Meet the winners of Northwell’s Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. Regional Spirit Award
Northwell’s Center of Equity of Care awarded its first-ever Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Awards. This system-wide award recognizes team members who are making a difference in our communities, locally or abroad, through service.
Four winners were chosen from nominations that came in from all around Northwell telling stories of goodwill, humility and compassion. Nominators highlighted how each team member embodies Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “D.R.E.A.M:”
- D – Dedicates time and talent to projects that fulfill the needs of underserved communities
- R – Respects all people and advocates for diversity, inclusion and health equity
- E – Embodies our Northwell values: Truly Compassionate, Truly Innovative, Truly Ambitious, Truly Together and Truly Ourselves
- A – Attitude that displays kindness and compassion for others
- M – Mentors and inspires others to pay it forward
The winners were recognized at a special reception and awarded $1,000 to be donated on their behalf to an organization of their choice!
Meet our 2020 winners:
Josephine Guzman, Senior Director, Physician Relations
Josephine “Josie” Guzman has volunteered her time as a co-chair of the Bridges LatinX BERG and member of the Diversity and Health Equity System-Site Council. She has developed and implemented programs at Lenox Hill Hospital, such as the “Vida SI, Diabetes NO!” (Life YES, Diabetes NO), a bi-lingual, long-term health program designed to address diabetes. In partnership with her BERG co-chair and members, Josie recently coordinated “Rise Against Hunger,” a global service initiative where team members across the organization gathered and packed over 20,000 meals to be served to various communities across the world.
Beyond Northwell, Josie spends her time volunteering, preparing 200+ meals a week to distribute to homeless individuals in Manhattan and coordinating a Christmas event to feed and provide gifts to over 1,500 individuals who are either homeless or living in shelters. She’s also a member of RAIN, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide services for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and physically challenged.
Bernard Robinson, Regional Director, Center for Emergency Services
Bernard Robinson dedicates most of his time with projects that fulfill the needs of underserved communities through charity and education. Every year, Bernard organizes annual food and winter clothing drives within Northwell’s Center for Emergency Services (CEMS) department to serve charities in Nassau County and Queens. During Thanksgiving, the entire CEMS team also partners with a church in Hempstead, NY to prepare and serve meals. His work experience also led him to starting an Explorer’s Post in Hempstead Village that allows students from the Village to train with, learn and be mentored by EMTs and Paramedics. It was also Bernard who presented the idea for Northwell’s Bridges African American/Caribbean Business Employee Resource Group to participate in the African American Heritage Parade in Harlem, NY.
Bernard embodies all of Northwell’s values on a daily basis. Through his innovation, his department’s leadership is able to communicate with their staff of over 800 EMTs and Paramedics through weekly meetings via a livestream platform. He has also established a “virtual suggestion box” which gives each team member a voice by allowing them to give feedback through a link which is then sent directly to leadership. In addition to his community outreach, he has also organized CEMS’ “Bring Your Child to Work Day.”. Bernard often says, “As an EMS agency, we should be a part of the communities we serve.” He works extremely hard at establishing relationships throughout his region and encourages his team members to do the same.
Nicholas Hernandez, MD, Northwell Plainview Hospital, Academic Hospitalist, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Dr. Hernandez is the true definition of a caring, compassionate and empathetic physician with a genuine passion for helping others. This passion is not limited to patients in the hospital, but extends to communities at large through his volunteering and community service. Though born and raised in New York, he has always maintained a strong connection with his ancestral home of Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Maria struck, Dr. Hernandez was dedicated to becoming a part of the Northwell team deployed to Puerto Rico to assist those devastated by this disaster. He spent two weeks selflessly providing patient care under dire circumstances at the Caguas Hospital in San Pablo, Puerto Rico. Dr. Hernandez participated in the Medical Scholars Pipeline Program sponsored by the Zucker Hofstra School of Medicine for underrepresented students interested in a career in health care. This program is designed to provide exposure to the numerous career paths available in the healthcare industry while enhancing the skills that will set up students for success. Dr. Hernandez was also invited to be the keynote speaker for the closing ceremony for the NERA-HCOP Program, designed to assist college minority students in becoming more competitive applicants for medical school by providing various enrichment courses.
Josie Ruiz, Executive Assistant, North Shore University Hospital Administration
Josie Ruiz has been a vital component to the success of Northwell Health’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. program. In her role as co-chair, she has supported the Center for Equity of Care in coordinating program logistics, managing entertainment and guest speakers, and leading volunteer efforts throughout the program. Josie has been a huge advocate for all team members at North Shore University Hospital. Her annual efforts of organizing Adopt a Family, a holiday program designed to support families in need who have experienced a tragedy or crisis during the past year, have gained the support and participation of over 3,000 team members at her site. She has even been known to have donated her own time and money to assist families who were not selected through this program. Josie was selected by the Center for Equity of Care’s senior leadership team as this year’s recipient.
The winners of this year’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Awards not only embody the spirit of his dream but exemplify Northwell’s values. We thank them for their tireless commitment to our Northwell team and our communities.
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10 reasons we are a Best Workplace for Diversity
At Northwell Health, we’re excited to have the privilege of working in some of the most culturally diverse communities. By creating a space that is welcoming to all, no matter race, religion, or creed, we’re fostering an inclusive workplace where we can accomplish amazing things being truly together.
For two years in a row, our organization has been recognized for our commitment to diversity and inclusion by Great Place to Work for demonstrating excellence throughout our diversity initiatives. Here are 10 reasons why we’ve been named to the Best Workplaces for Diversity’s list for 2020:
Here are 10 reasons why we’ve been named to the Best Workplaces for Diversity’s list for 2020:
- We’ve been named one of the nation’s top health systems for diversity according to DiversityInc’s Top Hospitals & Health Systems for Diversity for the seventh year in a row, ranking us second nationally and first in New York State.
- We have a commitment to veterans and have been named A Military Friendly® Employer for six consecutive years, and a top 10 employer for the past two.
- Team members have the opportunity to join one of our many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs) which enhance engagement, innovation and talent development while promoting an inclusive culture by celebrating our differences and commonalities.
- Our Center for Learning and Innovation (CLI) and Center for Equity of Care (CEC) partner together to create training and education programs that foster cultural humility, critical thinking and self-awareness. These trainings contribute to a more inclusive environment in which team members from every background can feel comfortable.
- We have been a recipient of the National Association of Colleges & Employers Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award.
- Our Emerging Leaders Diversity & Inclusion Council champions voices within our organization to ensure we are effectively prioritizing and focusing our efforts in the right ways.
- We partnered with NYC Pride to showcase our support of the LGBTQ communities and ensure each member, regardless of sexuality feels comfortable within our family.
- Our Path to Inclusion program offers an integrated and comprehensive approach to training, hiring and supporting individuals with disabilities by driving mutual understanding.
- We believe in advancing women in their careers within the health community. Our Women’s Mentorship Program has seen participants receive promotions while creating strong professional bonds between mentees and leadership.
- When it comes to being Truly Ourselves, our spirit of caring and celebration is there for every holiday. From legal holidays to meaningful religious observances to national days, our team members make a point to make each holiday special.
As you can see, our organization works endlessly to create an environment that’s diverse and inclusive of everyone who wants to contribute to improving the health of our patients, our communities, and our health system as a whole. Learn more about our diversity initiatives and how you can be a part of our team.
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Northwell Relay: The big bike ride — from tragedy to positive action
In health care, we face the realities of life and death every day — it’s what we’re made for — but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect us. In June 2019, employees in the Department of Population Health lost a colleague, friend and member of the Northwell family.
Their team member passed away at the age of 38, leaving behind three young children. While many knew about her health condition, the news was still a shock for her colleagues for whom she’d been a part of daily life for over five years.
Honoring a legacy and building a better future
While her colleagues struggled with this tremendous loss, they were soon inspired to take positive action.Three senior leaders set up a sponsored bike ride from Northwell’s corporate office in New Hyde Park, NY, to Montauk, to raise funds for Northwell’s Employee Assistance Program, which helps employees and their families in times of need.
Kris Smith, MD, Northwell’s senior vice president of Population Health joined forces with Michael Gitman, MD, medical director of North Shore University Hospital and David Hirschwerk, MD, executive vice chair of Clinical Operations for North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center Department of Medicine. Together they rode the 120-mile trip as a tribute to Fabiola and to show What matters most and what Northwell is made of.
Inspiring others to go above and beyond
The ride inspired team members across Northwell to get involved. “Our Northwell family pulls together to support one another,” says Michael Dowling, Northwell’s president and CEO. “Even in the worst of times, we find a way forward and take positive action.”
Kris says, “Going the extra mile (or 120) is an intrinsic part of who we are. It was a challenge, physically and emotionally, but we wanted to demonstrate to the organization that after we grieve, once we reflect — we pick ourselves up and fight on.”
Northwell’s What matters most employee giving program offers our employees a variety of ways to advance Northwell’s mission — all while providing critical support to the area that matters most to each individual employee donor.
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Northwell Relay: Casual for Cohen – turning small change into big results
Each year, thousands of employees choose to give back to Northwell by participating in Casual for Cohen, a fundraising event where you can wear jeans to work for one or two days, for the donation of $5 per day. What some may consider small change adds up to big results for Cohen Children’s Medical Center — a cause very close to all of our hearts, including Dotti Ward’s, operations manager in Northwell’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.
Personal connections, professional pride
Dotti’s connection to Cohen Children’s stems from her personal experience, when her daughter became very ill with a virus at three years old. She was treated at the hospital and as Dotti remembers, “The level of empathy, compassion and professionalism was exceptional. I walked through those doors with a very sick child – now she’s a very healthy, happy young woman. I almost lost her. They saved her life.”
