai Hospital to participants in “Saturday at Sinai.”
More than 120 high school, college, and graduate students aspiring to a broad range of careers in health participated this summer in internships and talent pipeline programs throughout the Mount Sinai Health System. Two units of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)—Corporate Health System Affairs and the Center for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE)—supported initiatives to provide opportunities in medicine, science, health administration, real estate, and technology to students from underrepresented backgrounds.
“The experience that I’ve had at Mount Sinai has helped me target what type of biomedical engineer I want to become in the future,” says Awa Bagayoko, who participated in CEYE’s Nanotechnology course. “The program also reaffirmed my interest in medicine.”
Israa Maarouf was an Information Technology intern.
This year marked the be.inning of a formal partnership between Mount Sinai and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) to off er internships to high school students in the departments led by Kumar Chatani, MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Mount Sinai Health System; and Kenneth Holden, Senior Vice President, Real Estate Services & Facilities. “Twenty-six interns gained hands-on experiences in information technology; planning, design, and construction; engineering; and property management,” says Shana Dacon, MPH, MBA, Assistant Director, Office for Diversity and Inclusion. “We will continue to work with the DOE to expand opportunities for students during the academic year.”
Fourteen more students—from high school to graduate school—had internships in clinical departments, patient experience, population health, and diversity management, supported by ODI in partnership with organizations including America Needs You; the All Stars Project, Inc.; the Greater New York Hospital Association; the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity; and Prep for Prep.
This year, ODI also launched Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Young Queer Urban Teens for Health (LGBT YQUTH) in Medicine—a talent pipeline program for careers in health care. In the program, ODI staff and members of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Stonewall Alliance student group gave informational talks to LGBT youth organizations throughout the city. “In June, we welcomed participants from the talks to the pilot ‘Saturday at Sinai’ event,” says Richard Cancio, MPH, Program Manager for LGBT Health Services, Mount Sinai Health System. The free event included interactive activities; a tour of The Mount Sinai Hospital; and a panel of public health researchers, nursing and medical students, and graduate school alumni.
CEYE student Awa Bagayoko toured Sinai BioDesign.
CEYE’s six-week summer internship programs attracted 73 high school students from across New York City. Students participated in the Fruit Fly Genomics or Nanotechnology research courses; the Clinical Internship program; or the Lloyd Sherman Scholars program.
CEYE’s research courses met daily, with students receiving lecture-based instruction coupled with activities in the Icahn School of Medicine’s teaching laboratories, where projects included studying the behavior of fruit flies kept in isolation, and exploring silver nanoparticles and their medical implications. Clinical Internship participants were matched with faculty and staff and shadowed them in jobs throughout The Mount Sinai Hospital. In the Lloyd Sherman Scholars program, first-year participants took a Biotechnology course, and second-year scholars were placed in mentored research labs. In another two-year program, 14 interns who worked in labs during the school year returned in the summer to continue their work, assisting in areas of study including ovarian cancer survival rates and engineered cardiac tissue. All of the research interns plan to submit their summer work to the upcoming New York City Science and Engineering Fair.
“My internship showed me how hands-on science is,” says Brandon Soto, a first-year Sherman Scholar. “It also showed me that there are a lot of problems in the world that can be solved with science.”
Sep 10, 2018 | Community, Featured, Your Health
A virtual visit was demonstrated by Nicholas Genes, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Natalya Sholomyansky, Director of IT Digital Health.
A new telehealth service, Mount Sinai Now, is available free to Mount Sinai Health System employees and their dependents who are covered by Mount Sinai’s Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. The service provides patients with urgent care from a board-certified physician, almost always a Mount Sinai clinician, via video conference. If there is an emergency, patients should call 911. But Mount Sinai Now, like other urgent care, can be a good choice for treating conditions such as allergies, colds and flu, nausea, rashes, and sprains, says Abraham L. Warshaw, MD, Senior Vice President, and Medical Director of Physician Access Services, Mount Sinai Health System.
The service, which is available 24 hours a day, is part of Mount Sinai’s mission to take the lead in telehealth and population health management. “The idea is giving the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” Dr. Warshaw says.
