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Three Mount Sinai Hospitals Receive National Recognition for Excellence in Nursing

Oct 21, 2019 | Community, Featured

Joining in the celebration for Magnet redesignation at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens were, at center, front row, from left: Caryn A. Schwab; David L. Reich, MD; and Nancy Lamberson, MSN, RN; and center, second row, from left: Jill Goldstein, MA, MS, RN; Shirish Huprikar, MD, Chief Medical Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital; and Frances Cartwright PhD, RN-BC, AOCN, FAAN.

Three Mount Sinai Health System hospitals have again received national recognition for excellence in nursing from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. The Mount Sinai Hospital received Magnet® designation for the fourth consecutive time; Mount Sinai Queens—the Queens campus of The Mount Sinai Hospital—received its second designation; and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai received its third Magnet designation.

The announcements came in telephone calls from the ANCC to Nursing leadership at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai on Thursday, September 19, and The Mount Sinai Hospital on Monday, September 23. Celebrations immediately erupted on the three hospital campuses as joyful and boisterous nurses and staff—waving pom-poms and holding posters—cheered, clapped, and hugged, as they enjoyed this special recognition.

The Magnet designation is the highest national honor for nursing excellence. Only about 8 percent of U.S. hospitals—out of 6,300—have achieved Magnet recognition. Four Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are among them, including Mount Sinai South Nassau, which received its second consecutive designation last year.

To earn redesignation, hospitals must meet stringent standards demonstrating quality patient-centric nursing care, innovation in professional nursing, and nursing research. Hospitals must present documented evidence that the Magnet Standards have been met and have been fully enculturated during the four-year period since the last designation.

From left: James C. Tsai, MD, MBA, President, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, celebrated Magnet redesignation with Christine Mahoney, RN, MS, AGACNP-BC, CCRN; and Stacey A. Conklin, MSN, MHCDS, RN, NE-BC, the institution’s former Chief Nursing Officer, who is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Mount Sinai South Nassau.

“This redesignation reflects the quality and superb outcomes provided by the nursing teams at The Mount Sinai Hospital and our Queens campus, as well as the commitment of every member of the hospital team who works to assure excellence in patient care,” said David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital, and President of Mount Sinai Queens.

“Collaboration, caring, and excellence are personified by the Magnet model and this reflects our professional practice model: relationship-centered care that extends to our patients, their families, our nursing and interdisciplinary colleagues, and our community,” added Frances Cartwright, PhD, RN-BC, AOCN, FAAN, Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, Edgar M. Cullman, Sr. Chair of the Department of Nursing, and Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“This achievement speaks volumes to the exceptional engagement of our professional nursing staff,” said Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director of Mount Sinai Queens. “Their skill, knowledge, and compassion are key to the high-quality patient care that the Magnet appraisers observed here.”

Jill Goldstein, MA, MS, RN, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Nursing, Mount Sinai Queens, added: “I am so very proud of our nurses and their incredible commitment to excellence.” Mount Sinai Queens is the only Magnet-designated hospital in the borough.

In addition to Dr. Cartwright and Ms. Goldstein, a number of Nursing leaders directed the Magnet redesignation effort across campuses, including Nancy Lamberson, MSN, RN, Senior Director of Nursing, Department of Radiology, and Magnet Program Director, The Mount Sinai Hospital; Christine Mahoney, RN, MS, AGACNP-BC, CCRN, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Mount Sinai Downtown; and Margaret M. Morales, MA, RN, ACNS, NEA-BC, Vice President for Patient Care Services, and Barbara Straub, MSN, RN-BC, Director, Nursing IT/ Magnet Program, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

Enjoying Magnet redesignation at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, were, front row, from left: Lilian Bayaya, RN; Henedia Sirlian, MSN, RN; Johanna Sica, MSN, RN, CEN; and Min Jeon, MBA, BSN, RN, CRNO; back row, from left: Darwin Recentes, RN; Kamille Vega-Bryan, RN; Robin Begley, RN; and Mandy Zhao, BSN, RN.

