Parents Are Grateful to NYEE for Their Newborn’s Sight-Saving Surgery

Sep 15, 2020 | MSBI, Stories of Excellence

Two parents expressed profound gratitude to a team at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) for kindly and skillfully supporting them through their baby daughter’s cataract surgeries and difficult recovery.

Mia Alvarez was born on March 17, 2020. While her parents took joy in welcoming their new daughter, they were met with unexpected news, Mia was born with congenital cataracts in both eyes. The news was a blow to both parents, who are legally blind. Hereditary cataracts are rare in babies and require immediate surgery (within 6 to 8 weeks of age) in order to allow the eye sight to develop normally. With COVID-19 cases rising and all elective surgeries canceled across NYC hospitals, Kristal and Alex Alvarez had little time to digest the news, but immediately focused on finding the best pediatric ophthalmologist to perform Mia’s vision-saving surgery.

On the recommendation of their pediatrician at Mount Sinai, Kristal and Alex went to NYEE to see Douglas Fredrick, MD, Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus for the Mount Sinai Health System. “We believed Dr. Fredrick could give our daughter the best chance of having good eyesight as she got older,” says Kristal.

The days leading up to the operation were trying. Kristal and Alex had to navigate Medicaid to obtain approvals, a difficult task as New York State programs were grappling with COVID-19 shutdown orders and working remotely.  But Dr. Fredrick and his team worked with Kristal and Alex to help clear the Medicaid hurdles. And due to visitor restrictions, only one of them would be allowed at the surgery at a time. But the team went above and beyond to support the couple and ensure everything went smoothly.

Mia’s surgery, performed in April, was successful. However, Kristal and Alex were faced with another challenge: following a strict post-op regime of administering eye drops, three times a day, into Mia’s eyes. Despite their own vision limitations, they learned to deliver the drops and insert tiny contact lenses in her eyes, cleaning and replacing them. “Knowing our challenges, Dr. Fredrick offered to have us come in every week so that he could change the lenses,” recalled Alex, “but we knew we had to find a way to change them on our own.”

Just as the family thought they were out of the woods, Mia faced a setback. During an exam, Dr. Fredrick discovered that secondary cataracts had developed. Although not uncommon, this required a follow-up procedure. Once again, Dr. Fredrick and his team worked with Kristal and Alex to help clear the Medicaid hurdles, and Mia successfully underwent her second surgery in June.

Kristal and Alex greatly appreciated the extraordinary support and care demonstrated by Dr. Fredrick and the NYEE team. “Mia received the best care possible, and Dr. Fredrik went above and beyond to help us through every step of the process,” Kristal says. “One day we ran out of eye drops, and he personally dropped off the eye drops at our home. What doctor does that?”  She adds, “The entire team was patient, kind, supportive, and reassuring throughout the process, and the hospital implemented special safety precautions every step of the way. We were always very confident everything possible was being done to protect our health,” says Kristal.

Mia continues to heal well, and Dr. Fredrick says she has a good chance of developing 20/40 vision when she gets older. “Being able to share the burden and fear of vision loss with new parents and replacing that with hope for a future of clear vision for their child”, he says, “is one of the most gratifying parts of our profession.”

Kristal is ecstatic.“20/40 vision—that is almost perfect. We are excited that Mia can now grow and experience life like most children, without limits.”

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New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, America’s First Specialty Hospital, Celebrates 200th Anniversary

Sep 10, 2020 | Community, Featured, MSBI

From left: James Tsai, MD, MBA, President of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE); Daniel Laroche, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology; and Tamiesha Frempong, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, and Medical Education, were among those who gathered for the dedication of a portrait of David Kearny McDonogh, America’s first Black ophthalmologist and a former slave, who was trained at NYEE.

The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE), in August, celebrated its 200th anniversary and its unique place as America’s first specialty hospital, which continues to provide patients with the highest level of care.

“As we enter our third century, we continue to innovate and lead in clinical care, education, research, and community service,” says James Tsai, MD, MBA, President of NYEE. “NYEE has really been ahead of its time and I think this is something we can be proud of in our bicentennial year.”

