May 15, 2017 | Community, Featured
Wesley Johnson volunteers with Mount Sinai’s Ambassador and CARE programs.
More than 1,200 volunteers at The Mount Sinai Hospital devote their time and energy to supporting numerous inpatient and ambulatory programs, laboratories, and offices. “We are proud of our dedicated volunteers who play a vital role in supporting Mount Sinai’s mission,” says Cynthia Levy, Director, Department of Volunteer Services.
Volunteers in Mount Sinai’s CARE (Care and Respect for Elders in Emergencies) Program, for example, provide much needed support to elderly patients in the Emergency Department.
In addition, 22 carefully selected and trained volunteers in Mount Sinai Health Partners’ (MSHP) Care Management Program help prevent hospital readmissions among patients who would otherwise be at high risk for returning to the hospital within 30 days and incurring unnecessary costs, as well as increasing their susceptibility to hospital-borne infections. The MSHP Care Management Program includes the Preventable Admissions Care Team (PACT) initiative. “Their efforts assist the staff in clinically assessing and enrolling patients,” says Volunteer Coordinator Emily Weinger.
Volunteers also provide assistance in the Hospital Delirium Program, where they use nonmedical interventions that provide patients with cognitive stimulation and help improve patient outcomes by making detailed observations and providing medical staff with valuable feedback.
Volunteer Marie-Claire Noel
For Jean Claude and Marie-Claire Noel, volunteering at Mount Sinai is a commitment the married couple has been keeping for a combined total of 29 years. Mrs. Noel is a volunteer in the Child Life Program and Creative Arts Therapy Department of the Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai, where she puts patients and their families at ease during a stressful time in their lives. Every week, she provides inventive activities—playing board games and making origami sailboats and flowers out of pipe cleaners—that comfort children and adolescents of all ages.
More than 10 years ago, Mr. Noel spearheaded the Patient Liaison Program at the Derald H. Ruttenberg Treatment Center of The Tisch Cancer Institute, where he continues to serve as a volunteer. Through the Program, volunteers meet with new patients to provide support and information about the Ruttenberg Center’s services. Mr. Noel also has been a member of the Patient and Family Advisory Committee since its inception, working with patients, caregivers, and administrators from cancer centers throughout the Mount Sinai Health System to improve the overall patient experience.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
From left: Alexander Preker, MD, PhD, Executive Scholar and Visiting Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Elisabeth A. Brodbeck, MPH, MA, Administrative Director, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Nata Menabde, PhD; and Nils Hennig, MD, PhD, MPH, Director of the Master of Public Health Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Special lectures and wellness events sponsored by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Graduate Program in Public Health were held throughout the Health System during the first week of April, in recognition of National Public Health Week.
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, commenced the week with a discussion about novel approaches to cardiovascular health. Other events included a lecture on increasing Master of Public Health (MPH) student engagement with the international health community, led by Nata Menabde, PhD, Executive Director, World Health Organization Office at the United Nations, as well as a screening of Before the Flood, a documentary about climate change. Shirley Gatenio Gabel, PhD, MPH, Professor, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, led a conversation on social justice and “intersectional” womanhood, which examines the relationship between interconnected social identities and discrimination.
Graduate student Catherine Sinfield prepared meals at the New York City Rescue Mission.
Mount Sinai’s MPH students ended the week with a Day of Service, when nine of them served meals to the homeless at New York City Rescue Mission, the nation’s oldest shelter.
“As public health students, we are committing to professionally assisting communities as a whole through advocacy, policy, health care management, and research,” says Heather Omdal, a second-year MPH student and event organizer. “This opportunity allowed us to engage our academic interests with face-to-face interaction. It was a great union of including the issues that matter to us and engaging with the community on a personal level.”
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, center, with Roxana Mehran, MD, and George D. Dangas, MD, PhD.
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in- Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, was awarded the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in honor of his decades of leadership in service, teaching, and research.