The process involved months of work at each of the three hospitals by nurses at all levels of practice who successfully demonstrated excellence in every aspect of health care delivery. Overall, Magnet hospitals report 10.3 percent lower fall rates, 14 percent lower mortality rates, and 5.5 percent fewer hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, among other improvements, for their patients compared to non-Magnet hospitals.

At New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, Nursing leaders created a “Cheer Walk” for hospital leadership, nurses, and staff—applauding wildly and snapping quick pictures as they arrived for the celebration—providing a red-carpet entrance fit for celebrities. According to James C. Tsai, MD, MBA, President of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and the Delafield-Rodgers Professor and Health System Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, “This is an incredible source of pride for our nurses, and it also reaffirms the hard work and dedication of our entire staff.”

Nursing leadership also expressed their gratitude. “New York Eye and Ear nurses distinguish themselves as caregivers, educators, leaders, scholars, and innovators,” Ms. Morales said. Ms. Mahoney added: “Our nurses are among the best in the nation, and I am inspired by their dedication to our patients and to each other.”

Postdoctoral Award Supports Female Research Scientists

Oct 21, 2019 | Featured, Research

Scott L. Friedman, MD, with Shuang (Sammi) Wang, PhD

Two early-career scientists—Pinar Ayata, PhD, and Shuang (Sammi) Wang, PhD—are the recipients of the 2019 Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, it was announced recently. Each will receive an award of $25,000 to further their research endeavors.

Intended to encourage and support female research scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the fellowship was established in 2010 through a generous gift from Robin Chemers Neustein, JD, MBA, a former member of Mount Sinai’s Boards of Trustees. Recipients are senior postdoctoral scientists who intend to complete their training within two years, have demonstrated high-impact accomplishments in biomedical sciences, and exhibit the potential for an independent scientific career.

Dr. Ayata works in the laboratory of Anne Schaefer, MD, PhD, in The Friedman Brain Institute within the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience. She is uncovering the molecular mechanisms by which a type of cell known as microglia support health and function of the brain, and how their dysfunction contributes to neurodegenerative disease.

“Pinar is an extraordinary young scientist with a knack for exciting and novel ideas and the tenacity to follow through,” says Dr. Schaefer, Associate Professor of Neuroscience, and Psychiatry. “She is firmly in the group of young investigators likely to lead the field of neuroscience in the near future.”

Anne Schaefer, MD, PhD, left, with Pinar Ayata, PhD

Dr. Wang works in the laboratory of Scott L. Friedman, MD, Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases. Her research is focused on investigating how a specialized group of chemical modifications of DNA alter the activity of scar-producing cells in the liver that contribute to cirrhosis (advanced scarring) of this organ.

“Sammi is a wonderful investigator and generous team member whose superb science and attention to detail complement great intelligence and maturity,” says Dr. Friedman, who is also Dean for Therapeutic Discovery and Fishberg Professor of Medicine. “She is a joy to have as a colleague and has a very bright future.”

Chinese Consul General Visits Mount Sinai

Oct 21, 2019 | Community, Featured, Global Health

On a tour of The Mount Sinai Hospital, from left: Che-Kai Tsao, MD, Medical Director, Ruttenberg Treatment Center, The Tisch Cancer Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Madame Zhang Ai Ping; Tao Xu, MD, Medical Director, Mount Sinai International, and Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hospital Medicine), Icahn School of Medicine; Ambassador Huang Ping; and Xing Jijun, MD, Science and Technology Counselor, Consulate General of China in New York.

Ambassador Huang Ping, Consul General of China in New York, took a wide-ranging tour of The Mount Sinai Hospital, sponsored by Mount Sinai International, an organization within the Mount Sinai Health System that is dedicated to advancing health care around the world. The ambassador, who is one of the highest-ranking Chinese officials in the United States; his wife, Madame Zhang Ai Ping; and a group of consular officials were hosted on Tuesday, September 17, by Arthur A. Klein, MD, President of the Mount Sinai Health Network, and Szabi Dorotovics, MD, MBA, President of Mount Sinai International. The group also met with David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital; and Shirish Huprikar, MD, Chief Medical Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital.

The Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital in Nanjing, China, recently began a 10-year strategic collaboration with Mount Sinai International. The consular group was guided by two Icahn School of Medicine physicians who serve as “workstream leaders” in the collaboration: Che-Kai Tsao, MD, Medical Director, Ruttenberg Treatment Center, The Tisch Cancer Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology); and Tao Xu, MD, Medical Director, Mount Sinai International, and Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hospital Medicine).

“The United States and China face many common challenges in medicine and health,” Dr. Klein said. “Mount Sinai and China have extensive and long-lasting relationships in clinical care, scientific research, and medical education.”

From left: Xing Jijun, MD, Science and Technology Counselor, Consulate General of China in New York; Arthur A. Klein, MD, President of the Mount Sinai Health Network; Ambassador Huang Ping; Madame Zhang Ai Ping; and Szabi Dorotovics, MD, MBA, President of Mount Sinai International.

Aspiring Physicians Start Their Medical Education

Oct 7, 2019 | Featured, School

Before a standing-room-only audience of wellwishers, 140 medical students of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Class of 2023 received symbolic white coats during a rousing ceremony held Tuesday, September 17, in Stern Auditorium. Always a jubilant affair for the students and their families and friends, and for Mount Sinai Health System leadership, faculty, and alumni, this year’s event was marked by frequent applause as speakers brought special attention to key issues in medical education and health care.

After receiving their white coats, the aspiring physicians also recited a student oath they wrote— a set of principles to guide them. They committed to be innovative collaborators, to push medicine to new heights, and to courageously advocate for patients and their communities, among other ideals.

In attendance were Richard A. Friedman and James S. Tisch, Co-Chairmen of the Mount Sinai Health System Boards of Trustees. “The Trustees care deeply about you, our students,” said Mr. Friedman in welcoming remarks. “We want you to be able to learn without the anxiety of graduating with a financial burden that might severely limit your ability to pursue your dreams. So, earlier this year, the Boards of Trustees approved the Enhanced Scholarship Initiative that enables students with demonstrated need to graduate with no more than $75,000 of debt. This is a gift from the Trustees who have funded the Initiative.”

Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System, spoke eloquently of gifts of a different sort. “It is important that you be thankful for all the gifts that are associated with becoming a physician and scientist,” he told the students. “It will enrich your personal life, enhance your professional sense of purpose, and most importantly, improve the lives of patients who place their trust in you.”

Among the gifts, he said, are the gifts of family, of gratitude, of giving and showing compassion to patients, of solving life’s greatest challenges, and of demonstrating strength, courage, and resilience while under duress. “Perhaps your ultimate gift,” he concluded, “is the chance to dream big.”

Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, took the opportunity to urge the future physicians to uphold and advance the values that have defined Mount Sinai since its earliest days—values, he said, that are now being threatened.

“The federal government has released a rule that could deny permanent resident status to some immigrants if they accept government assistance, including Medicaid, food stamps, or housing assistance, all of which we know impacts a person’s health and well-being,” he began. “In accepting federal government assistance, these individuals and families risk being labeled as a ‘public charge,’ and under this rule, it would jeopardize their ability to remain in the United States.” As a result, Dr. Davis continued, immigrant and low-income families served by Mount Sinai are choosing to forgo health care to avoid possible deportation.

“How does that affect you, future physicians and researchers? This is what I want you to commit to when you leave this room: We must defend our ability to be health care providers for all. By accepting your white coat today, you are pledging to uphold our values and to fulfill Mount Sinai’s vision.”