Dotti leads the employee activity committee in Information Services. She spends a lot of her time coordinating fundraising initiatives and over the years has seen her colleagues go above and beyond many times. “Our department is very supportive, they’re 100% behind us and they do everything they can,” says Dotti.
Last year, the department held a charity basketball tournament around the same time as Casual for Cohen, so Dotti spoke to the team captains and they all agreed to donate the proceeds to help Cohen Children’s. For Dotti, that’s what employee giving is all about, connecting people and spreading the message — why it matters and what fundraising can achieve.
What matters most
Dotti regularly sees huge acts of generosity at Northwell, which she puts down to the “absolute pride and honor of doing what we do for our patient community.” It’s the same mix of professional pride and personal empathy she experienced from the hospital staff. They’re leaders in pediatric care, but they’re also mentors and friends.
As a nonprofit organization, to keep doing what we do, we rely on the support of our communities. We already go the extra mile, for colleagues, patients and families, but together we can make things even better. Through What matters most, our employee giving program, we can develop more life-changing treatments, strengthen morale and meet our collective mission.
We’re currently spreading that message across the organization with the What matters most Relay in the run-up to employee giving day on December 3. Clinicians can show support by wearing blue accents — socks, a tie, jewelry or any accents that align with departmental protocols.
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Northwell Relay: Employee’s passion to honor a colleague gives birth to a new labor and delivery room
Over the span of six weeks, follow along with us during our first-ever Northwell Relay. Hear stories from our team members who are passionate about giving back to Northwell to support what matters most and making a real difference in patients’ lives.
Marianne DiStefano never counted the number of babies she delivered in her 30-year career, but it’s safe to say there were thousands. Everyone she encountered — coworkers, patients and families — recognized how much she loved her job as head nurse in labor and delivery at Staten Island University Hospital. It brought her indescribable joy.
This spring her coworkers honored her passion through the 2019 Northwell Health Walk at Staten Island. After Marianne’s passing in February 2018, her colleague Linda Spadafina set a team goal of raising $25,000 to name a labor-and-delivery room in Marianne’s honor within the new Gruppuso Family Women & Newborn Center, slated to be open late 2021.
“Marianne was a mentor and leader to many nurses during her career at Staten Island University Hospital,” says Laura Wenzel, senior director of maternal and child nursing. “It was heartwarming to see Linda and the staff collaborate with Marianne’s family to keep her legacy alive. Marianne continues to live on in the hearts of the nurses and families she impacted over the years.”
A star fundraiser raises the bar
Since the inception of the Northwell Health Walk at Staten Island in 2016, Linda Spadafina has been an exemplary committee member and team player who is made for unwavering support. As captain of Team Baby Steps, Linda raised more than $34,000 in the walk’s first three years to benefit Staten Island University Hospital. From “Taco Tuesdays” and “Waffle Wednesdays” to hosting big-ticket raffles and events, Linda’s fundraising tactics exemplify her creativity.
With 2019’s walk goal to honor Marianne, Linda took ownership of the challenge, bringing the hospital community together. “Even though we are part of a large hospital system, Staten Island University Hospital is still very much a community hospital,” Linda says. “The support that was shown at that walk in May is certainly proof of that.” With her persistence and dedication, and support from the walk committee, fellow employees and community members, the team surpassed their goal, raising nearly $30,000.
Employee generosity benefits our communities
Linda and her team exemplify the dedication that Northwell Health employees bring to their patients, each other and the places they work.
Northwell’s employee giving program — What matters most — offers team members additional ways to help us meet our $1 billion Outpacing the Impossible campaign goal. They can make a one-time gift, enroll in payroll deduction or contribute their myRecognition points to support the program or hospital of their choice.
Through their generosity and passion, Northwell Health employees like Linda are leading the way in helping push boundaries and redefine health care.
“Simply put, it’s a labor of love,” Linda says. “I do all of these crazy things because I love raising funds for this hospital and the community it supports.”
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Northwell Relay: Northwell runner races for caregivers in TCS New York City Marathon
Over the span of six weeks, follow along with us during our first-ever Northwell Relay. Hear stories from our team members who are passionate about giving back to Northwell to support what matters most and making a real difference in patients’ lives.
Our employees support the mission of Northwell Health every day with their energy, their enthusiasm and their expertise. On November 3, 2019, some will also support our mission with their feet.
As an official charity sponsor of the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon, Northwell Health secured 15 guaranteed entries for employees who wished to run the marathon as part of Team Northwell. Runners support Northwell by raising at least $3,000, designating the funds for What matters most to them. In addition, this year we are expanding Team Northwell. Employees who received their own lottery entry to the marathon are also eligible to join Team Northwell and fundraise for an area close to their heart.
First-time marathoner Michael Goldberg, MBA, MS, executive director of Long Island Jewish Medical Center, shared with us what inspired him to take up the challenge:
What’s the best part of your role at Northwell Health?
The best part of being the executive director of Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) at Northwell is the opportunity to interact with team members, patients and families, and the community. Each day I’m inspired by the accomplishments our team members share with me throughout the hospital. I see the pride they have in their accomplishments and in health care that represents a meaningful impact we’ve made in someone’s life.
This is further reinforced when I speak with the patients and their families, and they validate and share with me how our teams impact their lives. Seeing the results of our actions to constantly make how we deliver health care better makes this role at Northwell so rewarding.
What inspired you to run the TCS New York City Marathon?
Running the TCS New York City Marathon is recognized as a significant physical and mental challenge. I’m determined to run and finish the New York City Marathon because of how difficult it is. I’ve never been a runner, nor do I enjoy running; however, it’s the idea that I can work to achieve something so difficult that interests me. When I complete in the New York City Marathon, I want to show my daughters that with hard work and focused effort anything is possible.
Why is it important to you to give back to Northwell?
I’m proud of Northwell Health and the ways in which our organization makes an impact in the lives of so many. Over the past 19 years, I’ve had the opportunity to grow from an intern in the finance department to now serving as LIJ’s executive director, and for that I am forever grateful. Northwell offers our team members jobs that enable them to have a rewarding career and provide for their families. Additionally, Northwell invests in many ways to make our community a better place. I can’t think of a better organization to give back to.
What area are you fundraising for at Northwell Health? Why does this area matter most to you?
I’m running to help fundraise for and raise awareness of the need to expand the resources we provide to caregivers. Working at LIJ Medical Center, I see caregivers throughout our facility. They accompany a loved one to the Emergency Department. They occupy our waiting rooms while their friend or family member is in surgery or having a procedure. They are a patient’s ride to an appointment, they are their advocates and they are the ones by the bedside hoping for everything to be OK.
Most of what we do centers around the clinical services we offer to our patients, and I think we have an obligation to create a greater service to those who generously give their time, energy, and sometimes financial support to their loved ones.
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Celebrating diversity, culture and traditions through the Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration in Asian culture of hard work, harvest and family. This year, Northwell Health’s Bridges Asian Business Employee Resource Group (BERG) led celebrations throughout the health system for our team members to connect with each other and our patients.
We talked to two of the BERG leaders to learn a more about the Mid-Autumn Festival and the importance of creating a workplace where all holidays are celebrated.
Hoi-Sze (Suki) To, practice administrative manager, Colorectal Surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital and co-lead, Bridges Asian BERG, Western Region
What is the Bridges Asian BERG?
The BERG was created to enhance engagement, innovation, talent development, and promote an inclusive culture ensuring the delivery of culturally and linguistically sensitive, quality patient care. The Asian BERG nurtures a diverse, inclusive workforce that aligns with Northwell’s mission, values, business practices, and objectives.
What are the benefits of becoming a member of the Bridges Asian BERG?
It provides the opportunity for professional development and networking, a collective voice, a role in fostering community support, and most importantly, broadening cultural awareness throughout Northwell and the communities we serve. I joined the group because there is a need to address the importance of cultural diversity when providing patient care.
There are many Chinese American patients from the Asian communities Northwell serves and it is critical for us to create a comfortable and culturally-sensitive environment. For example, one of Lenox Hill Hospital’s prominent colorectal surgeons, Dr. Joseph Martz, would proactively translated the medical consent forms into the Chinese language and also recruited bilingual support staff in order to communicate effectively with his patients. Our BERG now helps with these needs.
How do you celebrate the festival?
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a chance for families to spend time together, just like Thanksgiving. One of the most common ways to celebrate is by eating moon cakes. Moon cakes are a dense, sweet pastry that’s baked or steamed and typically enjoyed with tea. You can also find moon cakes in other flavors such as green tea and chocolate. Many communities also celebrate by lighting paper lanterns because the lanterns serve a practical purpose of lighting the way as friends and family stay up to appreciate the full moon late into the night.
Yue (Lulu) Liu, senior administrative manager, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital and co-lead of the Bridges Asian BERG, Western Region
Why is the Mid-Autumn Festival important to Northwell?
The Mid-Autumn festival is important to Northwell because this is a holiday that is celebrated throughout Asia and by many of our employees. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated at Lenox Hill Hospital. The celebration was a collaboration with the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Lenox Hill Hospital’s Human Resources, and the Lenox Hill Department of Food and Nutrition Services. The event was very well received and brought patients, hospital staff and leadership together.
Why did you become a member of the Bridges Asian BERG?
Prior to becoming a member of Bridges Asian BERG, I noticed there was a shortage of culturally and linguistically sensitive patient materials. My team and I would spend hours translating the pre-procedure and post-op care instructions over the phone with our Asian patients. After joining the Bridges Asian BERG, I started to collaborate with the Chinese Language Advisory Board (LAB), where we would help procure this information for the Northwell Health Physician Partner practices when they were providing care to the Asian American population.