Indeed, the hospital’s remarkable history includes a significant chapter in American history and demonstrates the open-mindedness of its two young founders, Edward Delafield, MD, and John Kearny Rodgers, MD, who educated the nation’s first Black ophthalmologist, a former slave named David Kearny McDonogh. Dr. McDonogh’s professional path was laden with obstacles. After being allowed to unofficially attend and complete his medical studies at what is now Columbia University, he was denied his medical degree. But at NYEE, Dr. Rodgers provided him with the opportunity to become an eye doctor and practice his craft as a full staff member of the hospital, then located in a small suite in lower Manhattan. In a tribute to his mentor, Dr. McDonogh adopted “Kearny” as his middle name.

In August, as part of NYEE’s bicentennial celebration, a painting of Dr. McDonogh was hung in NYEE’s new surgical waiting room with a limited group of faculty and staff in attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions. No photos of Dr. McDonogh are known to exist. The painting by Leroy Campbell was commissioned by Daniel Laroche, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at NYEE. At the gathering, Dr. Laroche called Dr. McDonogh “an American hero.” As far as we know, Dr. McDonogh is the only American enslaved person to have gained a professional medical education, says Dr. Laroche. “His story shows you cannot suppress the soul of man.”

Today, NYEE runs the nation’s largest ophthalmology residency program, with 10 residents a year, and continues to “look for the best trainees regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation,” says Dr. Tsai. “We are open to new ideas and focused on training the most qualified individuals, and committed to recognizing the talent and skills of these applicants. We have an incredibly diverse residency class. Drs. Delafield and Rodgers believed in providing expert care to patients from all walks of life so they could enjoy good health and lead productive lives. That is so much in line with the philosophy of the Mount Sinai Health System—that same willingness to take care of everyone.”

In keeping with its tradition of innovation, NYEE in July became the first U.S. hospital, and third in the world, to acquire a microsurgical robot for ophthalmology and study its future use in patients. The device is expected to provide surgeons with a significantly higher level of precision when performing procedures. NYEE has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to use the robot for research and educational purposes and for clinical trials before expanding its use into retinal or other ophthalmic surgeries. Only two other microsurgical robotic eye systems exist in the world—in England and the Netherlands.

NYEE is also pioneering the use of telemedicine in ophthalmology by exploring new technologies and methods to permit eye doctors to make diagnoses using computers and artificial intelligence. The hospital is working with emergency room doctors and nurses within the Mount Sinai Health System to handle patients with eye emergencies more efficiently when an ophthalmologist is not physically present but is available remotely. The Emergency Department staff would conduct an eye exam and assist the ophthalmologist in making a diagnosis via remote diagnostics, rather than having patients wait a lengthy period of time before a specialist is able to get to the hospital.

Dr. Tsai says, “NYEE may look very different in our third century of service to the community. We will incorporate more telemedicine into our offering. We will also train doctors more effectively using the latest technology. But we will still possess the same ethos, culture, vision, and mission that have guided us since our founding 200 years ago.”

 

Happy Environmental Services Week by Dr. Jeremy Boal

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | MSBI

If you see one of our Environmental Services (EVS) colleagues this week or next, please thank them for all they do! It’s Healthcare Environmental Services Week. I want to thank them for all they have done, and continue to do, to keep us all safe during the pandemic.

The work of our EVS team has always been integral to keeping patients and employees healthy across all of our locations, but their work took on new weight this year. They have continuously risen to every challenge we faced and every change we implemented during COVID-19. They also stayed flexible and kind as we increased our capacity for patients; they helped new staff find their way and feel at home in our hospital. And, they do it all with so much professionalism, excellence, and kindness. Thank you all.

Here are a few of my favorite recent stories about our EVS colleagues going above and beyond. You can click below to read the stories on Instagram:

  • Walkiria Zamora took care of the visiting nurses and other colleagues on our 10 Linsky surge unit.
  • Vito Connena, beloved colleague from Union Square, retired after 28 years.
  • Fanny Castillo made friends with a very special patient of ours by taking him for walks on 9 Silver.
  • Union Square Medical Office Specialists Yuriko Higa Fuentes and Mirvjena Polici (and many others) bravely accepted temporary redeployments to help with EVS during the height of our pandemic surge.

There are so many more stories.