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS, MSSM ’00, Kessler Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, gave a heartfelt keynote speech, which each year is dedicated to the late Hans Popper, MD, PhD, a world-renowned physician and academic leader who was President and Dean Emeritus of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

“It’s hard to describe the gratification of saving a patient’s life, helping bring a new life into the world, making a patient’s life longer or more enjoyable, or easing their transition to death,” she told the medical students. “You will do each of these things before you leave here. You will witness extraordinary things. You will experience the greatest joy and satisfaction that life can offer, and the deepest regret, shame, sadness, and self-doubt. But through it all, what will keep you centered, what will help you maintain your ethical compass, avoid burnout, maintain hope and optimism and joy in this work, is that you must always do what is best for the patient—always, always, always.”

A Special Lab Coat Ceremony Launches the Training of Future Scientists

Oct 7, 2019 | Featured, School

The 56 members of the matriculating classes of PhD and MD/PhD students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai received white lab coats during a special ceremony held Monday, September 9, in Goldwurm Auditorium.

“It is with great pride and joy that I welcome you,” Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School, and the Sharon and Frederick Klingenstein/Nathan Kase, MD Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Professor of Neuroscience, told the students. “This ceremony serves as a symbolic induction to your professional PhD training in the Biomedical Sciences and Neuroscience programs, as well as to the MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program.” The Graduate School, which began the tradition in 2018, is the only institution in New York City, and one of a few in the nation, to honor its matriculating PhD classes in this manner.

Also receiving recognition were 43 PhD and MD/PhD students who have officially joined a lab and confirmed their PhD candidature by passing their thesis proposal exams. They were presented with honorary plaques.

The PhD students recited an oath to guide them through their training, and beyond. In part, they pledged to uphold the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, scholarship, and honor, and to conduct their research and professional endeavors with honesty and objectivity.

Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience, who was the event’s master of ceremonies, gave this advice to the students. “The most critical dimension of your graduate student career will be finding the right laboratory in which to do your dissertation research—and the most critical aspect of that choice will be the lab’s principal investigator, who will be your mentor,” he said. “I would argue that the lab principal investigator is more important to your future than the content of the lab’s work or the experimental approaches the lab utilizes. If it works as it should, your lab mentor will be one of your more significant relationships of your professional lives.”

When keynote speaker Francesca Cole, PhD, stepped to the podium, she almost immediately acknowledged her own mentor, Robert S. Krauss, PhD, Professor of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, and Oncological Sciences, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who was in attendance. Dr. Cole received a PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2003 at Mount Sinai, followed by postgraduate training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and today she is an Associate Professor of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

She outlined the struggles of a typical scientist. “We have to live with the knowledge that we could be wrong, that our approach may not work, that we may not be asking the right question. In short, doing research makes you feel stupid,” said Dr. Cole. “You must accept this. If you don’t feel that way, you aren’t working hard enough or pushing the boundaries of our knowledge enough.”

Dr. Cole also encouraged the students to select a mentor wisely and to support each other. “But this is my most important message to you,” she said. “It is abundantly clear that you all belong here. So, welcome to biomedical research, and let’s make beautiful science together.”

Mount Sinai Is Taking the Lead in Transgender Medicine

Oct 7, 2019 | Engagement, Featured

In “Born to Be,” a documentary about the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, its Director of Surgery, Jess Ting, MD, center, headed for an operating room with Adriana Macias, RN, and patient Mahogany Phillips.

The Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery (CTMS) in three years has become a world leader in the care and support of transgender people, a journey that is the subject of Born to Be, a documentary that premiered on Saturday, September 28, at the 57th New York Film Festival.

“CTMS has treated 2,500 transgender patients since it was founded in 2016 and performed 1,200 ‘trans-related’ surgeries, such as facial feminization and genital reconstruction,” says Joshua Safer, MD, Executive Director of the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, and Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The Center also offers services in primary care, physical therapy, endocrinology, behavioral health, and social work that are uniquely comprehensive.

Joshua Safer, MD, Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery.

“The one thing that transgender people have in common is that their gender identity is not aligned with the physical anatomy that we see,” Dr. Safer says. “But there is great variability in what they want to do about that, and we think patients should have customized choices, just like treatment for any other medical circumstance.”

