Updated on Oct 14, 2019 | Community, Featured, Your Health
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. women ages 40 and older have had a mammogram during the past two years, but significant economic, cultural, and social barriers prevent many in New York City from taking advantage of this important breast cancer detection tool. According to the American Cancer Society and the Avon Foundation, only 47 percent of Latinas and 55 percent of black woman have an annual mammogram, while black women are 43 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than their white counterparts.
The Mount Sinai Health System is determined to improve those numbers through a new mobile mammography program that will provide up to 30 mammograms a day in a specially designed van that will visit women in their communities. The program is part of an early breast cancer awareness and detection initiative that was launched by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2016, with the goal of increasing by 10 percent the number of women screened by 2020. Mount Sinai won a competitive grant as part of the program and will receive more than $4 million from the state over three years to purchase and operate the mammography van.
“We’re really excited about the prospect of having a big impact on women’s health care by identifying women who can benefit from early breast cancer detection,” says Laurie Margolies, MD, Chief for Breast Imaging at the Mount Sinai Health System, and Medical Director for the mobile mammography screening initiative.
“Our program has a heavy educational component, and we’re gearing up to go to churches, synagogues, mosques, community centers, and other places where we’re invited to talk to women about breast health and how mammography can increase their chances of surviving breast cancer if they are diagnosed with the disease.” At these sessions, held several weeks in advance of the van’s appearance, women will be encouraged to sign up for mammography and assisted in making and keeping their appointments.
Prescheduled visits to health clinics, storefronts, and community and faith-based centers will begin this summer, with a focus on neighborhoods known to have the highest poverty and associated poor health outcomes. Available to women ages 40 and older, the Mount Sinai mobile van will offer digital breast tomosynthesis (3D mammography). According to Dr. Margolies, 3D mammography does not expose patients to higher doses of radiation and has been shown to decrease patient call-back rates by as much as 40 percent.
The specially marked van will leave The Mount Sinai Hospital up to seven days a week and screen women from 9 am to 7 pm. The van will carry mammography technologists and a patient navigator. The driver will also serve as the registrar. All images will be downloaded when the van returns at night, and read over the next 48 hours by one of Mount Sinai’s 13 full-time breast imagers. Women with abnormal mammograms will be called within five days to arrange for appropriate follow-ups, and patients will have free and secure access to their electronic records through Mount Sinai’s MyChart system.
The mobile van staff at Mount Sinai are collaborating with the New York State Cancer Services Program, a statewide program that provides free breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening, to enroll eligible women who do not have health insurance or who may be underinsured into the program.
Updated on Feb 21, 2018 | Community
Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, bottom center, with participants in The Mount Sinai Hospital’s health fair.
In recognition of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women® campaign, more than 1,000 participants attended health fairs throughout the Mount Sinai Health System on Friday, February 2. Go Red for Women aims to raise awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women worldwide.
Patients and providers tend to think of heart disease as a men’s disease, and only one in five women consider it their main health concern. This leads women to be unaware of their risk factors, even though 80 percent of cardiovascular disease is preventable by modifying behavior, says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Senior Vice President of Cardiac Services for the Mount Sinai Health System.
The health fairs, which were held at five locations, provided free screenings for blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and body mass index—giving participants their “heart health numbers.” Experts were on hand to discuss nutrition and diet, diabetes risks, stress management, smoking cessation, and relaxation techniques.
“Our goal is to educate our communities and employees about their risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” Ms. Oliver says. “With these health screenings and educational demonstrations, we aim to empower attendees to take control of their heart health and make positive, healthy changes.”
At Mount Sinai Union Square, from left, patient care associates Donna Steele and Jovonn Douglas, with Regina Jones, RN.
At Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, from left, Kerry-Anne Martin, RN; Maria Vezina, EdD, RN, Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer; Joan E. Joseph, MHA, BSN, RN; Stephanie Guareno, RN; and Seana Friedman, RN.
Updated on Feb 8, 2018 | Community, Featured
Julie Seltzer receives a check-up from Elizabeth Choi, DO, in the new Stuyvesant Town facility.
The Mount Sinai Health System has opened two new practices, one in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan and the other in the Dumbo neighborhood in Brooklyn, both of which will enhance the ability of New Yorkers to access quality health care services
close to where they live and work.
“I like to think of our Mount Sinai Doctors Stuyvesant Town facility as a small-town medical practice within a large urban environment,” says Kelly Cassano, DO, Chief of Ambulatory Care at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. “This is a place where patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly, will find a family doctor who will establish a long-term relationship with them, with the aim of keeping them healthy.”
Stuyvesant Town patient Sushila Patel with Freddie C. Verzosa, MD, MPH, at the new location at 518 East 20th Street.
On Thursday, January 11, a few weeks after the practice opened its doors to patients, community leaders from Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village gathered with representatives from the Mount Sinai Health System at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. On the same day, the practice held an open house for members of the community, who received free flu shots and snacks, and hosted arts and crafts activities for children.
