Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Gastroenterology
The Rollin’ Colon, a 30-foot-wide inflatable model of a colon, was on display in Guggenheim Pavilion on Wednesday, March 7, during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month—the highlight of a community health fair that was organized by nurses at The Mount Sinai Hospital Endoscopy Center. Sponsored by the Endoscopy Center in partnership with the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation, the walk-through model allowed visitors to see visual representations of common colon cancer symptoms. Mount Sinai physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and staff also distributed literature, answered questions, encouraged visitors to be screened, and handed out small prizes to attendees who correctly answered colorectal health-related questions.
Representatives from Epicured, a company that delivers healthy food for patients with gastrointestinal issues, displayed their products at the fair.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, School
Community violence, environmentalism, and mindfulness were among the topics discussed during National Public Health Week activities held throughout the Mount Sinai Health System starting on Monday, April 2. The Graduate Program in Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai organized lectures, informational tables, and a screening of Lost in Detention, a documentary on immigration policy. The events culminated on Friday, April 6, with a Day of Service at the New York City Rescue Mission, one of the nation’s oldest shelters, in which several Master of Public Health students volunteered to prepare and serve dinner. “In public health, we often look at numbers and not faces,” says Whitney Wortham, a third-year MSW/MPH student and Day of Service organizer. “It is important that we ground the theoretical to reality and engage with people as people—not just as the population we study.”
Staff, students, and visitors learn about careers in Public Health during National Public Health Week activities in Guggenheim Pavilion.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured
From left, Neha Dangayach, MD; Elka Riley, RN; Chaplain Maggie Keogh, BCC; and volunteer Romana Reyes in the Neurosurgical ICU.
It is always a welcomed break for hospital staff when the Chi CartTM swings into their busy work areas bringing tea, a healthy snack, aromatherapy, and music—and importantly, a reason to gather, if just for a few minutes. The word “chi” (pronounced chee) is taken from Chinese philosophy and can be translated as energy flow, life force, or breath.
Chi Time was first introduced on inpatient units at The Mount Sinai Hospital by Chaplain Maggie Keogh, BCC, in 2013, and later to Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. In August 2017, David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital, requested that the program continue to expand to other areas of the Hospital.
“Health systems are increasingly shifting their focus from employee satisfaction to employee engagement because engagement levels have a significant impact on retention, absenteeism, patient satisfaction, and ultimately, patient safety,” says Deborah B. Marin, MD, the George and Marion Sokolik Blumenthal Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the Center for Spirituality and Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which oversees the program.
Chaplains—and the more than 40 staff and non-staff volunteers known as “Maggie’s Team” they have trained—are behind the success of Chi Time, which now has eight carts and has served more than 9,000 staff since its expansion in August.
Chaplain Maggie with “Maggie’s Team” volunteers in their distinctive scarves.
During a recent visit to the Neurosurgical ICU at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Chaplain Maggie and volunteer Romana Reyes rolled the Chi Cart into a small room behind the nurses’ station, dimmed the lights, turned on soft music, and began offering a selection of tea, aromatherapy, and snacks. The Chi Cart is always just steps away so that staff do not have to leave their units or interrupt patient care.
Elka Riley, RN, Nurse Manager, a regular visitor at the weekly Chi Cart, received drops of lavender aromatherapy oil on her wrist, found her favorite snack, and sipped tea. “I could be a ‘10’ on the stress scale when I walk in, but after Chi Time, I am a ‘2,’” she says. Neha Dangayach, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, and Neurology, and Director of Neuro-Emergency Management and Transfers for the Health System, says, “It gives you time to breathe. I wish we could translate the feeling into our routines every day.”
Chaplain Maggie, who serves as the Director of the Chi Time program for the Health System, adds: “The overwhelming positive response from staff indicates that Chi Time is successfully serving its purpose, which includes giving staff the chance to feel they are worthy to be acknowledged, and providing a calm and nurturing space, a time to ‘be still’ during a very demanding work shift.”
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Pediatrics
Patient Izabella Berclier crafted a valentine with Princess Elsa, played by Kylee McGrane, a volunteer with A Moment of Magic Foundation.
Patients at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai recently received a royal visit when Princesses Anna and Elsa of the Disney film Frozen graced the Child Life Zone. At the event, on Wednesday, February 14, the characters worked on Valentine’s Day crafts with patients and their families, and hosted a game of bingo in the KidZone TV studio, which was broadcast live throughout the hospital for those unable to attend in person. In real life, Princess Elsa was Kylee McGrane, and Princess Anna was Emily Bates—both volunteers with A Moment of Magic Foundation, a nonprofit that provides creative programming to children in need.
Medical and therapeutic programming at Kravis Children’s Hospital is supported in part by the Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation (CCF). On Sunday, April 22, CCF will host its annual benefit at Frozen: The Broadway Musical.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Mount Sinai Pediatric residents at the March in Manhattan. From left: Stephanie Bernard, MD; Reuth Nir, MD; Svetlana Azova, MD; and Gabriela Llaurador, MD.
Medical students, physicians, and staff from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai were among tens of thousands of people who participated in the March for Our Lives in Manhattan, on Saturday, March 24, to support tighter gun control legislation. The March was among more than 800 such marches that took place across the United States. Reuth Nir, MD, Pediatric Resident at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai, who helped organize the physicians who took part in the March along Central Park West, said the medical professionals who participated in their white coats sent a “powerful” message. “Gun violence is a serious public health crisis that needs to be urgently addressed by doctors, who are knowledgeable on the subject and invested in their patients’ safety and well-being,” she said.
Medical students Tyler McChane, Yash Maniar, and Christian Cayon helped lead the effort on the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai campus. They pointed out that the medical profession has worked with legislators to curtail public health threats that include automobile safety and infectious diseases, and the same could be done through research, legislation, and critical conversations about the role of guns in our society.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Fred D. Lublin, MD, with Advisory Board members Audrey Goldsmith Kubie, center, and Alexandra Goldsmith Fallon.
More than 200 donors, patients, faculty, and friends attended the 16th Annual Gala for the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai, held Thursday, March 1, at The Plaza. A special moment was the presentation of the Clifford H. Goldsmith Award for Outstanding Service to Fred D. Lublin, MD, Saunders Family Professor of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the Center’s Director. The award was presented by Advisory Board members Audrey Goldsmith Kubie and Alexandra Goldsmith Fallon, daughters of the late Clifford Goldsmith, one of the Center’s co-founders. Dr. Lublin acknowledged the work of the more than 25 professionals who provide comprehensive care to the Center’s 6,000 patients, as well as the Center’s benefactors. “It is through the efforts of generous and committed individuals that we have been able to provide comprehensive and compassionate care and research aimed at ending this disease,” said Dr. Lublin.
