Updated on Apr 2, 2025 | Uncategorized
A Homecoming for a Mount Sinai Nurse and COVID-19 Patient
For retired nurse Theresa Francisco, 69, the cardiac intensive care unit at The Mount Sinai Hospital means many things: it had been her workplace for nearly four decades, but also a place where she was cared for when she became critically ill with COVID-19 in 2020.
On Thursday, March 27, 2025, Ms. Francisco returned to the unit for the first time to reunite with the staff who saved her life. Accompanying her were her brother and sister-in-law—both of whom were also admitted to Mount Sinai for the treatment of COVID-19—and Cynthia Enrile, another Mount Sinai retired nurse who cared for Ms. Francisco during her hospitalization.
“I can still remember everything—being a nurse and being a patient,” said Ms. Francisco. When she was initially admitted to the unit, which had been converted to a COVID-19 response unit, she thought she would be discharged after a couple of days. Ms. Francisco ended up spending 42 days in the hospital, and was intubated for 10 of them.
Listen to Ms. Francisco recall her story, and read more about how she went from a Mount Sinai retired nurse to COVID-19 patient in a slideshow of her reunion at the intense care unit.
Theresa Francisco, retired Mount Sinai nurse, shares thoughts on visiting the same unit that treated her when she was hospitalized for COVID-19
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Theresa Francisco, 69, who lives in Far Rockaway, Queens, had been a critical care nurse at The Mount Sinai Hospital for 38 years. She retired in January 2020.
On March 27, 2020, Ms. Francisco was hospitalized for COVID-19. She was admitted to the cardiac critical care unit—which was converted to a COVID-19 response unit during the pandemic—at The Mount Sinai Hospital, where she used to work.
Shortly after Ms. Francisco (center) was admitted, so were her brother (left) and sister-in-law (right), also for COVID-19.
Her sister-in-law was discharged after a week, and her brother was discharged after two weeks. Ms. Francisco spent 42 days in the hospital, and was intubated for 10 of them.
Francisco’s friend Cynthia Enrile (left) was a fellow nurse at the critical care unit and cared for Ms. Francisco (right) during her time there. Ms. Enrile retired in May 2020, after working at Mount Sinai since 1986.
On Easter Sunday, 2020, Ms. Francisco was extubated.
After her discharge, Ms. Francisco faced months of grueling recovery. She required high-flow oxygen for months and couldn’t walk.
Today, five years after being hospitalized for COVID-19, Ms. Francisco (left) is still feeling the aftereffects of the disease. She is living with cardiomyopathy and sees a Mount Sinai pulmonologist every six months for follow-up. Pulmonologist E Neil Schachter, MD (right), was part of her care team.
Reuniting with the Mount Sinai staff who saved her life was an emotional but grateful moment, said Ms. Francisco (right). Her tour was guided by Umesh Gidwani, MD (left), chief of the cardiac critical care unit and who cared for her during her hospitalization.
Jan 17, 2025 | Uncategorized
Get ready for an unforgettable evening of magic, purpose, and impact. The 23rd Annual MS Center Celebration is set to once again dazzle guests on Thursday, March 6, at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan. Providing key support for The Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai, the gala promises a night of joy, inspiration, and entertainment.
This year’s co-chairs are Ilana Katz Sand, MD, Associate Director of the Center; Stephen Krieger, MD, Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and Anthony Rosa, Founder and CEO of Runway 7 Fashion, Advisory Board Member of the Center, and designer of the MS-themed lab coats worn by members of the Center at New York Fashion Week.
The evening will feature a special performance by David Gerard, a popular mentalist and magician, who in past years has left the audience, including the Center’s seasoned scientists, in awe.
But the true magic lies in the vital funds raised to advance the Center’s mission: transforming lives of those affected by multiple sclerosis through comprehensive and innovative patient care, groundbreaking research, and renowned education and training.
With more than 6,000 patients relying on the Center, the need for resources has never been greater. Thanks to the generosity of patients, families, and friends of the Center, proceeds from past galas have helped launch such life-changing programs as the C. Olsten Wellness Program, founded in 2020 by event co-chair Dr. Katz Sand, who also serves as the program’s co-director. This program provides a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to help participants optimize quality of life and improve their long-term prognosis. Funds raised are also critical to enabling innovative research and training for the next generation of MS care leaders.
Join us in strengthening our Center’s mission to create a brighter future for those we serve living with MS.
Learn more about the 23rd Annual MS Center Celebration and reserve your spot.
Jan 17, 2025 | Uncategorized
Two physicians at The Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Fred Lublin, MD, Director of the MS Center and Saunders Family Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Stephen Krieger, MD, Professor of Neurology, are among the physicians whom the Mount Sinai Office of Patient Experience recognized with the 2024 Cullman Family Award for Excellence in Physician Communication.
“The Cullman Family Award has special meaning to me as a recognition of the dedication and efforts that all of us at the Center strive to provide for the patients we care for,” said Dr. Lublin. “Receiving this award is a tribute to our co-founder and guiding spirit, the late Clifford Goldsmith, who when we started the Center directed that we were to provide outstanding, state-of-the-art, comprehensive care for patients with MS, giving them as much time and attention as needed to meet their needs.”
For Dr. Krieger, the award is a clear affirmation of the patient experience.
“What moves me the most about the Cullman Family Award is that it comes directly from how my patients have felt about their care. This award is not decided by a committee or any one person, but rather by our patients themselves. I think that effective communication, education, and compassion are the most important aspects of the role that I hope I play in the lives of the people I take care of. So, to know that I have been able to be a small force of good for them as they navigate their neurological condition means a great deal to me.”