The practice is a key addition to Mount Sinai’s presence in downtown Manhattan. It will have a full-time staff of family medicine physicians, and offer sessional care in orthopedics, dermatology, podiatry, and other specialties, as well as longitudinal primary care, walk-in care, and specialty care.
“Our goal is to keep people healthy and out of the hospital by providing compassionate, continuous, and coordinated care closer to home,” says Jeremy Boal, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and President, Mount Sinai Downtown. “That is the most important premise behind the new Mount Sinai Beth Israel and investment downtown.”
Rick Hayduk, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager at StuyTown Property Services, which manages the residential property, says the facility is a welcome addition to the community. “The opening of this practice means residents can easily access Mount Sinai’s high quality medical care. We are pleased to welcome this quality-of-life improvement for those who live and work in our community.”
Staff at the Dumbo location, from left: Judah Fierstein, MD; Catherine Lopez; Amanda Magli; Ernesto Bodur; and Hillary Moritz. The facility is located at 110 York Street, Second Floor.
At the Mount Sinai Health System’s newest Urgent Care center in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood—located between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges—Mount Sinai leaders joined representatives from local businesses for their ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, January 25. The practice features five exam rooms, onsite X-ray services, and extended hours with no appointment needed.
The Dumbo facility is expected to serve neighborhood residents, and employees who work in many of the start-ups and technology companies that are now located in the area. The new Urgent Care center joins similar Mount Sinai practices in Inwood, the Upper West Side, Union Square, and in nearby Brooklyn Heights.
Judah Fierstein, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medical Director of Mount Sinai Doctors Urgent Care, says patients at the Dumbo location will have access to the resources of the Mount Sinai Health System if they need follow-up care. Additionally, Mount Sinai’s practice in Brooklyn Heights, staffed by more than a dozen different specialists, as well as urgent care specialists, is a 15-minute walk from Dumbo.
“The Mount Sinai name stands for compassionate care of the highest order,” says Burton Drayer, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice, Dean for Clinical Affairs, and the Dr. Charles M. and Marilyn Newman Professor of Radiology, and Mount Sinai Health System Chair of the Department of Radiology. “That is exactly what New Yorkers who live or work in the neighborhood will find at the Mount Sinai Urgent Care practice in Dumbo.”
Feb 5, 2018 | Community, Global Health
Sandeep Kishore, MD, PhD
The Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has partnered with the drug company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to address the increasing incidence of multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) among adults worldwide, an issue tied to decreased quality of life and rising health care costs.
Mount Sinai and Teva announced the collaboration at the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit in New York City last fall. At the event, Teva introduced data showing that globally one in three adults, and two in three adults over the age of 65, have MCCs—defined as having two or more chronic conditions, such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma, obesity, substance use disorders, and anxiety. The study showed that in the United States, patients with MCCs account for more than 70 percent of total health care spending, and that health care costs almost double with each additional chronic condition. The study also showed that MCCs greatly reduce a patient’s ability to comply with medication, increase the likelihood of depressive symptoms, and increase the burden of care placed upon families and health facilities.
Under the leadership of Sandeep Kishore, MD, PhD, Associate Director at The Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Mount Sinai will work with Teva to research innovative primary care models that coordinate treatment of different conditions across providers, using behavioral economics to simplify medication adherence. Mount Sinai also will help advance technology-based solutions such as apps to monitor and manage symptoms and side effects. Initially, patients will be drawn from Mount Sinai’s outpatient Peak Health program, which assigns teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, and coordinators to care for people with MCCs.
Updated on Feb 8, 2018 | Community, Patient Stories
Veena Agarwal and Sundar Jagannath, MD
A 4’ x 6’ floral landscape painting hangs in the Derald H. Ruttenberg Treatment Center at Mount Sinai thanks to Veena Agarwal, a multimedia artist and patient of Sundar Jagannath, MD, Director, Multiple Myeloma Program, The Mount Sinai Hospital.
Diagnosed with stage III multiple myeloma in 2007, Ms. Agarwal has since waged a decade-long fight against the disease. After a particular reoccurrence left her quite ill, Dr. Jagannath asked Ms. Agarwal what she needed to do to help lift her spirits. “I wanted to walk again and to paint again,” Ms. Agarwal told him. “Both of my wishes were granted by the doctors of Mount Sinai. They inspired me.”
Ms. Agarwal was selected to exhibit 47 paintings at The Creative Center, a nonprofit organization in Manhattan that holds workshops and promotes artistic expression among those with cancer and chronic illnesses. The large biopharmaceutical company Celgene has also commissioned her to complete an 8’ x 5’ painting for its corporate office in New Jersey. “I am very happy to do it,” says Ms. Agarwal. “Colors have come back into my life.”