The new documentary, directed by Tania Cypriano and produced by Michelle Hayashi, focuses on five patients seeking to transform their lives with surgery performed by Jess Ting, MD, Director of Surgery, Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, and Assistant Professor of Surgery (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. They were a varied group, including a self-described survivor of the 1980s drag ball culture, a young professional, and a former model. One patient seemed to speak for many in describing life before the surgery. “You are fighting every day,” he said. “You are fighting to be respected, you are fighting to be comfortable in your own skin.”

The film depicts CTMS in its early days, when Dr. Ting was just transitioning into his role. Since then, Dr. Ting created the nation’s first transgender surgery fellowship and hired the first two graduates of the program. “One new surgeon is coming out of this program every year,” Dr. Ting says. “Over time, we will be able to multiply our expertise and our ability to address health care disparities for transgender patients.”

CTMS has also added two luminaries in gender-affirming surgery: Marci Bowers, MD, a San Francisco-based pioneer in vaginoplasty, and Miroslav Djordjevic, MD, PhD, a specialist in female-to-male genital surgery who leads the Belgrade Center for Genital Reconstructive Surgery in Serbia. Both teach and practice at Mount Sinai several times a year. “These collaborations build upon an already strong program and make CTMS a world leader in gender-affirming surgery,” Dr. Ting says.

Miroslav Djordjevic, MD, PhD, left, and Marci Bowers, MD, two leaders in gender-affirming surgery, are collaborating with the innovative team at Mount Sinai.

In other innovations, CTMS created the first psychiatric fellowship in transgender medicine, and is now training its second fellow. In addition, all endocrine fellows and plastic surgery residents rotate through the transgender program, making Mount Sinai one of the only centers to incorporate the care of transgender and nonbinary patients into its physician training curriculum.

These fellowships are part of the larger mission of CTMS, to provide guidance in a field that is at a crucial “inflection point,” Dr. Safer says. “Until a few years ago, the universe of trans surgery has been really ad hoc,” he says. “The better-known surgeons in North America operated out of freestanding surgery centers, because conventional medical centers would not let them use their operating rooms.” Medicare specifically banned coverage for transgender procedures, and patients paid out of pocket. But in 2015 the government reversed its policy, leading many states—including New York—to obligate private insurers to provide coverage of transgender procedures. This has made such treatment affordable for many more patients, and transgender medicine is rapidly expanding to meet the demand.

Leveraging its resources as a large academic medical center, Mount Sinai is taking the lead in efforts to elevate and standardize important aspects of patient care, including the training of nurses, physical therapy for patients undergoing genital surgery, and the pre- and postsurgery process. To create a national conversation on best practices, CTMS held the first Live Surgery Conference for Gender Affirmation Procedures in spring 2018, co-sponsored by Mount Sinai and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the leading professional and educational organization for transgender health care. The second such conference, in spring 2019, held panels on social and ethical issues in transgender care and featured live surgeries by experts, including Dr. Ting, Dr. Bowers, and Dr. Djordjevic.

CTMS plans another conference in spring 2020 focusing on medical issues such as perioperative care and adolescent health. “CTMS has become a national model for providing a full-service and integrated system of affirmative patient-centered care, accessible to all transgender and nonbinary patients,” says Barbara Warren, PsyD, Director, LGBT Programs and Policies, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, Mount Sinai Health System. “It also serves as a much-needed resource for educating the next generation of health care providers in culturally and clinically competent care.”

David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital, who was a driving force in creating CTMS along with Dr. Warren, says: “In so many areas of medicine, we tend to be competitive. In gender affirmation surgery and transgender medicine, however, we need to think broadly to support a community that has for so long been underserved. Our mission and our vision is to bring the care of the community to the next level by sharing our expertise.”

At a screening of the documentary “Born to Be” at the 57th New York Film Festival, from left: the film’s producer, Michelle Hayashi; patients Garnet Rubio and Jordan Rubenstein; Jess Ting, MD, Director of Surgery, Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery; patient Mahogany Phillips; and the film’s director, Tania Cypriano.

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