Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital Awarded Transcatheter Valve Certification by American College of Cardiology for Second Time in a Row

Updated on Apr 1, 2025 | Featured, Heart Health

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital at The Mount Sinai Hospital has again earned the American College of Cardiology’s Transcatheter Valve Certification. Mount Sinai is the only cardiac center in New York City and one of six in New York State to receive this recognition. This award is a symbol of expertise, quality and safety of care, and commitment to treating patients who need transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

This award follows a prestigious “high performing” rating in transcatheter aortic valve replacement from U.S. News & World Report. This rating is based on multiple categories including patient survival, patient volume, and stroke prevention.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, also known as TAVR, is a minimally invasive procedure for patients with severe aortic stenosis, in which the aortic valve doesn’t fully open. This reduces blood flow leaving the heart and causes chest pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. TAVR allows the aortic valve to be replaced without open-heart surgery. Interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work together to deliver the new heart valve through a catheter that runs from a blood vessel in the groin to the aortic valve. The team then deploys the transcatheter valve within the diseased aortic valve, so the new valve can function immediately.

“It is an absolute honor that we have received Transcatheter Valve Center certification from the American College of Cardiology after a very detailed review of our structural heart program. This certification solidifies Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital as one of the premier centers in the nation for percutaneous nonsurgical valve procedures,” says Samin Sharma, MD, Director of Interventional Cardiology for the Mount Sinai Health System.

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital underwent a rigorous evaluation in which reviewers from the American College of Cardiology conducted an analysis of key areas including:

  • Quality of care
  • Clinical outcomes and patient experience
  • Quality assessment and performance improvement initiatives
  • Multidisciplinary approach and shared decision making by heart team for patient care
  • Review of metrics from national registries
  • Staff credentialing, training, and education
  • Equipment safety and inspection
  • Infection control guidelines

“The American College of Cardiology Certification is a testament to the close collaboration and active involvement including interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, imaging specialists, heart failure specialists, and nurse practitioners working closely together to offer the best experience possible to our patients at Mount Sinai,” says Gilbert Tang, MD, MSc, MBA, Surgical Director of the Structural Heart Program at the Mount Sinai Health System.

“Our center, through a combination of technically skilled operators and careful attention to patient details, has achieved the best outcomes. Regular communication with patients’ families and the referring physicians has made us a preferred center for transcatheter valve therapies,” says Annapoorna Kini, MD, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

The certification is based on established national clinical measures to support clinical decisions and links process improvement to patient outcomes. Hospitals that achieve Transcatheter Valve Certification learn best practices for implementing evidence-based medicine to support patient-shared decision making and can track key performance metrics to better identify opportunities for improvement.

From Personal Tragedy to Life Purpose: How One Masters Student at Mount Sinai Was Inspired to Focus on a Career in Public Health

Mar 31, 2025 | COVID-19 Reflections, Featured, School

Brianna Sukhdeo, a second year Master of Public Health student

Brianna Sukhdeo is a second year Master of Public Health (MPH) student in the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention concentration. She is also the first student from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to be selected as an ambassador as part of a special program administered by the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health.

This honor is just the next step for her as she embarks on a career in public health.

She had been inspired to study public health during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as she watched her mother having trouble getting proper medical care. As soon as she arrived at Mount Sinai, she began pursuing opportunities outside the classroom to purse this goal.

For example, she has been working with Lauren Zajac, MD, MPH and Sofia Curdumi Pendley, PhD, MPH, on TEAM Kids (Team-based Environmental Asthma Management), a pediatric asthma clinic at Mount Sinai.

She found that mentors were willing to invite students into professional spaces to give them networking experiences and to develop new skills. Her mentors have been responsive to outreach from students and are willing to share professional opportunities, even to mentees they don’t work with directly.

The team that manages the Graduate Program in Public Health recognized that she would be a good fit for the This is Public Heath (TIPH) Ambassador Program run by the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health. So they met with her to explain the opportunity and then nominated her for it.

“I was excited to learn that I would be the first representative from Mount Sinai to participate,” she says of the program, which aims to raise awareness of the field of public health to students across the United States.

Embarking on a career in public health wasn’t always her primary goal.

“I want students to understand how foundational public health is to health care careers, along with how to make connections between this field and industries such as business, law, politics, and environmental science,” she says. “Public Health should be the lens through which we view health in our society.”

While completing her undergraduate degree in psychology, she thought about becoming a school psychologist or child psychologist. Her plans changed when her mom got sick and was hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. She saw how her mother wasn’t getting the care she needed and how resources were diverted during the pandemic.