Since 2016, this prestigious award has honored Mount Sinai providers who demonstrate exceptional communication in clinical practice. Recipients of the award were ranked in the top five percent, out of more than 117,000 providers nationwide, as measured by two communication metric questions on the Press Ganey ambulatory patient experience survey during the previous calendar year.
A total of 89 outstanding Mount Sinai providers were honored, more than ever before. Erica Rubinstein, MS, LCSW, CPXP, Vice President of Service Excellence and Patient Experience, hosted a ceremony featuring remarks by Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, CEO, Mount Sinai Health System, alongside other hospital leaders. Carolyn Sicher, MD, and Georgina Cullman, PhD, board members of Mount Sinai Health System and members of the Cullman family, which founded the award, also spoke at the special ceremony on Wednesday, October 30, in the Mount Sinai Hospital Stern Auditorium.
Fifty of this year’s honorees were prior-year recipients; nine providers have received the award five or more times, including Dr. Krieger. Dr. Lublin, Ilana Katz Sand, MD, and Michelle Fabian, MD, are also multiple-time awardees. Sam Horng, MD, and former Center provider Aliza Ben-Zacharia, DNP, have been honored as well.
Jul 2, 2024 | Uncategorized
Quad Gods is a real-life story of how three New Yorkers with quadriplegia meet at the Abilities Research Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital and, together with David Putrino, PhD, the Center Director and Angela Riccobono, PhD, Director of the Rehabilitation Psychology/Neuropsychology program at the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center, create the world’s first fully quadriplegic e-sports team.
The HBO Original documentary debuts Wednesday, July 10, at 9 pm on HBO-Max and is available to stream on Max. The film is a story of perseverance and recovery as the three compete in the billion-dollar video gaming world while bringing awareness to the potential of the human mind and spirit.
Read the press release or watch the movie trailer.
You can read a detailed article about this initiative in the Rehabilitation and Human Performance Report.
Mar 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
Have you ever noticed you might get more headaches when you change the clocks for daylight saving time? It’s not just a figment of your imagination. It’s real, according to the experts at Mount Sinai.
Fred Cohen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a headache specialist at the David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Center for Headache Treatment and Translational Research, says there might be some science to why this is happening. And the key to avoiding headaches is making sure you get enough quality sleep, seven to eight hours, even if you change the clocks.
Fred Cohen, MD
It turns out sleep is one of the most important aspects of headache health.
Sleep allows our brain time to clean itself. There are chemical substances in the brain called neuropeptides and neurotransmitters that transmit messages in your brain that you use during the day. If you don’t sleep well, the brain can’t clean itself properly. The build-up of neuropeptides can cause inflammation, and inflammation leads to headaches.
“So that’s why it’s very important that we have good quality sleep, and that’s just not sleeping too little or sleeping too much,” Dr. Cohen says. Good quality sleep means you are not repeatedly waking up during the night or experiencing problems such as snoring, gasping for air, or going to the bathroom often.
“When daylight savings comes around, whether it’s spring forward or fall back, it’s very important to preserve seven to eight hours of sleep to prevent this from causing headache attacks,” Dr. Cohen says.
However, if you notice you are having frequent headaches, it may be worthwhile to contact a headache specialist.
Feb 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
Mount Sinai Morningside, under the leadership of Sean Pinney, MD, Chief of Cardiology and an expert in heart failure, is eliminating health disparities among the communities most affected by cardiovascular disease and heart failure.
One method is to give patients access to a wide range of clinical trials that employ innovative medications and devices to detect and treat congestive heart failure.
For example, patients can benefit from a groundbreaking device that uses voice recognition to identify congestion. Patients speak into a smartphone from their homes, and special software enables doctors in the hospital to analyze their speech patterns for signs of congestion. The medical team can then act on that data to prevent future heart failure hospitalization.
One area of focus is the treatment of cardiac amyloidosis, a condition in which the body overproduces a protein that causes the heart to stiffen and eventually fail. About six percent of Black people living in New York are carriers of the gene that cause amyloidosis. Sarcoidosis, which causes pulmonary disease, heart disease, and heart arrythmias, is another condition found disproportionately in the Black population. If detected, both these conditions can be treated.
The Mount Sinai Morningside team has made it a priority to identify patients with these conditions in Harlem and Morningside Heights, and all the communities the hospital serves. Clinical trials are underway to diagnose and treat patients with more effective medications.
“These clinical trials represent the next generation of treatment for heart failure and have demonstrated their effectiveness in enabling patients to live fuller and longer lives,” said Dr. Pinney. “The Mount Sinai Morningside team is working hard to build trust for these trials and to demonstrate the potential value to those who can benefit most.”
For hospitalized patients, Mount Sinai Morningside is the lead site for a trial of aquapheresis, a treatment to remove excess fluid from patients who are experiencing a condition called fluid overload because of worsening heart failure.
One example of an innovative device is the AccuCinch® by Ancora Heart, which can be placed inside the heart with a minimally invasive procedure to reduce stress on the walls of the heart, allowing it to beat more efficiently.
The cardiology team also employs a novel ablation procedure to quiet the nerves that prevent the body’s ability to store blood, thereby preventing congestion from developing inside the chest and the lungs.
Hospitalized patients also have access to emerging devices such as a micro axial flow pump that is surgically implanted in the heart, which is used to treat patients with worsening heart failure and resulting kidney failure.
