She Brings “Positive Energy” and Fun to Young Patients

Oct 8, 2021 | Stories of Excellence

In the hospital, weekends are typically a time when things are slower and calmer, but thanks to weekend Child Life assistant Abbey Meeks, this isn’t true in the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital Zone play space.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Abbey creates a fun and friendly environment for patients to spend time playing games, making crafts, or rocking out on air guitar, giving them the chance to keep being kids, even in the hospital environment. For her young patients who are unable to leave their rooms to experience the Zone in person, Abbey brings some of the fun right to their bedside, instead.

Lindsay Davis, MS, CCLS, Child Life Specialist III, is thankful to have Abbey on the team. “Our department is grateful to Abbey for her positive energy that always helps bring a smile to the faces of our patients and helps make their hospital experience a little brighter.”

Abbey understands the value of the Zone for these children.

“In the Zone,” she explains, “we get to help children open up in a new, potentially scary environment, express themselves creatively, make a friend, or practice a new skill. I feel so privileged to be a part of our patients’ stories and experiences. I love building relationships with our patients and making sure they have the support and resources to process their experience in a way that works for them.”

Neurosurgery PA Gets Praise for Patient Care and Teamwork and Gives it Right Back

Oct 8, 2021 | Stories of Excellence

Kayla Epstein, PA-C,

Kayla Epstein, PA-C, joined the Mount Sinai Neurosurgery Cerebrovascular team in 2018. She was hired as a new graduate to partner with J Mocco, MD, Director of the Cerebrovascular Center for the Mount Sinai Health System, Vice Chair of Neurosurgery, and Professor of Neurosurgery.

Kayla quickly learned the clinical, procedural, and surgical skills necessary to run his practice; the busiest one in the department. She manages the outpatient, inpatient, and Interventional Radiology settings and coordinates the OR practice safely and successfully for patients and surgeons.

Kayla is considered a leader by her colleagues. Leslie Schlachter, PA-C, Clinical Director and Chief Advanced Practice Provider for the Department of Neurosurgery, explains, “The advanced practice providers are happier and more proficient with Kayla on their team. Our surgeons say Kayla helps them to be more productive and experience less burnout. And patients report they feel safer and confident with Kayla as a provider. She is a star!”

Kayla shouts back this praise to her team. “I am so grateful to have a job where I get to help patients every day. Educating patients about their diagnosis and guiding them through their surgical care is extremely rewarding and special. My team is awesome, and it is a pleasure to work and learn with them. It’s an incredibly supportive, positive, and friendly environment and makes me love being a neurosurgical PA even more.”

Social Worker Cares With Empathy for Patients at High Risk

Sep 30, 2021 | Stories of Excellence

Clara Ceccanti, LMSW, MIA

PeakHealth at the The Mount Sinai Hospital is an intensive primary care program for patients at high risk for avoidable hospitalizations and Emergency Department visits due to multiple chronic conditions.

Patients typically have both complex medical and psychosocial issues and are possibly the sickest in the health care system.  Because of the complexity of care, the approach to managing their care is multidisciplinary and includes teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, and care coordinators. The goals of the staff are to modify patient behaviors that may be contributing to poor health; increase health literacy; and teach patients how to problem solve.

Clara Ceccanti, LMSW, MIA, came to The Mount Sinai Hospital and the PeakHealth Program in 2019, directly after completing her dual master’s degree in Social Work and International Affairs from Columbia University.

Norma Lopez, LCSW-R, Social Worker Program Specialist at MSHS, and Clara’s supervisor, has high praise for Clara’s work. “Clara is consistently invested in providing the best care and services to our patients, no matter what it takes,” she says. “During the height of COVID-19, our team worked remotely without interrupting patient care coordination, returning onsite in June 2020.”

Clara responded with great empathy to distraught family members who learned about the death of loved ones during the pandemic and did not know how to find their missing deceased relatives.

“With support from her colleagues, Clara found a way to reunite family members with their beloved deceased to help them obtain some type of closure,” Norma says. “This was even more remarkable because she was a new social work school graduate and had only been at Mount Sinai for six months prior to the pandemic striking.  Clara is a model of resilience and grace under fire.”

Clara feels that working in this high-risk clinic has helped her evolve both as a clinician and as a public health advocate. “For many patients, my clinic is a life-source, a place where they feel supported, seek empathy, and find a sense of home. Our patients depend on my team and my work to alleviate their anxieties and tackle their biggest fears.  This program bridges the gap between mental health and medical care while addressing disparities in public health in our community.  Seeing my patients evolve and overcome their life challenges is incredibly rewarding. I learn so much from them, and it is quite a moving experience.”

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Patient Transfer Agent Brightens the Overnight Shift

Sep 23, 2021 | Stories of Excellence

Makeba Archer

Makeba Archer, who has a background as an emergency medical technician and medical assistant, works on the overnight shift in the Mount Sinai Health System Patient Transfer Center.

According to Annabel Henry, RN, Senior Director of the Transfer Center, Makeba is “definitely the glue that keeps our overnight team together. She is always available to assist and has proven to be an excellent, consistent colleague.”

Makeba says she loves her job as a Patient Transfer agent and the problem-solving it entails. ‘”The overnights get busy; we are responsible for all intra- and inter-hospital transfers, from beginning of the process to the end.”

Recently, Makeba has also taken on the overnight telemedicine programs, ensuring that all patients are registered in a timely manner.  She is very busy off the job as well; Makeba is studying to be a nurse at Westchester Community College.

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A Nursing Manager Who Demonstrates Impeccable Professionalism, Honesty, and Fairness

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Stories of Excellence

Pat Lazio, RN, MS

Pat Lazio, RN, MS, is the manager of the nurse practitioners and nurses in the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center.

When Mount Sinai’s COVID-19 vaccine program rolled out in January 2021, Pat shifted all of her effort to that program, playing a key leadership role there. She tirelessly worked at least 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for months on end without respite. She demonstrated impeccable professionalism, honesty, and fairness, making herself completely available to staff and vaccine candidates at any time.

“In her typical selfless fashion, she gave out her cell phone number to anyone and everyone, so that she could communicate with them by text or phone, and she responded clearly and quickly to all communications,’ says Yvette Cummings, RN, Senior Director, Nursing, The Mount Sinai Hospital. “She managed the vaccine pod with the other staff in an impressively smooth and efficient way. And she conducted all of this with optimism and good cheer.”

Her innate troubleshooting and organizational skills were put into action to the benefit of all.

“We are relieved that the vaccine program was able to wind down so that Pat could return to her original position after Memorial Day, serving our very complex patient population with IBD.”