Her mother had been living with liver problems and had been treated at other hospitals without a specific diagnosis. She finally came to The Mount Sinai Hospital, and her daughter credits this with saving her mother’s life. Her mother was diagnosed and treated for autoimmune hepatitis, a chronic liver disease. She has since recovered.

During the pandemic, Brianna Sukhdeo was inspired to help patients who were alone in hospitals due to COVID-19 restrictions, which led her to an internship at the Stony Brook University Emergency Department helping patients and families in the Emergency Department. Her supervisor, Samita Heslin, MD, MPH, MBA, was an Emergency Department doctor. “She explained how useful and versatile public health is in addressing the foundational issues of health and how these concepts can be applied to patient care,” she says.

While researching the next step in her educational journey, Brianna discovered many pediatric mentors were available at Mount Sinai.

“I was drawn to the fact that the Icahn School of Medicine was within the Mount Sinai Health System, which provides many opportunities for professional development, such as volunteering in clinical settings, research, and quality improvement,” she says.

“I often work with medical students, health administration students, and students from several other programs,” she says of her time at the Icahn School of Medicine. “The collaborative environment encouraged me to be an active participant as a student instead of just passive learning.”

After graduating from the MPH program in June, she hopes to attend medical school and become a public health pediatrician.

The goal of the This is Public Health Ambassador Program is to raise awareness of the field of public health. She believes this is crucial because she didn’t know much about the field until she was far into her academic journey.

“I want students to understand how foundational public health is to health care careers, along with how to make connections between this field and industries such as business, law, politics, and environmental science,” she says. “Public Health should be the lens through which we view health in our society.”

The TIPH Cohort runs from August through June, and the most important part of the experience is the networking. Participating schools have the chance to nominate one student a year. They meet once a month to discuss the similarities and differences of their programs, places of need, and to share resources. Brianna has enjoyed learning about the policy differences from ambassadors at schools in other states.

The TIPH Cohort provides advice to prospective public health students, such as why to study in this field, how to pick a school, how to successfully apply to programs, and more. Brianna has attended virtual and in-person recruitment fairs to answer these student questions. Each TIPH Cohort participant completes a presentation or project, which can include interviewing professionals in the field, educating students about public health topics, and more.

Learn more about the This is Public Health Ambassador Cohort
Learn more about the Department of Public Health at Mount Sinai

Match Day 2025: This Is Where It Begins

Mar 28, 2025 | Featured, School

With their medical school journey nearly over, students gathered at the Annenberg Building lobby on Friday, March 21, for an important reason: Match Day. It is when fourth-year students learn where they will complete their residency training. For the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Class of 2025, 118 students matched to 27 different specialties across the country.

“These are excellent results. Our students are going to some of the best residency programs in the nation,” said David C. Thomas, MD, MHPE, Dean for Medical Education of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Graduating students are starting their residencies at leading institutions, including The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, to name a few. Of the Class of 2025, 45 will continue their training within the Mount Sinai Health System.

Embarking on a residency program is where a student’s years of classroom knowledge is put into practice, said Dr. Thomas.

“This is it,” he said. “This is where it begins. For our students, they’ve worked so hard to get to this stage and now they’re ready to start the next phase of their career.”

Icahn School of Medicine Class of 2025 Top Residency Matches by Specialty

Specialty Number of Matches
Internal Medicine 30
Anesthesiology 14
Psychiatry 10
OB-GYN 7

Click to read more as three MD seniors talk about their calling to enter the medical field, and their excitement on getting to the next stage.

Sungjae Park

Matched to: Preliminary internship at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in New York City, then Diagnostic Radiology residency at Montefiore Einstein

Why did you choose to enter medicine?

I was a U.S. Army Psych Medic—a behavioral health specialist—and a registered nurse. While I loved helping my patients in those roles, I always felt like I wanted to learn more so that I can do more for my patients. That’s why I chose to become a physician.

As a medic, I played an active role in patient care, but I often felt limited by my medical knowledge. I wanted to do more—to take full responsibility for my future patients by being able to assess, diagnose, and treat them. That desire for deeper understanding in medicine and science drove me to pursue further education and training.

What’s been one of the hardest moments for you at medical school, and how did you overcome it?

Balancing studying, volunteering, research, socializing, and clinical rotations simultaneously was challenging throughout medical school. I overcame it by recognizing my limits and just focused on and prioritized what I can do each day.