In a typical visit, a patient might wake up with a sore throat and nasal congestion. She logs into Mount Sinai Now, and within minutes the visit starts, with the patient communicating through FaceTime or another video tool. The physician asks about symptoms, consults the patient’s medical records, and conducts a virtual examination via webcam and monitor, for example evaluating the throat and tonsils, and demonstrating how to check for swollen lymph nodes. Finally, the physician might call in a prescription, or if the symptoms are ambiguous, recommend an appointment with a primary care physician or a specialist.
More than 1,300 staff have registered and 200 have been treated since Mount Sinai Now became available throughout the Health System in May. The team’s plan is to expand the service to other companies, unions, and the public once insurance models are in place. “Patients who use telehealth are saving money, saving travel time, and are able to continue their daytoday life without having to interrupt things or schedule an appointment that might be weeks away,” says Eric Cannan, Senior Director, Telehealth, Mount Sinai Health System.
To register for the free service, go to now.mountsinai.org or visit Google Play or the Apple App Store to download the Mount Sinai Now app.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured
James C. Tsai, MD, MBA, President of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (middle row, center) with the graduating residents and fellows.
Faculty, family, and friends celebrated the accomplishments of 22 residents and fellows in Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery recently at the 2018 Commencement of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE).
James C. Tsai, MD, MBA, President, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and Chair of Ophthalmology, Mount Sinai Health System, welcomed graduates and guests to the event, held on Thursday, June 21, at the Friends Meeting House near campus.
“For 198 years, NYEE has proudly served the patients of our community, educated physicians, and led global ophthalmology and otolaryngology advances. You have inspired us to become better teachers and re-energized our dedication to educate tomorrow’s leaders in specialty surgical care,” Dr. Tsai said. “Use your knowledge to aspire and inspire, innovate and reinvent as you realize your full potential.”
Four of the graduates were residents specializing in otolaryngology, and seven were residents in ophthalmology. The eye residents will now take fellowships at top-tier institutions, including NYEE, the University of Southern California Roski Eye Institute in Los Angeles, and Kaiser Permanente, as well as private practices in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, and Texas.
Eleven fellows completed training in surgical specialties, including cornea and refractive surgery, glaucoma, ocular immunology, vitreoretinal surgery, and aesthetic plastic surgery.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Mount Sinai Queens recently celebrated the 19th anniversary of its acquisition by The Mount Sinai Hospital and its continued delivery of safe, high-quality health care and service to patients in Queens. The celebration attracted more than 125 faculty, staff, and members of the community, and included awards given to outstanding staff and clinicians, and the FDNY-EMS paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs).
Among those in attendance were New York City Council Member Costa Constantinides, and representatives from the offices of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, State Senator Michael Gianaris, and Assembly Member Aravella Simotas.
Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director, Mount Sinai Queens, told the attendees that the hospital continues to expand the number of patients served and the depth and breadth of services offered. “To support that growth, we have expanded our number of physician faculty, RNs, technicians, and support staff,” said Ms. Schwab. “We are proud to have such a strong team of caring and engaged employees.”
The anniversary celebration—a Mount Sinai Queens tradition—was held in the Kaufman Astoria Studios Entrance of the new, six-story Mount Sinai Queens Pavilion. Specially designed anniversary cakes were served, and two Mister Softee trucks parked outside offered complimentary ice cream.
Back row, from left: Person of the Year Awards were given to Christopher Howard, RN, Mount Sinai Queens Freshman of the Year; Sidney Castiblanco, EMT of the Year, Battalion 45; Paul Rufrano, Paramedic of the Year, Battalion 49; and Victor Gornecki, EMT of the Year, Battalion 46.
Front row, center: Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director, Mount Sinai Queens, with the individuals recognized for providing skilled and compassionate patient care. From left: Evelyn Bautista, RN, Mount Sinai Queens Employee of the Year; Ana Rodriguez, LCSW, Mount Sinai Queens Manager of the Year; Krystal Cascetta, MD, Mount Sinai Queens Physician of the Year; and Kelsey Moyer, RN, Mount Sinai Queens Service Excellence Honoree.