How do you celebrate the festival?
During the moon festival my family and I always enjoy a meal that ends with sampling a of moon cakes and a special tea my mom selects to pair with the moon cakes. For me, the most important part of the moon festival is spending time with my family, being appreciative of our loved ones, creating new memories, and maintaining the bonds that we have.
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Meet the 2019 President’s Awards Winners!
The Northwell Health President’s Awards program honors and celebrates employees who truly represent the very best of Northwell. Each year, these awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes throughout five distinctive categories Nurse of the Year, Leader of the Year, Teamwork and Exceptional Patient/ Customer Experience and Physician of the Year. Get to know this year’s winners and their incredible stories.
Leader of the Year
Ryan J. Guda, RN Nurse Manager, Dialysis Services, Ambulatory
Building on his array of experiences in different fields, Ryan Guda has rebuilt a workplace that adapts to change and established a culture of respect with dramatic effects on the quality of care.
Shortly after joining Northwell in 2015, Ryan met with each team member to hear their opinions about their work environment. By listening and acknowledging his team’s feelings, he was able to re-direct negative behavior in a nonjudgmental manner and win their trust. Even his adept computer skills helped during a transition to electronic record-keeping.
Ryan quickly became an agent of change that has improved the work environment and directly affected the quality of services delivered to patients living with end-stage renal failure. He was successful in turning the team members’ fear of change into hope.
Watch Ryan’s Made for this story.
Nurse of the Year
Jeffrey Rosa, RN Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Passion for his patients and awareness of the complexities of navigating the emotions and needs of those in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit drive the care provided by Jeffrey Rosa. He witnessed the excellent care provided to his grandmother, and, later, as a paramedic, responded to the horrors of the Sept. 11 attack at the World Trade Center, which solidified his determination to become a nurse.
At Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC), Jeffrey is known as “the go-to player,” someone who has made it his business to know everything he needs to know about every patient in a unit where extra compassion, understanding and respect for what patients and families are going through are crucial. He is completely dedicated to inspiring and teaching new nurses to share his passion and expertise. He coaches, mentors and serves as a role model for his peers. Jeffrey lectures the hemodynamics portion of the nursing fellowship curriculum and shares his passion for work he does daily.
Jeffrey participates in countless committees, including the Magnet task force, and as co-chair of the Surgical ICU’s Collaborative Care Council, he facilitates the agenda and pushes LIJMC nursing units to share innovative solutions and champion new ideas and processes.
Watch Jeffrey’s Made for this story.
Nurse of the Year
Alexa Damone, RN Medical Surgical Unit, Glen Cove Hospital
Alexa Damone’s passion for her work is evident to her patients and colleagues by constantly learning new skills to improve medical care.
Alexa has the ability to relate to patients and their families through her caring manner and attentive demeanor. Her deep commitment is evident to her patients and her colleagues and was recognized by the hospital when she was honored in the hospital’s first “Breakfast with the Stars.” She is empathic, compassionate, an excellent communicator, possesses solid clinical and problem-solving skills and serves as an advocate for her patients.
Her commitment to helping peers is inspirational. Upon returning from a sepsis conference, Alexa shared her newly developed knowledge with her peers to improve the identification and prompt treatment of sepsis. She was a part of a project on infection control that led to better hand hygiene and infection control practices on the unit. Alexa is involved in another project aimed at improving the patient experience. With diabetes becoming increasingly prevalent, especially among the elderly, she attended a two-day workshop recognizing the importance of diabetes knowledge, management and education, enabling her to become a unit champion and valuable resource for her peers and patients.
Watch Alexa’s Made for this story.
Teamwork
ECMO-TO-GO Long Island Jewish Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, Southside Hospital
Made up of a team of well-honed specialists, ECMO-TO-GO takes its life-saving skills wherever they are needed, elevating the level of care available to seriously ill patients. The team develops its successes with the cardiopulmonary bypass technique through continuity of communication and care delivered by all team members, commitment to continuous improvement and the depth of care provided by experts from across Northwell. The innovative approach of the team traveling to the patient rather than the other way around means a highly qualified, seasoned team is available to the sickest of patients. With a mortality rate of about 50 percent in these kinds of patients, the concept of such a team grew out of the establishment of an acute lung injury program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the launch of a heart transplant program. Northwell physicians recognized the need to provide stable, quality care as quickly as possible, leading to the ECMO-TO- GO program.
The strength of the group comes from their ability to harness their differences in expertise to meet the dire needs of a complicated patient population. They do so with seamless coordination, deep compassion, and deliberate communication ultimately forging something stronger than any individual person.
Watch ECMO-TO-GO’s Made for this story!
Exceptional Patient Customer Experience
Adrian Mazur Chaplain, Cohen Children’s Medical Center
Chaplain Adrian Mazur has chosen to work in the midst of medical crisis, supporting the smallest patients and their families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as they try to cope with life threatening illnesses. It is his empathy that others quickly notice as he helps fearful, weary and distressed parents who are trying to cope with some of the worst days of their lives.
Adrian, who came to the ministry from a career in finance and volunteer work with an orphanage in Ukraine, works with adolescents in pediatric hematology/oncology. There he helps to establish a connection and genuine trust as the young patients face their own mortality, changes in their appearance and an overall loss of health and stamina.
Often, Adrian plays a significant role in the lives of families that ultimately lose their child to illness. In one instance, he later drove through a snowstorm to be with one such couple at the birth of another child. It is through his presence, compassion, dedication, prayers and listening ear that he helps patients and parents redefine their hopes and maintain their dreams. Adrian’s presence brings a vitality to the hospital and all those he touches.
Watch Adrian’s Made for this story!
Physician of the Year
Carmen Rodriguez, MD, FACOG Voluntary Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
An excellent bedside manner and the care she provides to her patients distinguishes the work of Dr. Carmen Rodriguez and moves many people to say, “She’s the best.” Regarded as reliable, dependable and talented, she is also humble and unpretentious. Dr. Rodriguez leads by example for all clinicians and team members. And her contributions go beyond kindness and compassion. She is known to take on some of the most difficult gynecological challenges via laparotomy, laparoscopic and robotic modalities. Dr. Rodriguez will always fight to defend the reproductive rights of her patients.
Dr. Rodriguez also plays an active role in the affairs and governance of the hospital. She is the associate chair of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center – Performance Improvement Coordinating Group (LIJMC PICG). She is also a member of the OBGYN department PICG. Dr. Rodriguez finds the time to participate in performance improvement initiatives because she believes that everyone benefits when better care is rendered, mainly for the patient and the community at large, but also for the clinical and administrative team member. She is the president-elect of the LIJ Medical Team member Society, making her the first woman to hold this distinguished position in the history of LIJMC.
Watch Dr. Rodriguez’s Made for this story!
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Northwell Health is excited to announce the recent launch of our Women in Healthcare Business Employee Resource Group (BERG)! Our newest BERG focuses on empowering women across all levels of Northwell as well as in our communities. To do this, the Women in Healthcare members are committed to mentoring and developing women leaders at all levels within Northwell, including the executive level. Members will serve as both mentors and advocates for other Northwell team members, to help them develop professionally and to educate on the importance of acceptance and inclusion. The Women in Healthcare BERG aims to not only promote growth for women and foster greater employee engagement, but it is also a key part of our mission of transforming the future of healthcare. Co-executive sponsors include Mark Solazzo, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Deborah Schiff, executive vice president, Ambulatory Strategy and Business Development, and Kathy Gallo, RN, PhD, executive vice president and chief learning officer while Dr. Stacey Rosen, vice president, Women’s Health, Katz Institute for Women s Health, Maxine Carrington, deputy chief HR officer, and Kerri Scanlon, RN, deputy chief nursing officer and AED, Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at North Shore University Hospital serve as co-chairs. Membership is open to anyone within the health system, including team members like Paola Benitez. This isn’t the only BERG Paola has joined – she’s an active member of the Bridges LatinX BERG and has participated in community events that helped educate diverse minorities on the importance of access to health care, fitness and nutrition. She is confident that the Women in Healthcare BERG will be as successful within Northwell and its community. “It is important to create BERG like this because it allows employees to build networks, share challenges and growth, and work together towards professional goals,” says Paola. And for women looking to start out in their healthcare careers? Paola has the following advice, “Work hard, take risks and fail early. Do not feel that you must check all boxes in a job description – you will learn along the way!” [avia_codeblock_placeholder uid="1"]
Northwell launches Women in Healthcare Business Employee Resource Group
Using your career history to support other women in healthcare
Paola is a manager in the Government Rates and Reporting Group within Corporate Finance. Having grown her own career since she was initially hired as an analyst, Paola knows the importance of giving women the resources they need to develop professionally. “I joined this BERG because I wanted to be actively involved in the health system’s effort towards equality and inclusion,” says Paola. ‘I wanted to be part of encouraging more women to aspire to leadership.”
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2019 President’s Award Finalist- Exceptional Patient/Customer Experience
Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.
The Exceptional Patient/Customer Experience award recognizes an individual who is Made for Northwell Health: made for caring and protecting our patients and communities – made for leading innovation and change that inspires our colleagues and turns tomorrow into a breathtaking opportunity. Meet this year’s finalists.
Salvatore Dimatteo
Supervisor, Rehabilitation Services, STARS, Huntington
A football injury that could have ended his collegiate football career instead inspired Sal Dimatteo to the profession of physical therapy, where he leads a practice filled with compassion for patients. As a physical therapist supervising rehabilitation at the STARS Huntington location, he overcame his disappointment at low Press Ganey patient scores the office was receiving by reaching out to colleagues and coming up with distinctive and fresh ways of encouraging team members and patients to provide feedback.
