Employee Group Sponsors Salsa Dancing in Queens

Nov 20, 2017 | Community, Inside

Mount Sinai Queens employees pose with #SalsainQueens instructors after their lesson.

Dance contest winners Tara Roche, Stroke Educator, Mount Sinai Queens, left, and David Castillo, Central Supply Technician, Mount Sinai Queens, far right, with #SalsainQueens founder and instructor Jean Franco Vergaray, and instructor Jazmin Sagastiverza.

More than 60 employees at Mount Sinai Queens took an hour-long break on Friday, October 6, to learn how to salsa and participate in a fun-filled dance-off competition led by instructors from a dance studio in Astoria, #SalsainQueens. The event was sponsored by the employee resource group Heritage of Latino Alliance (HOLA). HOLA fosters a sense of community among Latino employees and sponsors activities such as dance classes and Spanish lessons. When HOLA distributes literature at various Mount Sinai events, “We do not let anyone pass by without stopping,” jokes Denise Colon, MSW, LCSW-R, Director of Social Work Services, and the Mount Sinai Queens HOLA chair. “We want to empower, promote the Latino culture, and show our presence.”

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Supplies and Cheer for Troops Overseas

Nov 20, 2017 | Community, Inside

Pictured above, from left Emerson Pemberton; Patrick Germain; Carol St. Pierre, RN, MS; Rubiela Guzman; and Samantha Zenobi packing boxes at Mount Sinai West.

American troops deployed overseas will receive personal-care items and a taste of home, thanks to donations collected by the Mount Sinai Health System. Packages are sent year-round, but the upcoming holiday season is a special time, says Carol St. Pierre, RN, MS, leader of the veterans group. “You have a lot of young people serving who really don’t have a support system. So this is the best time to send a package,” says Ms. St. Pierre, a manager of patient care services at Mount Sinai West and a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. For more information, please contact the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at diversity@mountsinai.org.

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Suggested donations for veterans include:

  • Energy bars
  • Trail mix/Chex Mix
  • Pretzels
  • Powdered drink mixes
  • Paperback books and recent magazines
  • Puzzles
  • Body wash and soaps
  • Hair care products
  • Face and body moisturizers
  • Cetaphil cleanser
  • Personal wipes
  • Lip balm

Annual Event Celebrates the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center

Nov 19, 2017 | Community, Featured

From left: Christine A. Soghomonian, MA; Felice F. Axelrod; Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH; Dennis S. Charney, MD; and Adam Jacobs, MD.

The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center (MSAHC) saluted the contributions of four individuals who have dedicated themselves to helping New York City’s young people at its 14th Annual Breakfast of Legends benefit at The Plaza on Wednesday, November 1. The Center provides free, comprehensive, confidential health and wellness services to more than 10,000 young people annually and is renowned as a national leader in adolescent health research and training.

Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH

Peter W. May, Chairman, Boards of Trustees, Mount Sinai Health System, warmly welcomed the more than 450 guests, saying: “I amproud to say that I have attended every Breakfast for the past 14 years. I haven’t missed one because the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center is a shining example of everything that we do right at the Mount Sinai Health System.” Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH, Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor in Adolescent Health and Director of the MSAHC, thanked everyone who made the event possible, saying, “If our service can be likened to a strong tree, you—all of our volunteers—are the roots.”

From left: Selena, youth speaker; Anthony, youth host; Matt, youth speaker; and Lola, youth host.

Two patients, Matt and Selena, shared how the MSAHC has changed their lives. Matt, who is nonbinary and transmasculine, said, “The clinic provided a safe and affirming environment for me to accept who I am and become my authentic self.” Selena said, “To me, the Center is not just a clinic—it is a community, a safe haven, and a home.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Honorees at the 14th Annual Breakfast of Legends

Felice F. Axelrod, consultant to Bloomberg and a member of the MSAHC Advisory Board;

Adam Jacobs, MD, Medical Director of Family Planning for the Mount Sinai Health System and Associate Professor in the departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai;

Christine A. Soghomonian, MA, Director of Information Systems and Operations at the MSAHC, who received the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center staff award;

Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, the Mount Sinai Health System, who was presented with the Dr. Joan E. Morgenthau Lifetime Advocate for Youth Award.

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg Visit Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai

Nov 10, 2017 | Community, Featured

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg visit Sabrina Giangrande, a patient at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai

The stars of “Daddy’s Home 2,” Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, brought smiles to the faces of pediatric patients during bedside visits at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai, on Thursday, November 9. The occasion was sponsored by Lollipop Theater Network, a nonprofit organization that works with motion picture studios to bring first-run movies to children in hospitals nationwide. In addition to the visit, several adolescent patients and their family members had the opportunity to watch the new movie at their bedsides. “It was wonderful, a real morale booster,” says Cheryl Strauss, Child Life Specialist with the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department at Kravis Children’s Hospital. “Meeting the actors brightened the day for patients and their families.”

Patient Arianna Khelil and her mother, Maria Colletto-Khelil, meet with, from left, Max Schneider, Lollipop Theater Network, Mark Wahlberg, and Will Ferrell

 

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg meet with, left to right, Charles Ennis, Senior Clinical Director, Women and Children’s Services, Mount Sinai Health System; Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System; and Frances Cartwright, PhD, Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President , The Mount Sinai Hospital

 

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Book Drive for Hurricane Sites

Nov 6, 2017 | Community

Access Services Coordinator Peter Huang with a bounty of books at the Levy Library.

After watching repeated news reports about devastating hurricanes this summer, Gali Halevi, PhD, MLS, Chief Director, Mount Sinai Health System Libraries, felt compelled to help in some way. So in September, she began collaborating with Robin O’Hanlon, MIS, Assistant Library Director for The Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library, to organize a book drive for elementary school libraries damaged by hurricanes.

In just two weeks, hundreds of books were donated at four drop-offs throughout the Health System. The drive was scheduled to run for one month, but it was suspended early because it was such a success there was not enough room to store the books. Three schools in Texas will benefit, and the organizers are also seeking to send books to Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. “Currently there is limited infrastructure in Puerto Rico,” Ms. O’Hanlon says. “Our hope is that once the rebuilding begins, we will be able to connect with other libraries and nonprofit organizations.”

 

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Celebrating Physician Assistants

Nov 6, 2017 | Community

At the Guggenheim Atrium, from left: Talent Acquisition Specialists Jonathan Gohil and Brittany Keyes with registered certified physician assistants Heather Isola, RPA-C; Lana Marks, RPA-C; Donna Russo, RPA-C; and Jonathan McLaughlin, RPA-C.

In honor of Physician Assistant (PA) Appreciation Week—and the 50th anniversary of the PA profession—five celebratory events were held at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Queens, and Mount Sinai Beth Israel. During the events, held from Friday, October 6, to Thursday, October 12, hard-working PAs were applauded by the hospitals’ leadership and treated to breakfast, lunch, or midday dessert.

Physician assistants undergo rigorous medical education to earn certification, and are able to diagnose and treat illnesses and prescribe medication. The Mount Sinai Health System’s more than 650 PAs—across 16 specialties—are also instrumental in providing high-quality care to diverse communities. “It is absolutely true, we cannot function without you,” said Dahlia Rizk, DO, Chief, Division of Hospital Medicine, and President of the Medical Board, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, during a luncheon on October 10, at the Dazian Rotunda. “You are an integral part of the medical team.”

 

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