Graduating Administrative Fellows Ellina Babar, MPA and José Cruz, MHSA, center, with their preceptors, Jonathan Kyriacou, MPH, left, and Timothy Day.
Hailed as “future leaders,” two young professionals recently graduated from the Mount Sinai’s Administrative Fellowship Program, a two-year postgraduate program created to help build a pipeline of underrepresented minorities in health care administration. The graduation of the program’s second cohort was held at the Corporate Services Center on Friday, June 28.
David L. Reich, MD, President of The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, thanked the Office for Diversity and Inclusion for their hard work in developing the fellowship. “This program is so important to Mount Sinai,” Dr. Reich said. “Today we should think about how much we still need to accomplish, but also we should celebrate how far we have come.”
Ellina Babar, MPA, completed a fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, and is now an Associate Director for Operations and Planning at Mount Sinai Queens. José Cruz, MHSA, served his fellowship at Mount Sinai West and is now a Management Analyst for Mount Sinai Health Partners. The two administrative fellows served a variety of rotations, learning from senior leadership preceptors and participating in projects such as organizing a maternity unit’s EPIC implementation; helping write a bid for a health-services contract; doing data analytics for a dietary and nutrition unit; tracking professional license renewals; and expanding an ICU.
Ms. Babar made a strong contribution at both Mount Sinai Queens and The Mount Sinai Hospital, said her preceptor, Jonathan Kyriacou, MPH, Vice President, Hospital Operations, The Mount Sinai Hospital. “We have all stopped thinking of Ellina as a fellow,” he said. “We consider her an integral part of the team.” Mr. Cruz also received high marks from his preceptor, Timothy Day, Chief Operating Officer, Mount Sinai West. “He has enormous talents, and when he gets a project, he rolls up his sleeves and digs in,” Mr. Day said of Mr. Cruz. “We all talk about building relationships, but he really lived that. He has a great attitude.”
Evan L. Flatow, MD, President of Mount Sinai West, said the graduation was an opportunity to celebrate the Administrative Fellowship Program. “It is easy to get caught up in day-to-day crises and not appreciate programs like this, which are constructive, thoughtful, and fruitful,” Dr. Flatow said.
Pamela Y. Abner, MPA, CPXP, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, congratulated the graduates and thanked the leaders throughout the Health System who support them. “Our office is here to guide and provide a structure,” Ms. Abner said. “But you make it all happen.”
In July, five new fellows started the program, and six fellows began their second year. “The program is growing,” said Shana Dacon, MPH, MBA, Director, Corporate Health System Affairs, Office for Diversity and Inclusion. “The sky is the limit.”
Administrative Fellows, past and present, with organizers of the program. Back row, from left: Janice Yoon, Program Manager, Office for Diversity and Inclusion; with fellows Atef Rafiuddin, MHA, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s; Vanna Chau, MHA, Mount Sinai West; Alpha Mansaray, MHA, Mount Sinai West; and Aaron Hopkins, MHSA, The Mount Sinai Hospital. Front row, from left: fellows Lititia Satpathy, MHSA, Mount Sinai Beth Israel; and Fatema Begum, MPH, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s; with José Cruz, MHSA, Management Analyst II, Mount Sinai Health Partners; Ellina Babar, MPA, Associate Director, Mount Sinai Queens; Elizabeth Alago, MPH, Administrative Manager, Center for Transgender Medicine & Surgery; and Shana Dacon, MPH, MBA, Director, Office for Diversity and Inclusion.