Sal’s approach led to a huge surge in responses and improved scores. Under his leadership, STARS Huntington was ranked in the 98th percentile nationally (a score of 98.5) for Likelihood to Recommend for 2018. This was the highest ranking for all STARS locations as well as the Northwell Outpatient Rehabilitation Network.
His hands-on style nurtures a team approach to provide patients with the best care. And Sal’s leadership brings out the best in his team — bringing them together as a cohesive unit and empowered to provide the best possible service. His upbeat, positive style and work ethic encourages the team member to perform at a high level and bring the best possible care to patients.
Kacey Farber, LMSW
Social Worker, Huntington Hospital
Kacey Farber went from a teaching career to one of social work and a transformative role as a leader in helping families cope with the loss of a baby. Dissatisfied with the resources available that would allow her to assist grieving families, she decided to create her own.
Kacey connected first with the Star Legacy Foundation, which works to increase awareness about neonatal loss and increase family support. She then established the Huntington Hospital
Bereavement and Support Group. Working with a network of families who had lost babies led to a plan to create a perinatal bereavement garden, a warm and comforting space to memorialize lost children. She coordinated fundraising to support the garden, which opened last fall.
As a dedicated problem solver, Kacey identified a need and fixed it through research, planning, networking and fundraising. She also helps manage the bundled orthopedic patients and has become an expert on providing transitional care. In addition, she was the first-ever mentor for Master level social work candidates in the Case Management department. Kacey is also the certified intern supervisor for the department’s three social work interns. She is an incredible mentor and has motivated others to become a certified social work intern supervisor.
Bulah Martin
Lead Phlebotomist, Northwell Health Labs
As lead phlebotomist, Bulah Martin has a knack of turning an unpopular but vital task into an experience that makes people smile. Having their blood drawn is rarely a happily anticipated event. With Bulah, her skills at minimizing the unpleasant aspects of the service, combined with her cheery personality, make for successful outcomes.
Bulah often works with special needs or very sick children where making the procedure go smoothly can be a challenge. She frequently has physicians asking for her by name. By decorating two rooms with playful decals of animals and nature, she minimizes the presence of medical equipment. Bulah has her equipment ready when the patient enters the room, gives small gifts to young children, which she pays for out of her own pocket, and eases the worries of parents who in turn, are able to calm their children. Her creative solutions ensures the necessary work of blood collection happens successfully.
Phlebotomists at Northwell Health Labs provide blood collection services for more than one million patients every year — in many cases after taking into consideration and resolving the fears and resistance of patients. Bulah teaches techniques for collecting blood samples from children and infants, and mentors phlebotomists all over the health system to show them “how it’s done,” leading patients with a positive sense of the quality performance that Northwell represents.
Adrian Mazur
Chaplain, Cohen Children’s Medical Center
Chaplain Adrian Mazur has chosen to work in the midst of medical crisis, supporting the smallest patients and their families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as they try to cope with life threatening illnesses. It is his empathy that others quickly notice as he helps fearful, weary and distressed parents who are trying to cope with some of the worst days of their lives.
Adrian, who came to the ministry from a career in finance and volunteer work with an orphanage in Ukraine, works with adolescents in pediatric hematology/oncology. There he helps to establish a connection and genuine trust as the young patients face their own mortality, changes in their appearance and an overall loss of health and stamina.
Often, Adrian plays a significant role in the lives of families that ultimately lose their child to illness. In one instance, he later drove through a snowstorm to be with one such couple at the birth of another child. It is through his presence, compassion, dedication, prayers and listening ear that he helps patients and parents redefine their hopes and maintain their dreams. Adrian’s presence brings a vitality to the hospital and all those he touches.
Kelly Ann Moed MSN, RN-BC, CSPHP
Development Instructor, Staten Island University Hospital
Kelly Ann Moed turned an idea she developed during graduate studies into a program to safeguard the well-being of hospital staff through the prevention of injuries. Taking care of patients starts with making sure our team members are well. Her Safe Patient Handling Program has led to a significant decline in the number of workforce injuries. Kelly Ann’s passion, caring and knowledge are the driving forces that have made this innovative program a success.
She has been the driving force in making sure hospital team members are properly trained and educated on the use of equipment to move and transfer patients.
Her program took a creative turn recently with Workforce Safety Olympics. It was a fun way for the team members to demonstrate their Safe Patient Handling expertise and the use of equipment to transfer and lift patients. These groups were presented with various scenarios where, within a specific time frame, together they needed to exhibit the proper choices in equipment, communication with each other and the patient, and appropriate transfer technique. The Staten Island University Hospital team members took home the gold trophy.
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2019 President’s Award Finalists: Innovation
Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.
The Innovation award recognizes team members who were finalists in the Innovation Challenge. Northwell’s Innovation Challenge empowers team members to come up with the next big health care innovation in areas such as revenue through new or existing channels, improve patient experience, improve quality of care, positively impact health outcomes and so much more. As an organization, we understand that our people are the ones who bring our patient care to the next level, and this program gives them an opportunity to share their big ideas. Meet this year’s finalists.
AccuLABeler
AccuLABeler represents a proprietary middle-ware solution that interfaces with existing robotics machinery and a lab information system (LIS) to more efficiently relabel tubes referred to the lab for analysis from non-system sources. At Northwell, the current workflow requires 12 FTEs who perform accessioning and relabeling of these tubes. The total available market encompasses reference laboratories in the United States and abroad.
Bedside Voice Assistant
The Bedside Voice Assistant (BVA) involves the continued development of an existing prototype of a bed-side Alexa based voice assistant created by members of the Northwell Innovation Center. This innovation represents a developed software product which is cloud based, HIPAA compliant and will be agnostic to EMR system for integration and scalability.
EDCAP aza-Peptide Building Blocks for Preferred Drug Characteristics
Many pharmaceutical drugs are peptides, small fragments of proteins. When carefully chosen, peptides offer the advantage of selectivity toward a target coupled with minimal adverse side effects. However, peptides suffer from a very short half-life, and their effect can be very short lived because they are destroyed in seconds in the blood. The EDCAP technology offers a general solution to this stability issue through changing the labile peptide bond to an alternate bond that is resistant to peptidases (stable for hours in the blood).
LabFly: Mobile Phlebotomy App
The proposed innovation reflects the development of a mobile blood drawing solution for patients and caregivers. As developed, LabFly would serve as the patient facing application, and integrate with LabFly Phleb, a phlebotomist facing application. The applications have been reviewed by the Northwell OCIO, OCIO security review, penetration tests and a QM validation. Future development of the application could support on demand appointments for flu shots and strep testing, and/or integration with care delivery within emergency rooms.
Real-Time Actionable Data (RAD)
The RAD invention represents a data analysis and reporting tool which provides real time, actionable data related to ED utilization and the allocation of clinical resources. RAD addresses an unmet need in many if not all emergency rooms by supporting data driven, patient specific, decision making. This product builds upon the work conducted over the past several years within the Northwell Emergency Medicine service line.
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2019 President’s Award Finalists: Teamwork
Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.
The Teamwork award recognizes a team who is flexible, hardworking and made for unwavering support. They successfully collaborate to improve quality, financial performance and/or patient-centric care by leveraging and embracing diversity while creating a feeling of belonging. Meet this year’s finalists.
Deliver the Vote
Lenox Hill Hospital
A pair of nurses with a strong commitment to upholding the right to vote, and an amazing determination not to take no for an answer enabled dozens of hospitalized patients to participate in the American electoral system.
Their efforts began two years ago when a patient inquired about voting but at that point, they were unable to help. Ahead of the 2018 election, Lisa Schavrien and Erin Smith decided to be pro-active, exploring ways to help their patients be heard at the ballot box. Their inquiries led them to a series of rejections by boards of elections, non-responses from political offices and a trip to a courtroom in Queens.
With the help from other volunteers, they canvassed their hospital for patients who wanted to vote. In one room, a patient facing brain surgery managed to cast her vote before surgery; in another, a patient’s partner was unable to get a ballot for the patient because they weren’t married, but Lisa obtained a ballot for him.
Voting may not seem like an issue clinical team members need to tackle, and they could find no other hospital making the same effort, but thanks to this team that went above and beyond, 75 Northwell patients were able to cast their ballots.
ECMO-TO-GO
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, Southside Hospital
Made up of a team of well-honed specialists, ECMO-TO-GO takes its life-saving skills wherever they are needed, elevating the level of care available to seriously ill patients. The team develops its successes with the cardiopulmonary bypass technique through continuity of communication and care delivered by all team members, commitment to continuous improvement and the depth of care provided by experts from across Northwell. The innovative approach of the team traveling to the patient rather than the other way around means a highly qualified, seasoned team is available to the sickest of patients. With a mortality rate of about 50 percent in these kinds of patients, the concept of such a team grew out of the establishment of an acute lung injury program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the launch of a heart transplant program. Northwell physicians recognized the need to provide stable, quality care as quickly as possible, leading to the ECMOTO- GO program.
The strength of the group comes from their ability to harness their differences in expertise to meet the dire needs of a complicated patient population. They do so with seamless coordination, deep compassion, and deliberate communication ultimately forging something stronger than any individual person.
Food as Health Implementation Team
Long Island Jewish Valley Stream
Team members have put reliable access to food at the center of a pioneering effort to improve the health of their patients. After people in multiple departments recognized that some patients had trouble finding affordable, nutritious food when they returned home, a team came together to brainstorm some solutions. Their conclusions: provide discharged patients with the resources to find affordable foods and to prepare meals that would help restore them to health.
