Recently, Tamara Muller, NP, accompanied me while providing patient care. The heartfelt empathy she showed toward patients diagnosed with COVID-19 was above and beyond anything I have witnessed, and I was truly touched. The care and empathy she showed for these patients was so overwhelming to witness. Tamara would be the health care provider I would want caring for my own family.

Karin Tarasenko, RN
Peritoneal Dialysis, Clinical Nurse
The Mount Sinai Hospital

The entire Environmental Services team on the 3-11 pm shift was exceptional during the COVID-19 crisis. Under the leadership of Fitzroy Taylor, Operations Manager of Environmental Services, the team anticipated our every need. As soon as patients were transferred from rooms to the floor, EVS was there to do terminal cleaning. They were constantly rounding to ensure that the ED was supplied with adequate amounts of isolation gowns, and that the entire ED was cleaned. Thank you so much for all that you and you team do.

Eileen Brown-Mighty, RN
Nurse Manager, Emergency Department
Mount Sinai Queens

Juliana Matura, medical technologist in Family Health, has been amazing while helping out the Mount Sinai Queens Lab with phlebotomy during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has blended in as if she were a part of the team all along. We are very lucky to have her.

Diana Sery
Laboratory Coordinator
Mount Sinai Queens

In today’s world, whether it’s press, social media, or on a paper handout, there almost always needs to be a web link connecting to detailed and current information. Website updates and additions often take time, with careful planning, construction, coding, staging, and approvals.

However, with COVID-19, “taking time” was no longer an option. Rapid changes within our faculty, services, and education were changing, sometimes daily. New programs were created, while others were put on hold. Though she made it look easy, we know that Rosslyn Gomez-Jung on the Digital Team within Central Marketing was working the extra hours to ensure that our provided changes would be reflected with rapid speed. Without missing a beat and always making sure that we were a priority, Rosslyn always made time to ensure that changes in our department were expedited to be reflected quickly on the website.

Jillian Beroza
Associate Director of Marketing and Communications
Neurosurgery

Dina Levkova, RN, has captured our hearts in dialysis. Everyone is full of gratitude for how she responded to the call that dialysis needed help. She was placed in an unfamiliar setting, trying to learn our protocols. Weeks after, she is one of our shining nurses. We won’t forget our colleagues like Dina from Therapeutic Apheresis, who responded with such a positive attitude and courage to brave the unfamiliar.

Odessa Gaspar-Salamanca, RN, MSN
Nurse Clinician, Peritoneal Dialysis
The Mount Sinai Hospital

 My colleagues and I never fail to notice when Bismark Gonzalez is not around, because he contributes so much to our daily well-being, during the current crisis and beyond. He is one of the hardest working people in our system and takes an immense amount of pride in his work. As Cardiothoracic Surgery residents, we are in the hospital a lot, and frequently see Bismark cleaning up our office, checking if we need trash removal, and making sure we have a nice working environment. He is extremely deserving of this recognition.

Sophia Alexis, MD, PGY-3S
Cardiothoracic Surgery
The Mount Sinai Hospital

During the peak of the COVID crisis, I was speaking with multiple families about their loved ones. In particular, I had a Spanish-speaking family with whom I had to give particularly difficult news. I asked for someone to help me with this task and Brandon Biolsi, RN, jumped up to help. Not only was he immediately available, but the compassion and caring he demonstrated to the family was evident throughout the conversation. His generosity of both time and spirit highlight this person and make him a star. Thank you, Brandon!”

Ajay Malhotra, MD
Anesthesiology
Mount Sinai Queens

This is a recognition of teamwork and empathy—empathy for our patients and for each other: A person died last week. He had been a patient of ours for 322 days, most of that in isolation. He was independent and fierce. One day he was fine; the next day, COVID-19 took his breath away.

In his last few hours, Jennifer Cadiz, RN, and Vanessa Jean-Louis, RN, BSN, worked together to keep Jennifer’s patient comfortable and to gently establish new IV access at a hectic time on their unit. Establishing an IV hours before a patient’s death is no easy task. Nurse Manager Mindy Wirth, MSN, RN, caught wind of what was going on and came up to help—her IV skill is amazing—but her supportive presence for her nurses was more profound. Calm, competent, leading by example, she helps her staff do its best work.

This person, our patient, was cared for, and he died with dignity.

Suzanne Hanen, NP
Nursing Education
Mount Sinai Queens

Throughout these challenging times, with countless updated protocols and changes occurring on daily basis, Mindy has always been the most reliable, warm, adaptive and all-hands-on-deck team-spirited person. It’s a great honor and pleasure to work with Mindy Wirth, MSN, RN, Nurse Manager at 4 East. We really can’t thank her enough for putting all-in, especially during a time like this.”

Eunsung Kim, LCSW
Mount Sinai Queens

ICU staff members at Mount Sinai Queens unpack a batch of donated meals.

I want to recognize and thank Ana Rodriguez, Director, Community Affairs, for the hard work she has done during this time of crisis, coordinating the distribution of donated food and feeding all of the staff at Mount Sinai Queens. She brought us tea and coffee on the units, distributed food of all kinds and all tastes and all cuisines—Thai, Indian, Latin, vegetarian, and more. She also brought us chocolate with images of superheroes on them, to help us to renew our energy in the middle of a shift and make us feel that we are the real superheroes, facing this crisis together. Thank you, Ana—there are not enough STARs to thank you for all the donations you managed and making this crisis more bearable for us. Gracias, gracias, gracias siempre!

Sara Yuliana Orozco Vanegas, Registrar
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Mount Sinai Queens

I want to thank Mary McGonigle, RN, on behalf of all the PACU. Mary normally works in pre-op, but with the COVID crisis, she stepped up to support us in the PACU taking care of ICU patients. Especially on the extremely hectic days, she was there to provide not only mental and physical support, but lunch breaks! She was at each bedside, asking how she could help, and ensuring everyone took their breaks. PACU will be forever grateful to her. Mary is the epitome of what an outstanding nurse at Mount Sinai Queens should be.

Margaret Roche, RN
PACU
Mount Sinai Queens

When the PACU converted to an ICU taking care of 14 critically ill patients during the peak of the pandemic, Anastasia Ninos, RN, jumped to volunteer herself to help PACU nurses. She was an angel for me and my patients. Words cannot express how important of a role she played. Thank you, Ana, for your dedication.”

Tak Mei Choy, RN
PACU
Mount Sinai Queens

Housekeeping aide Ronell Weekes spent hours on his hands and knees, removing all the tape from the floors in the ICU and scouring them.The sticky residue was left over from the days that tape was used to delineate boundaries in the unit during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. What an amazing thing to see Ronell  do this difficult work in service, not grudgingly but beautifully, without complaint or resentment.

Rachelle Zazzu, Chaplain
Mount Sinai Queens