Volunteering was a meaningful activity for me. I served as the New York/New Jersey Chapter President of the Korean American Medical Student Association, where I organized volunteer events supporting local immigrant communities. Our team assisted physicians at free health fairs in Flushing, New York, and Fort Lee, New Jersey, providing health screenings and counseling to uninsured local residents.

Why were you excited to remain in New York and match to a New York institution?

Although I’m originally from South Korea, I attended Hunter College and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and I’ve been living in New York City for the past eight years. Over time, I’ve made New York my second home, building strong relationships with friends and mentors who have supported me throughout my medical journey. I hope to stay connected to this community and give back by mentoring and support to the next generation of physicians and medical students, just as my mentors did for me.

Why did you choose diagnostic radiology as your next step?

I didn’t know much about diagnostic radiology during most of medical school. But while I was visiting my parents at home, my mother suddenly developed sharp left-sided chest pain that radiated to her shoulder and jaw. We all thought she was having a heart attack. We rushed her to the emergency department. In the ED, the radiologist there quickly identified the true cause: a clavicle fracture. I was fascinated by how, even with limited face-to-face interaction with patients, radiologists play a critical role in rapidly diagnosing conditions and making a significant impact on patient care.

Horacio Romero Castillo

Matched to: Otolaryngology at Mount Sinai

Why did you choose to enter medicine?

As a former first-grade teacher, I found that medicine offered a career to continue growing as a lifelong learner and educator and the privilege to make an impact on the lives of others. I will always be a teacher at heart, and as a physician I have the opportunity to continue teaching and learning from my patients and colleagues.

Changing careers from teaching to medicine allowed me to pursue research opportunities. It was an avenue to help create knowledge, in addition to teaching and learning it, and that was what ultimately inspired me to make the switch.

What’s been one of the hardest moments for you at medical school, and how did you overcome it?

Balancing time between medical school, research, and family was a big learning curve for me, but luckily, with the combined support of my husband, friends, and family, I gained better time and project management skills to prioritize my learning and loved ones.

What are you looking forward to in your otolaryngology residency?

Mount Sinai was my top choice. It has opened up many doors for me throughout the years. I started as a volunteer premed student shadowing patients in the World Trade Center Health Program, then worked as a full-time clinical research coordinator before starting medical school here. It is an honor to continue my career at Mount Sinai as an otolaryngology resident—building on the experiences I’ve had and I’m excited to continue working with the mentors, patients, and research infrastructure available here.

Catherine Wu

Matched to: Anesthesiology at Mount Sinai

Why did you choose to enter medicine?

I chose to enter medicine because I love caring for others. That, combined with my love for physiology and working with my hands, anesthesiology seemed like the perfect specialty. Physiology is the study of how the human body works, which I find so fascinating. As an anesthesiologist, I get to apply these concepts in the operating room as I take care of patients.

What’s been one of the hardest moments for you at medical school, and how did you overcome it?

One of the hardest moments during medical school was when Hurricane Beryl hit Houston while I was home to take Step 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, a nine-hour-long exam. We lost power and internet for the five days before my exam, which made studying very challenging. I ended up doing lots of reading of my first aid textbook in the candlelight. After all that, my test ended up getting canceled, but I was able to reschedule it and take it back in New York.

What are you looking forward to in your anesthesiology residency?

I’m excited to be matched at Mount Sinai—it was my first choice. The people in the department of anesthesiology at Mount Sinai are absolutely wonderful, and the training is phenomenal. Many of my friends are also staying at Mount Sinai for residency in both anesthesia and other fields—I can’t wait to be co-residents together!

The Virtual Doctor in the Room: How Tele-Trach Evolved as a Catalyst for Safety and Quality

Updated on Mar 28, 2025 | COVID-19 Reflections, Featured

A tele-tracheostomy performed at the bedside in the Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Queens Hospital on a patient who had been ventilated for respiratory failure.

It’s been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic’s first cases, and much has changed in the world of medicine. Virtual care, also known as telehealth, became routine, among other virtual adaptations such as iPad hook-ups to IV poles to connect families to say goodbye, and even Zoom classrooms.

A lesser-known adaptation, the tele-consult, allowing a doctor at one hospital to oversee and guide care at another hospital, came about as hospitals swelled with patients and doctors were spread thin.

Dhruv Patel, MD

Dhruv Patel, MD, Director of Quality and Associate Director of the Transplant Intensive Care Unit at The Mount Sinai Hospital within Mount Sinai’s Institute for Critical Care Medicine, was part of a team that helped to make this innovation possible.