The Food as Health (FAH) Program screens patients from the outpatient wound care center, and one inpatient unit for food insecurity. Patients in need with nutrition-related conditions (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, unintentional weight loss) are referred to the appropriate FAH service arm for support. Patients who are mobile and able to cook for themselves are referred to the FAH hospital-based onsite resource center. The patient is provided two days’ worth of nutritious emergency food, nutrition education and counseling, and referrals to community resources.
The collaborative effort of the multidisciplinary workgroup to identify clinical partners, establish workflows, reports and outcomes is a significant reason for the successful implementation of the FAH program. The team continues to work together to identify the outcome measures and establish reporting to demonstrate improvement in patient outcomes and hospital data such as decreased readmissions.
Inpatient Charge Capture (IPCC)
Corporate, Revenue Cycle Operations, Medical Group
When a small group of data-savvy professionals began examining the question of whether Northwell was billing and collecting for every professional service provided in hospitals, it quickly became clear that they needed more expertise.
The question of revenue capture is a long-standing one and quantifying it and executing a process across the health system was huge challenge. The team grew to involve several Information Services disciplines and data experts and as it grew, so did the project. Instead of finding a basic report on where to find the revenue opportunities, the team produced much more. They came up with a real-time, web-based tool that allows service lines and/ or individuals to know what the missing billing opportunities are daily/weekly/monthly. It allows the user to filter by service line, hospital, provider and unit. The tool is easy to navigate and provides a weekly “subscription” service for providers.
The deep dive in the collaborative effort also identified a $10 million revenue opportunity for Northwell, the result of experts collaborating and using their own areas of expertise to produce a positive outcome.
Northwell Transfusion Medicine
Northwell Health Labs
A team of professionals collaborated to take on the challenge of ensuring Northwell hospitals maintained fresh and adequate supply of platelets to cope with both routine and emergency use. Maintaining a blood product supply is essential to optimal patient care, but daily usage can be difficult to forecast. Platelets, expensive to produce, test and store, have a short shelf life and frequently expire before they can be used.
This team’s bold solution to meeting the need and reducing costly waste was to develop a delivery system that moves blood products throughout the health system, with many ultimately winding up at the hospitals that routinely need them the most. Breaking away from the existing system, the team began with data, figuring out a system to outline a new distribution process. That birthed a “Round Robin” transportation system to reduce supplemental and emergency deliveries. The concept of rotating platelets from the community hospitals to the final destination of one of two tertiary hospitals is based on usage. Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital combined utilize as many as 50 units a day for Cardiac, Trauma, Surgical, Oncology and Transplant services. Through extensive monitoring and trending of patient platelet needs, a dramatic savings of more than $200,000 was realized in 2018 in expiration waste.
School-Based Vocational Services
South Oaks Hospital
A committed group of professionals provides students challenged by intellectual and developmental disabilities with services that are tailored to individuals from 27 school districts across Long Island. Students receive coachin g, job readiness training and social skills development in both a classroom and professional setting with more than 100 participating companies with the goal of promoting independence and developing skills to prepare these young adults to enter the workforce after graduation.
The collaboration of these team members led to 64% of the graduating students finding employment post-graduation. On a daily basis, this team manages to touch the lives of more than 200 youths and parents, on Long Island. Nearly all of the team members work remotely and are required to travel throughout their day to meet the needs of the various sites they are working to serve.
The team has been able to create new approaches to learning in school settings by implementing in-school businesses where students can improve work readiness skills. Through personal dedication and putting creativity to work, they are making big differences in the lives of these students.
The Fin
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Experts with a diverse set of skills devised and conducted the first pilot clinical trial of the Fin, a novel 3D-printed swim prosthesis designed for use in a recreational pool setting. The dedicated group was seeking ways to improve recreational opportunities for people with lower-limb amputations, who, according to studies, are less likely to participate in physical activity than the general population.
Often working on their own time, they established protocols to ensure a thorough test that respected each individual’s dignity and needs while examining all aspects of the prosthesis. The most common design for a swim prosthesis has a fixed angle foot (“ankle foot”) that is at 90 degrees with the floor, which, while it is easy to use in the water, is not useful when walking over ground or transitioning into and out of the water. The 3-D printing also significantly lowers the typical cost of the prosthesis.
All participants in the test found the prosthesis easy to put on and take off. The majority (71%) of participants reported being extremely satisfied with the prosthesis.
Every member of the multidisciplinary team brought to the project their passion for wanting to improve the quality of life, participation and inclusion for individuals with lower limb amputations.
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2019 President’s Award Finalist: Leader of the Year
Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.
The Leader of the Year award recognizes an individual who is made for Northwell Health because Northwell was not made for just anyone. It’s their spark and instinct to care that changes lives. This leader always acts with intent, with heart and with passion. They communicate openly while providing empathy and support, gains and shares expertise with others, acts honestly, professionally, and consistently achieves high-level results. Meet this year’s finalists.
Mary Brennan, RN
Associate Director, Nursing Education, North Shore University Hospital
Mary Brennan’s dedication to improving the lives of patients inspires colleagues and many well beyond Northwell. She is a worldwide thought leader on wound and ostomy care, improving on the prevention and treatment of skin wounds, and teaching others how to help patients and their families avoid suffering.
Her work combating pressure wounds has led to the naming of a medical condition in her honor . Working with Nurse Manager Kathy Trombley, the pair identified the differences between pressure injuries and terminal tissue injury. This research has yielded a tool that assists nurses in identifying patients who are in the last hours of life, which allows team members to empathetically communicate with family members.
A Wound Care Symposium first proposed by Mary has turned into an interdisciplinary two-day conference at Hofstra University that attracts both physicians and nurses. Her leadership includes publishing papers on wound care, as well as building and overseeing a North Shore University Hospital team of more than 100 skin care champions. Her creative strategies have contributed to the success of this program, keeping others engaged and involved in identifying best practices to reduce incidents of pressure injuries. Thanks to her efforts, hundreds of team members at Northwell and thousands of others around the world know how to prevent and treat thiscomplex clinical problem.
Ryan J. Guda, RN
Nurse Manager, Dialysis Services, Ambulatory
Building on his array of experiences in different fields, Ryan Guda has rebuilt a workplace that adapts to change and established a culture of respect with dramatic effects on the quality of care.
Shortly after joining Northwell in 2015, Ryan met with each team member to hear their opinions about their work environment. By listening and acknowledging his team’s feelings, he was able to re-direct negative behavior in a nonjudgmental manner and win their trust. Even his adept computer skills helped during a transition to electronic record-keeping.
Ryan quickly became an agent of change that has improved the work environment and directly affected the quality of services delivered to patients living with end-stage renal failure. He was successful in turning the team members’ fear of change into hope.
Marcia Hall, RN
Director, Patient Services, Northwell Health At Home
Marcia Hall is known for her enthusiastic, even disposition and willingness to step up to assist team members. She has a talent for connecting with patients and staff alike. As a leader in a busy business unit, Marcia sees her role as the person who supports, teaches and always tries to lighten the load of those in the office and out in the field. By making herself available to patients and team members alike, she is able to allay concerns and offer encouragement to those who need it.
Marcia was an early adopter of “Leader Rounds,” an innovative approach more difficult to accomplish with patients in the community, and advises supervisors to take time each day to assess what they are seeing in patient care, to spot trends or potential problems.
As a leader determined to spread positivity, Marcia looks to motivate people to be their best, whatever the challenge. She stands by team members who might feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for patients in the field. Reducing unnecessary hospitalizations is a key part of the Health At Home program and requires attention to detail. Above all, she demonstrates a strong ability to connect with patients and their families, a calming force to those facing a difficult situation.
Robert Kerner Jr., JD, EdD, RN, EMT-P, CHSE
Assistant Vice President, Patient Safety Institute, Assistant Professor, Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies
Dr. Robert Kerner engages his team through reflective questions, allowing team members to self-direct on projects and listening to them in a style that makes everyone feel that they’re a valuable part of the team. He demonstrates concern for his colleagues, both personally and professionally, strengthening their connection to their profession and their colleagues. Dr. Kerner is committed to educational and clinical innovation and regularly puts forth new methods to meet the needs of our customers.
His ability to bring innovation in education from PSI to the units has been instrumental in allowing team members from Northwell to benefit from these efforts. Dr. Kerner has and continues to nurture relationships with both new and seasoned customers, as well as serve outside communities. Leaders from across Northwell reach out to Dr. Kerner to assist with projects that will enhance communication, situational awareness and competency skill sets in a variety of venues.
Paula McAvoy
Senior Administrative Director, Hospice and Palliative Care, University Hospice, Staten Island University Hospital
Compassion and a set of values that includes connectedness, awareness, respect and empathy guide the work of Paula McAvoy. She is 100 percent committed to caring for those facing the end of their lives. She ensures that her team members feel valued and engaged as they apply those beliefs to their patients and each other. Paula believes in an open-door policy to make sure open lines of communication are maintained.
Despite her heavy workload, she sets an example for colleagues with her commitment to professional development. She leads a session “Building High Performance Teams” as part of Northwell’s Leadership Essentials program.
In nearly 30 years at Staten Island University Hospital, she has excelled in any number of roles, where she began as an on-call hospice nurse, and has become a recognized expert in the field of end-of-life care.
Nina Ng, RN
Assistant Director, Nursing, Syosset Hospital
A deeply held concern for the suffering of refugees, victims of war and poverty has stirred Nina Ng to travel the world to deliver compassionate care to those in need. Nursing was the career she chose and for the first few years, she focused on learning all she could to develop her career. Then a trip to Haiti to care for orphans after a hurricane refocused her priorities and has nurtured a desire to take a leadership role in health care by helping the underserved, underprivileged, abused and forgotten people of war-torn and destroyed countries. After several trips abroad, including into a war zone, Nina has a desire to continue to expand her influence locally, regionally and globally, and continues to find new ways she can positively affect the lives of others.
