Celebrating Nurses at Commencement 2017

Members of the Class of 2017 of the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel

In a jubilant ceremony, the Phillips School of Nursing (PSON) at Mount Sinai Beth Israel graduated 80 new nurses who received an Associate’s Degree in Nursing, and conferred a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree to 24 registered nurses. The 113th graduation ceremony was held on Tuesday, June 6, at Stern Auditorium on the campus of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Presiding at the ceremony were Janet A. Green and Ruth Nerken, Co-Chairs of the Board of PSON, who presented the degrees. Carleen Graham, MSN, RN, Program Coordinator, RN-BSN Program, served as the Platform Marshall, and Lorraine McGrath, MA, RN-BC, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, gave graduates their PSON pin.

Twenty graduates were inducted into the Honor Society, which was founded in 2012. These students successfully achieved a grade point average of 3.7 or higher.

Todd F. Ambrosia, DNP, MSN, RN, Dean, welcomed the graduates, faculty, staff, and guests. The commencement address was given by Betsy M. Tirado-Ortiz, RN. Now retired, Ms. Tirado—a 2016 recipient of the Nurse of the Year Award from the National Association of Hispanic

Nurses—maintains a passion for nursing and continues to participate in a number of international missions that help children with congenital heart defects.

“Don’t waste your time waiting to win the lotto. You have already won the lotto—you are a professional nurse,” Ms. Tirado told the graduates. “Make your own riches, share them, and enrich your own life and the lives of others. You each carry within you the power to go from magical thinking to the power of completion.”

Pharmacy Leadership and Staff Honored With Four Awards

Joanne Meyer, PharmD, MS, with John Manzo, PharmD, Chair, NYSCHP Research and Education Foundation.

Joanne Meyer, PharmD, MS, Chief Pharmacy Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, was recently honored by the New York State Council of Health-System Pharmacists (NYSCHP) Research and Education Foundation for exemplary leadership.

Dr. Meyer received the Bernard Mehl Leadership Award for her “high-caliber contributions” in leading health-system pharmacy practice and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to advance safety practices. The late Dr. Mehl was the distinguished longtime Director of Pharmacy at The Mount Sinai Hospital and a renowned innovator, educator, and mentor.

“I sincerely trust that Dr. Mehl and his wife, Florence, would be proud and gratified that my leadership team and I have perpetuated his legacy of achieving quality pharmaceutical care at Mount Sinai,” Dr. Meyer said at an awards dinner held during the NYSCHP Annual Assembly.

Also recognized for research and clinical excellence were two Mount Sinai Beth Israel individuals. Victoria Huang, PharmD, Pharmacy Resident, received the Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award; and Nikki Bhogal, PharmD, Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Transitions of Care, was honored with the Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award and the Seymour & Elizabeth Katz Memorial Fund Award.

A Winning Team of Medical Students

Third-year medical students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently participated in an educational competition—modeled after the popular television show Shark Tank—to develop and pitch novel interventions to a panel of judges for issues involving patient safety and quality improvement. The activity, created in 2016 by the Department of Medical Education, aims to teach leadership, team building, and collaboration skills to medical students.

Two winning teams were selected. Judges Marc Napp, MD, and Barbara Barnett, MD, joined 10 students from one winning team who had developed a novel strategy for transitioning patients from discharge to follow-up care. Dr. Napp is Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs, and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Barnett is Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Medicine (General Internal Medicine), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai Cardiologist Awarded 2017 Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Annapoorna S. Kini, MD

In a ceremony held on Ellis Island in May, Annapoorna S. Kini, MD, Zena and Michael A. Wiener Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at The Mount Sinai Hospital, was among an esteemed group of recipients of the 2017 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. The award exalts the immigrant experience and recognizes individuals who impart their unique talents and wealth of knowledge to the American public.

Dr. Kini is a native of Mangaluru—also known as Mangalore— India, and has been a vital member of the Mount Sinai community for two decades. A renowned cardiologist, she performs more minimally invasive coronary procedures than any female interventionist in the United States, with a complication rate of less than .5 percent. “Through Dr. Kini’s joint-leadership, the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory of Mount Sinai Heart offers patients unparalleled excellence and safety in interventional cardiology care. We congratulate her on this honor,” says 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.

Educating Patients About High Blood Pressure and Stroke

Mount Sinai nurses provided valuable information on blood pressure maintenance and stroke prevention.

During National High Blood Pressure Education Month and American Stroke Month in May, Mount Sinai Heart, the Cerebrovascular Center, and the Department of Neurology sponsored an awareness event in the Guggenheim Pavilion. Attendees had their blood pressure screened, walked through an oversized, inflatable heart and brain, and received the latest information about stroke prevention and treatments.

“Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. By controlling blood pressure and diabetes, and not smoking, many strokes can be avoided,” says J Mocco, MD, MS, Professor and Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Neurosurgery, and Director of the Cerebrovascular Center, The Mount Sinai Hospital. “The past few years have seen tremendous advances in the treatment of strokes. It is important that patients know the warning signs and get to a doctor right away.”

The Dubin Breast Center Opens New Pre-Operative Unit

From left to right: Michael McCarry, Senior Vice President, Perioperative Services, Mount Sinai Health System; Elisa R. Port, MD, Chief of Breast Surgery, Director of the Dubin Breast Center; Mount Sinai Trustee Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD; and David L. Reich, MD, President, The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens.

Leaders of The Mount Sinai Hospital held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, April 5, to celebrate the newly redesigned Dubin Pre-Operative Unit, an inviting area on the seventh floor of the Guggenheim Pavilion with five private rooms where patients can prepare for surgery at the Dubin Breast Center. The Unit was established through the generosity of Mount Sinai Trustees Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD, and Glenn Dubin. The rooms reflect the same soothing décor found at the Dubin Breast Center and provide patients with a place where they can register for surgery, change their clothes, store their belongings, and speak privately with members of their care team before going into surgery.