Keeping our facility clean is everyone’s job. It helps us present a safe and welcoming space for our patients. We can always do more to support our EVS colleagues by cleaning up after eating, throwing our trash away, and wiping down public counters and computers between uses. These small actions will allow them to do their work even more effectively.

Thank you to all of our EVS colleagues across Downtown. We are inspired by your compassion and dedication to the MSBI family.

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Mount Sinai Teamwork in Action by Dr. Jeremy Boal

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | MSBI

One thing we learned during the crisis is how to collaborate more closely with our broader health system. MSBI is an incredibly special place; I have never worked in a hospital where colleagues treat their patients and each other so much like family members. Add the robustness, innovation, and collaboration of our larger system, and we have so much we can offer our community in times of need and every day.

I heard an inspiring story about cross-site collaboration a few weeks ago. A Mount Sinai Queens patient went to Mount Sinai Hospital to have her baby in early July. On top of having the stress of a pandemic, this patient also needed an American Sign Language Interpreter present for her care. The MSH team needed help finding that coverage, and Giselle Lopez-Ingram, the Language Coordinator at MSH, reached out to Hinde ​Nessanbaum, the Coordinator of Sign Language Interpreting Services at MSBI​, to see if her team could help. She served as a point of contact throughout the patient’s care.

Above: Our colleague Giselle Lopez-Ingram at MSH helped coordinate getting interpreter services for their patient.

Hinde worked with her team to coordinate services for the patient. Instead of providing remote interpretation through video, ​nationally-certified MSBI Staff Interpreters Maria Towe and Jorge Collazo rotated spending time onsite at MSH, ​providing interpreting services for the patient, her family, ​and MSH staff. They provided extra coverage well past their usual shifts for several days. They worked closely with the physician and family to ensure that ​everyone involved understood and felt comfortable with the care every step of the way.

Below: Maria Towe and Jorge Collazo covered at MSH and went above and beyond to make sure everyone was comfortable with the care provided.

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Our New Delancey Street Practice by Dr. Jeremy Boal

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | MSBI

This week, I want to highlight a brand new practice we opened on Delancey Street in early March. Of course, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening of this practice looked different than we expected, but the team moved forward and is ready to serve the needs of our Lower East Side community.

This practice has been in the planning for more than a year and opened on March 10th. In its beautiful new space on Delancey Street between Ludlow and Essex Streets, it offers full time primary, pediatric, ENT, audiology, gynecology, and dermatology care. There is a special room for audiograms, and there will eventually be onsite x-ray capabilities as well. The practice also offers allergy, orthopedic, and podiatry services.

The practice shifted to telemedicine just a few weeks after it opened at the height of COVID-19 in Manhattan, and redeployed its team to assist with inpatient care. Drs. Diana Nassar and Roshni Naik served on COVID-19 care units. Medical Assistant/Relations Associate (MA/RA) Pamela Rodriguez, an MSBI employee of seven years, helped with scheduling telehealth appointments through text messages, and Medical Assistant/Relations Associate (MA/RA) Daybelis Boyer went to the main MSBI campus to serve as a Unit Support Associate on one of our surge units. We are so grateful to them and to everyone who gave so much of themselves during that challenging time.

From left to right: Nikesh Patel, MD (Dermatology); Ami Patel, MD (Internal Med/Pediatrics); Marissa Newman, MD (Medical Director); Cynthia Soto-Gonzalez (MA/RA); Amber Grossman (Administrative Director); Mena Abdou (Practice Manager).

From left to right: Diana Nassar, MD (Family Medicine); Daybelis Boyer (MA/RA); Pamela Rodriguez (MA/RA); Jennifer Schiano, LPN; Christine Gutierrez, MD (Gynecology); Ameer Hmeidan, MD (Internal Medicine).

Delancey Street welcomed back in-person visits at the end of May and began implementing the new MSHS ambulatory operations and safety guidelines. In some ways, making these changes in a brand new practice is more straightforward for patients and staff, most of whom are new to the space.

As Ms. Rodriguez says, “I was excited to open a brand new space because you get to create the work rather than adapting to what other people have already implemented.”

Some of these changes included pre-screening patients on the phone and at the entrance, and adding safety and social distancing signage.

Primary Care physician Marissa Newman, MD, understands how important an intentional environment is for our patients.