Nina’s desire to lead isn’t limited to the world stage. She insists on accountability and recently published an article in the Journal for Emergency Nursing about workplace bullying.
Nina also has taken the initiative to reduce pressure wounds in patients with enhanced collaboration between the Emergency and Inpatient departments.
Northwell and Syosset Hospital benefit from Nina’s leadership and compassion, and her actions represent a total commitment to our values.
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2019 President’s Award Finalists: Nurse of the Year
Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.
The Nurse of the Year award recognizes a nurse who is made for going the extra mile for his or her patients, families and colleagues. Exemplifying our Northwell values and behaviors, this individual delivers high-quality clinical care and a compassionate patient experience. Meet this year’s finalists.
Angela Daly, RN
Physician Partners, Cardiology at Southampton
Inspired by the extra efforts she saw nurses and others doing to take care of her mother, Angela Daly knew nursing was what she was meant to do. During the course of her career, she’s demonstrated efficiency and compassion, finding the small ways in which nurses can have a major impact on patients’ lives. Angela has solved problems, finding ways to improve how nurses were deployed throughout the Cardiac service line and how information was conveyed.
Taking a creative approach, Angela developed a telephone triage and patient education guide for her Flex Pool to demonstrate the best workflow in addressing patient calls, elevating patient concerns to providers and educating patients in a way that they can understand. Her guide is used throughout Northwell’s Cardiac service line. Angela also sends letters to every doctor that her patients see to ensure interdisciplinary communication is intact and that the patient’s treatment course with an investigational drug product is considered in the spectrum of their care. When she saw some information wasn’t making its way to all inpatient team members, she worked to develop chart notes that would be delivered to those who need them. And after realizing that more nurses were needed in the Cardiac service line, Angela worked to create a “Float Pool,” and recruited more than 90 nurses, trained them to cover the practices and developed guidelines so that the nurses would have the tools they needed to care more efficiently for our patients.
Alexa Damone, RN
Medical Surgical Unit, Glen Cove Hospital
Alexa Damone’s passion for her work is evident to her patients and colleagues by constantly learning new skills to improve medical care.
Alexa has the ability to relate to patients and their families through her caring manner and attentive demeanor. Her deep commitment is evident to her patients and her colleagues and was recognized by the hospital when she was honored in the hospital’s first “Breakfast with the Stars.” She is empathic, compassionate, an excellent communicator, possesses solid clinical and problem-solving skills and serves as an advocate for her patients.
Her commitment to helping peers is inspirational. Upon returning from a sepsis conference, Alexa shared her newly developed knowledge with her peers to improve the identification and prompt treatment of sepsis. She was a part of a project on infection control that led to better hand hygiene and infection control practices on the unit. Alexa is involved in another project aimed at improving the patient experience. With diabetes becoming increasingly prevalent, especially among the elderly, she attended a two-day workshop recognizing the importance of diabetes knowledge, management and education, enabling her to become a unit champion and valuable resource for her peers and patients.
Maryann Portoro, RN
Emergency Department, Phelps Hospital
Maryann Portoro sets a calm tone for patients and team members who, in the sometimes chaotic emergency care environment, need reassurance and compassion. She has devoted 45 years of her nursing career to caring for patients requiring emergency interventions. Maryann’s nursing role is characterized by her philosophy “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” She is noted for her quick assessment and innovative interventions to support excellence in patient care. She demonstrates her leadership skills by taking charge while not losing her compassionate approach in the Emergency Department, sometimes rocking babies, other times holding the hand of an upset or frightened patient.
Maryann’s care doesn’t stop with patients; she provides timeouts to ease a team member experiencing grief after a loss.
Her sensitivity to people’s needs is in real time with positive, thoughtful recognition. She uses her abilities to think quickly and creatively in any situation, de-escalating a crisis by knowing just what to do to calm and control a situation. Her dedication extends to finding and implementing ways to improve new nursing care delivery models.
Dominick Pugliese, RN
Northwell Health At Home
Dominick Pugliese represents the future of Northwell Health nursing care. As a young RN he has already impressed his supervisors with his ability to learn quickly and with his commitment to caring for those in need. Joining Northwell Health At Home just a little over a year ago, he made the switch from a hospital Respiratory Care Unit to Home Health because he wanted to work with patients as their primary nurse in their homes. He had been inspired by his involvement with Project Hope on Staten Island. He was among the part-time team member who went door-to-door to provide crisis counseling to families who were suffering from the fear, anxiety, anger and helplessness after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. He rode on a medical bus, which was run by nurses.
At Northwell Health At Home, he mixes an interest and skill in using technology, such as the telehealth program, with devotion to hands-on care that depends on personal attention to a patient’s needs. Dominick’s potential led to his appointment to a task force that created Northwell Health At Home’s Heart Failure program, which was recently certified by the Joint Commission.
Jeffrey Rosa, RN
Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Passion for his patients and awareness of the complexities of navigating the emotions and needs of those in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit drive the care provided by Jeffrey Rosa. He witnessed the excellent care provided to his grandmother, and, later, as a paramedic, responded to the horrors of the Sept. 11 attack at the World Trade Center, which solidified his determination to become a nurse.
At Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC), Jeffrey is known as “the go-to player,” someone who has made it his business to know everything he needs to know about every patient in a unit where extra compassion, understanding and respect for what patients and families are going through are crucial. He is completely dedicated to inspiring and teaching new nurses to share his passion and expertise. He coaches, mentors and serves as a role model for his peers. Jeffrey lectures the hemodynamics portion of the nursing fellowship curriculum and shares his passion for work he does daily.
Jeffrey participates in countless committees, including the Magnet task force, and as co-chair of the Surgical ICU’s Collaborative Care Council, he facilitates the agenda and pushes LIJMC nursing units to share innovative solutions and champion new ideas and processes.
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2019 President’s Award Finalists: Physician of the Year
Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.
The Physician of the Year award recognizes a physician who is made for going the extra mile for his or her patients, families and colleagues. Exemplifying our Northwell values and behaviors, this individual delivers high-quality clinical care and a compassionate patient experience. Meet this year’s finalists.
Santhosh Paulus, MD
Hospitalist, Director, Family Medicine Residency, Huntington Hospital
Dr. Santhosh Paulus turned a personal crusade against the abuses of human trafficking into an innovative program at Northwell. He began his Northwell career at the Glen Cove Family Medicine Residency program and is now site director for Huntington. In that role, he strives to meet three challenges: to teach the art and science of family medicine, to advocate for the best interest of his learners, and to be the quintessential role model of diligent attention to patient care, humanistic practice and lifelong learning.
In 2014, Dr. Paulus’ passion for caring for those in need grew. He saw a presentation on human trafficking and realized that his four daughters were of the same age as many victims in the presentation about forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation and sexual slavery in the US today. He joined a team and biked across the country to raise funds and awareness about human trafficking. Then he created “Cycling for Change,” an organization which has raised more than $55,000 to increase awareness about human trafficking and help survivors. Still, he wanted to do more. After talking with senior leadership at Huntington Hospital, he assembled a team to create the first Northwell Health Human Trafficking Response Program to identify and assist human trafficking victims and care for survivors. To date, the Task Force has trained more than 2,700 caregivers with 13 potential victims identified.
Yili Huang, DO
Medical Director, Pain Management Center, Phelps Hospital,
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Dr. Yili Huang has drawn on his empathy for the suffering of others to become a leader in treating pain on the individual and community level. In his pain management center, Dr. Huang meets with individual patients and finds creative ways to address their suffering. He delivers education to his team of physicians, nurses, and medical assistants, which has led to an improvement of pain scores at Phelps Hospital. He successfully performed an ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca nerve block recently to relieve intense pain in a patient with a hip fracture and a high tolerance for pain medications, controlling her suffering in preparation for surgery.
Dr. Huang’s commitment to his patients doesn’t stop there.
He is in the forefront of tackling a significant national problem: opioid addiction. He shares his knowledge with other physicians to reduce the use of opioid prescriptions by substituting other interventional modalities for long term relief, producing an immediate effect as many of these practices saw a dramatic decline in opioid prescriptions by their physicians. Dr. Huang also co-chairs the practice guidelines workgroup within the Northwell Opioid Task Force. He created practice guidelines, controlled substance agreements, and other tools to facilitate best practice opioid use. Those tools are being used across all the communities that Northwell serves to systematically confront the opioid epidemic and helps Northwell Health lead the nation in combating the epidemic in a compassionate and thoughtful way.
Carmen Rodriguez, MD, FACOG
Voluntary Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
An excellent bedside manner and the care she provides to her patients distinguishes the work of Dr. Carmen Rodriguez and moves many people to say, “She’s the best.” Regarded as reliable, dependable and talented, she is also humble and unpretentious. Dr. Rodriguez leads by example for all clinicians and team members. And her contributions go beyond kindness and compassion. She is known to take on some of the most difficult gynecological challenges via laparotomy, laparoscopic and robotic modalities. Dr. Rodriguez will always fight to defend the reproductive rights of her patients.
Dr. Rodriguez also plays an active role in the affairs and governance of the hospital. She is the associate chair of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center – Performance Improvement
Coordinating Group (LIJMC PICG). She is also a member of the OBGYN department PICG. Dr. Rodriguez finds the time to participate in performance improvement initiatives because she believes that everyone benefits when better care is rendered, mainly for the patient and the community at large, but also for the clinical and administrative team member. She is the president-elect of the LIJ Medical Team member Society, making her the first woman to hold this distinguished position in the history of LIJMC.