In his role at the Institute, he oversees percutaneous tele-tracheostomies from his office at The Mount Sinai Hospital. A percutaneous tracheostomy is a minimally invasive procedure done with a needle that punctures the skin, which is performed at the bedside to create an opening in the windpipe to facilitate breathing.

“The capacity to beam into another hospital to oversee and guide a tracheostomy made a world of difference during the pandemic when we had large volumes of very sick patients on ventilators for prolonged periods,” says Dr. Patel.

“During the pandemic, we performed three times as many tracheostomies, as respiratory failure among infected patients became extremely common. This allowed for faster and less invasive bedside procedures, while avoiding the necessity to transfer critically ill and vulnerable patients to the operating room,” says Dr. Patel. The Institute has continued to train all critical care specialists to become proficient at performing bedside percutaneous tracheostomy.

Leveraging the tele-consult has presented an important training opportunity, says I. Michael Leitman, MD, FACS, Dean for Graduate Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Leitman, Professor of Surgery and Medical Education, oversees Mount Sinai’s resident training program, which is the largest in the county.

“The introduction of telemedicine and the ability now to do tele-consults at the bedside provides an important advantage for an attending to supervise residents and attending doctors as they round on critical, complex cases,” says Dr. Leitman.

Nazia Mashriqi, MD, MBA, ICCM Site Director at Mount Sinai Queens, performs approximately 30 tracheostomies annually.

“Even though we aren’t seeing many critical COVID-19 patients, we are still performing bedside percutaneous tracheostomies quite often for patients who require prolonged assistance of a mechanical ventilator for other respiratory illnesses, such as the flu or pneumonia. With Dr. Patel tele-consulting and present in the room as we perform these procedures, we can ensure a critical layer of oversight and safety,” says Dr. Mashriqi, who is also part of the Institute’s team. “The procedure is somewhat straightforward, but at the same time, proficiency is key to avoid complications of bleeding due to trauma to nearby tissues. We use multiple layers of visualization including ultrasound and bronchoscopy to enhance the safety of the bedside procedure,” says Dr. Patel, noting that the procedure is now rarely performed in the operating room.

Mount Sinai’s Institute for Critical Care Medicine oversees critical care at seven of Mount Sinai’s eight hospitals in New York, providing highly specialized, life-saving care for patients experiencing the most serious diseases and injuries, and those recovering from complex surgeries.

The Institute’s System Director, Roopa Kohli-Seth, MD, says the team provides care for more than 10,000 patients annually.

“Our critical care teams care for the sickest of patients at Mount Sinai’s hospitals, and the capacity to tele-consult and advise from afar has given us an important advantage in saving lives and ensuring both quality and safety. We see this as a great win for our patients and patient safety overall,” says Dr. Kohli-Seth.

 

Certified Nurses at Mount Sinai: Representing a Commitment to Excellence and to Their Profession

Updated on Mar 18, 2025 | Featured, Nursing

Nursing Certification is an important, independent validation of specialized nursing knowledge and expertise that meet or exceed professional standards. In fact, empirical evidence shows an association between nursing certification and better patient outcomes, as well as lower rates of falls, hospital-acquired infections, and central line-related bloodstream infections.

Across the Mount Sinai Health System, an impressive near 50 percent of nurses have earned board certification in their chosen specialties. Their patients, families, colleagues, and teams are the direct beneficiaries of nursing expertise that is recognized as meeting or exceeding the highest professional standards.

In recognition of National Certified Nurses Day, Wednesday, March 19, Mount Sinai would like to shine a spotlight on some of our nurses who have earned their specialty certification. Along with their fellow certified nurses, they represent a commitment to excellence and their profession that is synonymous with Mount Sinai Nursing.

I’m proud to be certified in Medical Surgical Nursing. I believed that obtaining certification demonstrates commitment and dedication to professional growth and maintaining the best evidence-based practices. Encouraging other nurses to become certified is something I truly believe in. It’s not just a title, it’s a commitment to excellence.

Emmy Lou C. Adonay, RN, BSN-BC, Mount Sinai Queens

Carla Alves-Miraldo, MS, MSN-Ed, RN, CHPN, KP6 Palliative Care Unit, The Mount Sinai Hospital

Becoming a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse is a reflection of my commitment to ensuring every patient receives comfort, dignity, and compassionate care during life’s most challenging moments. This certification is more than a title—it represents my dedication to guiding patients and families with expertise, empathy, and unwavering support. I stand proud of my certification because it allows me to be a source of comfort, an advocate for quality of life, and ensure that no one faces their journey alone. Being a certified palliative care nurse is not just my profession—it is my passion and my purpose.
Obtaining and maintaining this certification provides me the opportunity to achieve professional and personal growth. Being a certified Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) validates and demonstrates my expertise in advanced knowledge and skills caring for critically ill patients while developing wisdom of practice in the critical care fields. This allows me to share my knowledge and skills to elevate the standard of patient care within the nursing units, as well as at the organizational level to promote patient outcomes in Mount Sinai.