“The design of this practice has a clear purpose. When a physician leaves an exam room, a medical assistant or nurse is close by for clear, efficient communication. Physicians work in pods to collaborate on challenging cases.” Dr. Newman says.

The team at Delancey is agile and connected. Many of the team members work across several specialties and fill in for each other, depending on the patient volume and needs of the day. They’ve quickly learned to adapt to changes because of the COVID-19 crisis, and they rely on each other.

Ms. Boyer says, “I can always count on my colleague, Pamela, to help me because she has so much experience. And Mena, our manager, is always supporting us. I made the right choice in joining this practice.”

I am so thankful for this resilient, adaptable, and energetic group. I know the community is thankful for their service as well.

Have a great weekend,

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Treating Patients As Family by Dr. Jeremy Boal

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | MSBI, Uncategorized

Part of what makes MSBI so unique is that our employees, regardless of discipline or role, create genuine connections with patients and take care of them even beyond their basic medical needs. We recently discharged a very special person who touched the hearts and souls of so many of our colleagues. I am inspired by the way so many of you cared for this patient as if he is family. 

This patient’s story is complicated. He is developmentally delayed and needs full-time care. Both he and his father, who was also his sole caretaker, contracted COVID-19 early on in the pandemic’s arrival in our region. His father did not recover, which left his son orphaned and anxious about being taken from the only home he has ever known.

Early on, Rachael Holbreich, MD, the psychiatry intern serving on 9 Silver, helped staff connect with him.

“Because he mainly expresses himself with non-verbal cues, it became apparent that the staff needed to adapt to better understand and communicate with him. I tried to set an example that he was a kind and loving person who does express his needs. This demonstrated that we can work with him and help him transition during this difficult time,” said Dr. Holbreich.

The staff quickly learned to understand our very special patient and took every step to help him heal, adopt him as their family, and find a new, stable home environment that met his needs.

When I say every step, I mean it:

  • Our social workers and physicians accompanied him to many group home interviews and oversaw his care until we could get him a new guardian. Our staff helped fit him for hearing aids, framed photos of his family in his room, and danced and made music with him.
  • Our psychiatry and music therapy teams regularly came to check in with him.
  • Denise Green, PCA on 9 Silver, would let him help with the linen to keep him busy. He loves the singer Selena, and she would play Selena videos for him on available workstations.
  • Fanny Castillo on our environmental services team would take him on walks through the unit. “He didn’t always understand what we were saying, but we always had a good time,” said Fanny.
  • Vivian Frimpomaa on our food services team also took incredible care of him. He preferred to eat his meal in the hallway, and she would help set up his table and put the condiments he liked directly on his food. She paid special attention to the menu items he liked.
  • It is impossible to name everyone who cared for him during his time with us, but it was a labor of love and based on teamwork across many different disciplines.

One of my favorite stories is that Alicia Tennenbaum, LCSW, our Senior Director of Social Work, advocated and got an expedited hearing to appoint him a guardian. She coordinated with the guardian to go to the patient’s home to gather some belongings like his stuffed animals to bring him comfort. His father had put a mechanism on the door to keep him from wandering out, and the guardian got locked inside the house. He had to climb the out the window and down the fire escape to get out. It was worth it. Having a few items from his home comforted our very special patient during this transitional time.

This new guardian cares deeply about him, and we recently discharged him to a group home in Queens. Paul Guzman, 9 Silver PCA, took the day off for his discharge so he could accompany him to his new home to ensure that he felt comfortable with the transition. Mr. Guzman has since traveled two hours each way to visit him multiple times and plans to continue twice a week. They have a special connection.

“When he got a certain look, I knew I needed to sit right next to him and just be there. Sometimes he needs to sit quietly near someone he trusts,” said Mr. Guzman. He is regularly in touch with the caretakers at the group home where he now lives.

“It was unexpected love. I will always be there for him,” he said.

Some of the other staff members have also checked in with him via FaceTime.

“I checked in with his new community, and he is doing very well. I’m thankful; he now has a community. We have improved his life in so many ways,” Ms. Tennenbaum said.

This is because of your extraordinary teamwork and compassion.

I am in awe of the compassionate, connected care you provide to our patients each and every day.

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