Andre Reyes, MD
Hospitalist, North Shore University Hospital
Dr. Andre Reyes has repeatedly impressed patients and team members with his deep commitment to providing personal and compassionate care and setting high standards for others. He has spent countless hours with his patients, making them feel comfortable and at ease regarding their care and the time they will spend in the hospital. Dr. Reyes is known for having dropped to a knee to console the weeping wife of a patient who had taken a turn for the worse, giving her time to compose herself. His commitment to patients contributes to the success of the Care Model Program, which engages all clinical partners in improving patient experiences in the unit. Beyond the emotional value of his compassion, statistics support his approach.
Under his leadership, ratings on clinical quality scorecards, and communication, have risen significantly. Dr. Reyes is also devoted to fostering our medical student education and Internal Medicine Residency program. He is involved in creating and standardizing expectations for residents with regards to their daily rounds and documentation, and sets a personal example by visiting his patients multiple times a day.
Dr. Reyes also took part in the hospital preparation for Magnet certification. He took the initiative to inform himself further on Magnet accreditation standards and met with Magnet evaluators.
Tara Liberman, DO
Associate Chief, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
While she has worked in almost every area of health care – post acute, outpatient practice and inpatient care — Dr. Tara Liberman has driven change in geriatric services. She is a proven leader at Northwell, spearheading several initiatives across the heath system to ensure that high-quality, patient-centered care is standard operating procedure. Dr. Liberman’s commitment to patient care began with her Northwell internship year in 2001.
She completed her internal medicine residency and Geriatric Medicine fellowship at North Shore University Hospital. When Palliative Medicine was established as a medicine subspecialty in 2010, Dr. Liberman became board certified in Palliative Medicine as well. In 2010, she received the academic title of assistant professor.
Dr. Liberman has piloted two programs to improve the care and medical literacy of the rapidly growing geriatric population. In response to the “Silver Tsunami,” she began the Geriatric ED program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC), which caters to older adults who arrive in the ED by aiming to prevent unneeded hospital admissions. The ED at LIJMC now has a geriatric-specific social worker to help these patients and their families connect with Northwell resources in the community to ensure appropriate levels of care that are in line with the goals of the patients and families. Dr. Liberman has continued this work to provide specialized care to this vulnerable population in all Northwell EDs by working towards a Geriatric Emergency Department certificate accredited by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Brian McGinley, MD
Voluntary Physician, Orthopedic Surgery, Mather Hospital
Dr. Brian McGinley takes his orthopedic skills beyond his practice, into an underserved community on Long Island and beyond.
He is part of the medical mission team for Blanca’s House, a local nonprofit organization that brings much-needed, quality medical care to countries and communities throughout Latin
America. During several missions to Ecuador, Dr. McGinley performed more than 75 knee replacement surgeries. In addition to his pro bono medical services, he raises funds for Blanca’s
House by assisting in generating thousands of dollars in philanthropic support to these trips.
On Long Island, he helps at an orthopedic clinic, treating patients who can’t afford care. In his free time, Dr. McGinley volunteers for the local Three Village community sports leagues and has served as a coach and team doctor. He serves president of the Port Jefferson Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), a consortium of 19 area physicians and Mather Hospital, and was named PGA physician for the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2004.
In 2016, Dr. McGinley was the first surgeon worldwide to perform robotic-assisted total knee replacement with the NavioTM Surgical System, which allows for smaller incisions, less or no cutting of muscles, and no preoperative CT scan. His contributions are limited only by the number of hours in the day.
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Northwell’s commitment to employee wellness goes all the way to Rome, Italy
1,900+ teams made up of over 18,000 Northwell employees are competing in the Walk to Rome challenge for a chance at the grand prize – a FREE trip to Rome! The walk is one of the many fun ways that showcases Northwell’s commitment to employee wellness across the organization.
“Everyone’s path toward wellness is unique, made up of various reasons, objectives and outcomes,” says Valerie Gundersen, manager of Employee Wellness. “The annual challenge offers a special opportunity to unite all of our paths into one shared journey toward wellness.”
Here is how the Walk to Rome works: During this innovative employee step challenge, teams of 10 will walk the distance from Dublin (the destination of last year’s challenge) to Rome, totaling approximately 3.9 million steps in eight weeks. Participants track their physical activity to unlock virtual destinations throughout the journey. Teams of ten who successfully go the distance will be entered into the grand prize raffle for a trip to Rome, Italy.
Teams inspire each other to get moving by planning walks during lunch, encouraging each other to take the stairs, and hosting even more walking activities outside of work hours. With a new interactive chat feature and friendly virtual competition against rival teams, there are plenty of ways to stay motivated during the challenge.
Last year’s Walk to Dublin challenge totaled more than 7.4 billion steps by the end of the eight weeks. An amazing 1,200+ teams completed the challenge and were eligible for the grand prize raffle.
Employees reported that because of the Walk to Dublin challenge, they had more energy, lost weight, engaged in teamwork, felt healthier and remained highly motivated to continue taking care of their health after the challenge was over.
And the benefits go beyond physical wellness! “The Walk to Dublin challenge was a great chance for me to become a part of the community at Northwell,” says Jonathan Bateman, an ED associate, “I was a new employee when it started and getting to be on a team helped me build relationships with my co-workers faster than I might have otherwise.”
With even more teams competing this year, Northwell employees are excited to ‘step’ it up to win big—and maybe even celebrate with some well-earned pasta and gelato in Rome.
Are you up for the challenge? Apply today.
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We’re elevating the culinary experience
Five Northwell Health hospitals are competing for a chance to be named the winner of the 2019 Chefs Challenge on May 23rd. Tasked with cooking a healthy and nutritious meal, each team will have 90 minutes to prepare a one-of-a-kind meal with a salmon appetizer, filet mignon entree, and an apple dessert. Each team will have three chefs and one certified dietitian who will work together to prepare a meal for guest judges. Meet the teams competing at the Chefs Challenge!
Leah Pasquarella
Chief Clinical Dietitian, 15 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Avocados and baby spinach
Gina Lantigua
Cook, 3 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Good olive oil, cauliflower, quinoa, carrots, garlic and cilantro
Miles Farrell
2nd Cook, 1 year at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Broccoli and Quinoa
The LIJ Valley Stream team is most excited about showcasing their talents. Executive Chef Patty Sobel says, “I really want to showcase how improved my team at Orzac Rehab and LIJ Valley Stream Hospital has become. I have worked with this team for 18 months and they are rising with culinary skills like the mighty phoenix!”
Patty Sobol
Executive Chef, 5 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: fresh ginger, fennel, oranges, earthy spices like turmeric and cumin, fresh basil, lemon verbena
Jane Prokopowicz
Chief Clinical Dietitian, 18 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Fresh vegetables, fruit, and fresh herbs
Yvon Julien
Cook, 20 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Salmon with yellow and julienned red peppers, fresh herbs, chervil parsley, chives, tarragon and fresh garlic
Kervins Pierre-Pierre
Cook, 4 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Grains- quinoa & farro and fresh grouper with kale swiss chard or spinach
The North Shore University Hospital team is most excited about getting to showcase the culinary abilities they learned in previous culinary experiences and apply them to a healthcare setting.
Laura Zelenka Dufresne
Registered Dietitian, 28 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Asparagus
Nicholas Rappa
Chef de Partie, 14 months at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Brussel sprouts
Gyalsten Ethenpa
Sous Chef, 20 months at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Turmeric
The Lenox Hill Hospital team is excited to collaborate and create dishes that are appetizing, appealing, and healthy enough to fit the Northwell Healthy Choice criteria! These are challenges we come across every day so we continuously educate and put into practice strategies for adjusting diets to be nutritious and enjoyable. This competition gives us an opportunity to think outside of the box and prepare meals that will leave patients feeling healthy and satisfied.
Claudio Natalio Bistro
Cook, 2.5 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Red quinoa and tofu.
Laura O’Connor
Registered Dietitian, 1.5 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Fruit, herbs, and potatoes.
Sean Broderick
Chef, 7 years at Northwell
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Fish, Fresh Vegetables
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Michele Avent
Nurse Practitioner, Gastrointestinal
"I‘m Made for making a difference. It’s very rewarding to me to help someone and see the positive changes in their lives."
Stephany Charles
OB Technician
"I‘m Made for teamwork. Any department or any position that needs my assistance, I don’t mind going out and helping because we are a team here at Northwell."
Sarah Hughes
Registered Nurse, Med/Surg and Hospice
"I‘m Made for laughs because I like to see my patients smile even when they’re in tough situations."
Melissa Clarke
PCA, Emergency Department
"I‘m Made for smiling because I want to ensure that when the patient comes in, they’re always greeted with a smile. A smile goes a long way. It gives patients hope and comfort."
Dora Kakurieva
PCA, Post-Partum
"I’m Made for helping people. I love for patients to be comfortable and to learn from me and the other staff on how to care for their new babies."
Dennis Magapan
Surgical Technologist
"I‘m Made for resiliency. Being in the operating room is an adventure every day. It’s a stressful place to be but at the same time, it‘s rewarding. You’re able to help the surgeon accomplish their mission.
April Macabagdal
Registered Nurse, Critical Care
"I’m Made for being a team player. I like to boost the morale of my coworkers and push them to the max of their capabilities."
Grace Maya
Turnover Tech, OB
"I’m Made for helping people at Forest Hills Hospital."
Tova Miller
Nurse Practitioner, Internal Medicine
"I‘m Made for patient centered care. Every patient is unique and if you don’t look at patients as individuals, you won’t be able to do the best job you can in treating the patient as a whole."