Keiko Iwama, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN,Mount Sinai Morningside

Odeisha Maitland, DNP, FNP, RN-BC, Mount Sinai Brooklyn

Being a certified nurse is not just a title; it is a profound commitment to excellence in patient care and a testament to my dedication to ongoing professional development. Achieving certification demonstrates my expertise and the trust that patients and colleagues place in my abilities. It embodies my passion for delivering exceptional health care and my unwavering responsibility to uphold the highest standards of our profession. Ultimately, being a certified nurse is both an honor and a defining aspect of my identity in the health care field, empowering me to make a meaningful impact on the lives of others every day.
As an ED nurse, you never know who’s going to walk through the door. All we can do is prepare and improve our practice. Being certified is just that; It means I stay ready and inspire my team to do the same.

Cynthia Mendez, RN, MSN, CEN, Senior Clinical Nurse, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Mount Sinai Hospital

Jay Rodriguez Reyes, RN, BSN, AMB-BC, Ambulatory

In the ever-evolving health care landscape, certification is not just a title but a commitment to excellence, professional growth, and improved patient outcomes. Earning certification in Ambulatory nursing validates our expertise, knowledge, and dedication to the highest standards of patient care. To those considering certification, take that step. Invest in yourself, in your patients, and in the future of the nursing profession. Because when we grow as professionals, everyone benefits.
Being a certified nurse at Mount Sinai represents a deep commitment to professional growth and ensuring the highest standard of care for my patients. It reflects my expertise and dedication, particularly in specialized fields like vascular access and infusion therapy. After 25 years at Mount Sinai, these certifications reinforce my passion for nursing and the responsibility I feel in continually advancing my skills to best serve those who rely on me.

Lynette Joy Romanovitch, BSN, RN, CRNI, VA-BC, Vascular Access Service RN, Institute for Critical Care Medicine, The Mount Sinai Hospital

Elvira Solis MSN, RN, CCRN, Mount Sinai Queens

Certification means a lot to me in different perspectives, although we will say it is a validation of my knowledge and skills and my practice, embodying excellence, lifelong learning, and commitment in excellence in care.  As a Certified Critical Care Nurse, I am committed to so many duties and responsibilities. My commitment to providing excellence in care means I have an advance knowledge and skills to provide effective and safest care to my patients. I must ensure the excellence in practice is backed up with evidence-based. My commitment to life-long learning and professional development is not to myself alone but also to  support my team through peer-to peer teaching onsite and online. I take pride of being a role model to my colleague and a “Go to Person” especially in some challenging cases and situations.
Being wound care certified fills me with pride because it reflects my commitment to providing the highest level of care to my patients. This certification represents my dedication to continuous learning and staying up to date with the latest techniques and best practices in wound healing. Knowing I can make a tangible difference in someone’s recovery, while ensuring their comfort and well-being, gives me a strong sense of purpose in my work.

Sylvia Springer-Fahie, RN-BC, DNP, MSN, BSN, WCC, The Mount Sinai Hospital

A Look Back at the Pandemic, and Views on the Future

Mar 6, 2025 | COVID-19 Reflections, Featured

In early 2020, Mount Sinai treated the first COVID-19 patient. Shortly after that, New York State declared a state of emergency, and COVID-19 cases started to rise. Mount Sinai staff are coming together to share their experiences of overcoming the pandemic in a look back video, “COVID-19 Five Years Later: Reflecting. Learning. Advancing.”

“We stood at the edge of the worst health care crisis in modern memory,” said David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital, who narrates the video. “And no one knew. Over the next eight weeks, over 18,000 New Yorkers would die of COVID-19—one every five minutes, over 350 every day.”

A timeline takes us through those challenging times, featuring the resilience of front-line staff in the face of what seemed like a never-ending flow of patients, while ICU beds filled up. The video, too, takes us through how scientists and researchers were working nonstop to understand the virus, and coming up with various ways to treat and test for COVID-19.

Five years since the pandemic was officially declared, the Mount Sinai Health System is able to reflect on what it achieved and learned since.

Check out other stories on COVID-19 reflections and stories

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