“Dr. Faster’s invaluable contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine show unparalleled dedication to excellence and boundless commitment to improving patient care,” said ACC President Richard Chazal, MD, who presented the award at the ACC’s 66th Annual Scientific Session in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, March 19. Dr. Fuster is a world-renowned cardiologist whose mission is to curtail the global threat of cardiovascular disease through early education. He has authored more than 900 scientific articles and has received honorary doctorates from 33 universities.
Dr. Fuster, the Editor-in- Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, has served as President of the American Heart Association, and he is primary adviser to the U.S. President on the upcoming document, “Global Health and the Future Role of the United States.”
Mount Sinai became the first institution to win three top ACC awards in the same year, as two other leading physicians were honored: Roxana Mehran, MD, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Population Health Science and Policy, and Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Trials; and George D. Dangas, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Professor of Surgery (Vascular), and Director of Cardiovascular Innovation.
Dr. Mehran received the 2017 Bernadine Healy Leadership in Women’s CV Disease Award, presented to a Fellow of the ACC who has demonstrated leadership and accomplishment in research, teaching, practice, or service. Dr. Mehran is internationally recognized for her work as a clinical trial specialist with complex data analyses and for her experience in working with regulatory agencies to conduct trials. Dr. Mehran is also the Chair of the ACC’s Interventional Scientific Council.
Dr. Dangas received the 2017 Distinguished Teacher Award, presented to a Fellow of the ACC who has demonstrated innovative, outstanding teaching methods and has made major contributions in cardiovascular medicine at the national or international level. An authority in nonsurgical cardiac and vascular interventions, Dr. Dangas was a founding Chair of the ACC’s Interventional Scientific Council, and served on the ACC Board of Trustees until 2016.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
The Mount Sinai Health System recently began sharing its expertise in digestive health services with Jupiter Medical Center in South Florida, in a partnership that will expand the quality of gastrointestinal (GI) care for adults and children in the region. Mount Sinai’s Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology, one of the oldest and most distinguished GI programs, is ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to providing therapeutic GI services, the new partnership with Jupiter Medical Center will include noninvasive diagnostics, research, education, and preventive health and wellness services, with a primary focus on irritable bowel disease and hepatobiliary disorders.
Recently, donors and physicians, in photo, left, were among those attending a ribbon-cutting event at the Jupiter Medical Center’s newly renovated Frenchman’s Creek Digestive Health Center, a state-of-the-art facility made possible by the philanthropic support of the Frenchman’s Creek Men’s Health Day Golf Tournament.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
From left: Michelle S. Cespedes, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Lisa Eiland, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and Director of Newborn Services, Mount Sinai West; and second-year students Monica Amoo-Achampong and Yvonne Okaka.
More than 50 students and faculty members at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai shared a festive meal and built valuable connections recently at the second annual Sinai Women of Color in Medicine and Science dinner. The mentoring event, sponsored by Students for Equal Opportunity in Medicine and the Patricia S. Levinson Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs, was held on Thursday, March 16, at Red Rooster Harlem.
“We look forward to continuing this event as an annual tradition at Mount Sinai. We expect it to grow in size as we work to recruit and retain women of color faculty and students,” says Ann-Gel S. Palermo, DrPH, MPH.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Michael Glenn received a screening from Vincent Carrao, MD, DDS, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Division Chief at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
A record number of participants received free oral, head and neck cancer screenings at The Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) and Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI) during Oral Cancer Awareness Month in April. The screenings, held on two consecutive days, were sponsored by Mount Sinai’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and supported by the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, for which Mount Sinai serves as the New York Chapter. Physicians and staff screened a total of 323 participants at both hospitals—245 at MSH and 78 at MSBI—and recommended 50 for follow-up care.
Head and neck cancers usually begin in the squamous cells that line the moist, mucosal surfaces inside the mouth, nose, and throat. Cancers also begin in the salivary glands, but less frequently. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 65,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with head and neck cancers in 2017. There is an 80 percent survival rate when these cancers are detected early.