Damion Kirkpatrick
PCA, Med/Surg and Telemetry
"I‘m Made for helping. Helping is so much more than it sounds - it’s a skill. It’s seeing the big picture and filling in where needed.You have to know when to help, where to help, and how to help."
Julie Minogue
Registered Nurse, Emergency Department
"I’m Made for advocating for my patients. A lot of the patients we see in New York might not have family with them and need someone to advocate for them."
Tara Morales
Registered Nurse, Labor and Delivery
"I‘m Made for preparing new moms. My job is to welcome mom into Labor and Delivery and explain to her all of the benefits of the care she’s going to receive while she’s in her labor process."
Stephanie Ortiz
Registered Nurse, ICU
"I’m Made for communication. Communication is one of the most important aspects of working at a hospital.
Dina Trotto
Nurse Educator
"I‘m Made for staff development. Staff development is important to me because it’s essential for every nurse to do what they’re best at and what they love the most. I get to know all of my nurses and find out what their goals are because I love that collaboration in getting them to where they want and need to go."
Ludney Jean Baptiste
PCA, ICU
"I’m Made for happiness. Whenever I enter a room, I make sure the patient has a smile on their face."
Margarite Soh-Choe
Registered Nurse, ICU
"I‘m Made for compassion. My compassion makes me able to put myself in the shoes of my patients and their family’s. This truly lets me provide the best care I can."
Edward Gona
Assistant Nurse Manager, Cardiac
"I’m Made for teamwork. I want to ensure all my staff work as a team in taking care of patients to give the best quality care."
Roseline Utti
Nurse Educator
"I‘m Made for love and respect. I love people and respect people’s opinions and that is what LIJ Forest Hills Hospital is all about."
Recipe for Success: Northwell’s teaching kitchens provide nutrition education for employees
At Northwell Health, we’re committed to the health and wellness of not only our patients and the communities we serve, but our team members as well.
Food is a foundation for maintaining good health, preventing sickness and maximizing clinical benefit. To help our staff learn the power of healthy food, Northwell has established free teaching kitchens across our healthcare system.
Making Nutrition Fun
Teaching kitchens combine culinary instruction with education to help participants learn which foods they should be eating more or less of and the best techniques for cooking them. Our nutrition education covers various topics including heart health, low refined sugar and high fiber. Team members are encouraged to use the same healthy and whole ingredients that Northwell chefs are using in our hospitals’ kitchens.
Employees who attend receive hands-on instruction from Northwell chefs and have the opportunity to sample a variety of nutritious food. These chefs partner closely with Northwell’s registered dietitians to host events that are not only informative but also fun. Samantha Gitlin, RD, CDN, a registered dietitian at Lenox Hill Hospital, says: “Northwell’s teaching kitchens provide the staff and community with exciting and interesting ways to include fresh, nutrient-dense ingredients and new cooking techniques into their daily lives.”
And these aren’t your typical meals! Recipes include everything from one pot Italian quinoa to Asian lettuce wraps with avocado cilantro slaw.
Bringing People Together
“We receive a lot of positive feedback,” says Katrina Hartog, MPH, RD, CDN, CHES, clinical nutrition manager, “but the most satisfying is when a participant says they’ve never tried the featured food or item, then walks away with the recipe to make it at home and sends their colleagues to participate!” The teaching kitchens have grown in popularity, and are also leveraged for for internal team building events as well as community outreach.
These lessons are just one of the education tools organized by the Food & Nutrition teams to expand cooking confidence and nutrition education for Northwell employees. Other initiatives include recruiting and developing chef and dietitians, implementing Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria and staff education.
“My favorite thing is seeing how it brings everyone in the hospital together. We get participation from doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, dietitians, food service workers, and various ancillary staff,” says Bethany O’Dea, RD, CDN, CNSC, assistant clinical nutrition manager, “it is fun seeing everyone get excited about nutrition.”
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#BalanceforBetter: Northwell Health celebrates International Women’s Day 2019
March 8th marks International Women’s Day to celebrate women everywhere. At Northwell Health, we’re committed to fostering a diverse work environment that champions its team members regardless of gender or gender identity and where everyone can be Truly Ourselves.
In celebration, hear from some of Northwell’s amazing women and the women that inspire them daily.
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Northwell Health team members race to the finish line at the NYC Marathon
This year, more than 50,000 runners gathered to compete in the world’s largest marathon and Northwell team members were no exception! At Northwell, one of our values is being truly ambitious and taking on the challenge of running the 26.2 mile New York City Marathon is one our employees are up for conquering. We caught up with some of our Northwell employees on what it felt like to finish the race last month.
Among our dedicated racers, members of the official Team Northwell Health raised over $30,000 for Northwell initiatives. These passionate team members included Joseph Moscola, Kevin Bock, Pat Farrell, Matthew Moore, Rakijah Galloway-Haskins, Sven Gierlinger, Kevin Beiner and Anghielinne Schwarting.
Hear from members of Team Northwell Health along with other Northwell employees who have raced to the finish line both this year and years prior!
Janine Sullivan
Sr. Secretary 2, Nursing Education and Professional Development,
Cohen Children’s Medical Center
“The TCS NYC Marathon was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I still cannot believe that I ran 26.2 miles! It is truly NYC’s biggest party! All the people, all the music throughout all the boroughs who come out to cheer us on, as well as my family being in Queens and Manhattan, was amazing! I couldn’t stop smiling the entire run! It was such a beautiful day!”
Jennifer K. Svahn, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Director, Vein Surgery at Union Square
Northwell Health Physician Partners
“Long distance running, and particularly marathon running, is an opportunity for my husband, Dr. Jeff Nicastro (VP, Clinical Services Surgery Service Line; Vice Chairman Surgery NS/LIJ; System Chief, Acute Care Surgery Northwell; Executive Director Northwell Health Trauma Institute), and I to share something we are both passionate about. It provides us with “together time” outside of the challenges of life as surgeons and the parents of two busy teenage boys. As physicians, optimizing and impacting the health of our patients in a way that allows them to enjoy their best lives is our entire focus. It’s important that we are just as committed to prioritizing our own health and fitness so that we can set an example not only for our patients , but for our colleagues as well. By ensuring our own good health and the mental calm that running provides, we are able to serve our patients better. The rigor, sacrifice and even occasional suffering that are all part of marathon training and running only serve to make the experience of crossing the finish line all the more exhilarating. Running and representing Northwell Health are a perfect partnership – setting lofty goals, taking the steps required to reach those goals, prioritizing health thru action (and not just thru words) are all ways that we can best embody and put into action the Northwell #madeforthis motto.”
Rakijah Galloway-Haskins
Manager, Lab Quality Management
Pathology Administration
North Shore University Hospital
“Completing the run was surreal; I was exhausted, excited, but yet, empowered! All the pain, sweat and tears were gone and just like that, it was over and I did it! The many mantras for the NYC Marathon were : It will Inspire you, It will Empower you, It will Move you, It will Reward you…. I could not help but see Northwell’s intonations embedded in there as well; truly compassionate, truly ourselves, truly ambitions…and of course MADE FOR THIS!!! In the past I have felt conflicted on whether or not I am made for this. Now I know and truly believing that I am. I’ve had several employees come to me congratulating me on completing that 26.2 mile run and state that I have inspired them as well. In fact many want to join the next go around and that is what it is all about! Next year I want to do it again, and bring as many as possible along with me on the journey!”
Joseph Aigbojie
Administration Manager
Pediatrics Cardiology
Cohen Children’s Medical Center
“I’ve run the NYC marathon 2 times (once in 2016 and once in 2017). Ironically enough, the first time I ran it, it wasn’t for Northwell. It was for the YMCA. However, it was my work family at Northwell (specifically Cohen Children’s Medical center) that rallied around me, accounted for more than half of the fundraising donations I received and not to mention how site HR worked with Materials Management to don me in Northwell/Cohen’s swag, specifically a running T-shirt that read “26.2 mile dare. Challenge accepted, Cohen’s cares”. The race itself was amazing. There’s nothing like being on the Upper East Side and hearing a bunch of screaming New Yorkers yell “Go head Northwell. Go head Cohen’s Children. Keep going You can do it.” It’s just the push one needs when they’re exhausted from running the 59th street bridge and bracing themselves to take on The Bronx and central park. The second time I ran the marathon, I was officially on the Northwell Health team. I got to fund raise directly for the organization and it was a great experience. I’d love to do it again.”
And while the race is a time for Northwell team members to shine for their own accomplishments, they’re passion for care remains an ever present value in their lives. This was proven when this year an Northwell physician paused his own race to help provide care for another runner. Dr. Theodore Strange, vice chair of primary care of Northwell Health and the vice president of medical operations of Staten Island University Hospital,wasn’t thinking about his own finish time when he heard a woman cry for help, he was only thinking about how he could help. Dr. Strange stopped mid-race to perform CPR on the unconscious runner and worked together with emergency responders to deliver care. After assuring the woman was being safely treated and transported to a hospital, Dr. Strange continued running and went on to finish the marathon.
Congratulations to all the Northwell Health employees who have participated in the marathon!
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If you are an individual with a disability requesting an accommodation for the application process, please click the contact us link above to request assistance.
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© 2021 - Northwell Health
Click here to view the “EEO is the law” poster.
It is Northwell Health’s policy to provide equal employment opportunity and treat all applicants and employees equally regardless of their age, race, creed/religion, color, national origin, immigration status or citizenship status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, sex/gender, gender identity, gender expression, disability, pregnancy, genetic information or genetic predisposition or carrier status, marital or familial status, partnership status, victim of domestic violence, sexual or other reproductive health decisions, or other characteristics protected by applicable law.
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