July 16, 2018
Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care, which encompasses all divisions within Montefiore's cancer continuum, now joins an elite group of cancer programs that have earned a Three-Year Accreditation with Gold Level Commendation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons.
Montefiore also received the CoC's highest honor—the Outstanding Achievement Award—for quality care. This designation was awarded to only 6 percent of CoC-designated cancer programs across the country. These honors reflect Montefiore's outstanding clinical care and research, unparalleled social and emotional support, and outcomes for patients.
Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care at Montefiore Medical Park
Montefiore is currently running 41 National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program trials with a goal to reduce health disparities. The 2017 CoC survey also commended Montefiore for its exceptional distress screening initiatives and education efforts tied to collecting and sharing community data. "Our focus is the patients and their support system, not just the cancer," says Shalom Kalnicki, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Montefiore Einstein, and chair of Montefiore's CoC Cancer Committee.
"WE HAVE MORE RESEARCH UNDERWAY THAN EVER BEFORE TO IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS ALL ASPECTS OF THE DISEASE, INCLUDING BARRIERS THAT PREVENT PEOPLE FROM MAKING A FULL RETURN TO BEING PRODUCTIVE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY." —Dr. Shalom Kalnicki
2018 NYC Viral Hepatitis Research Symposium was held at Rockefeller University. From left: Jonathan M. Schwartz, MD; D. Yitzchak Goldstein, MD; Amy S. Fox, MD, MS; Matthew J. Akiyama, MD, MSc; Briana L. Norton, DO; and Ginger W. Wey, MD.
The approach of World Hepatitis Day on July 28 brings heightened awareness of the “hidden epidemic” of hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which affect millions worldwide, including about 250,000 New Yorkers. Montefiore recently partnered with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to host the 2018 New York City Viral Hepatitis Research Symposium, “Equity in Prevention and Treatment,” to focus on the urgent need to improve access to care and public awareness for the most vulnerable populations, including immigrants, people who inject drugs, incarcerated individuals, the homeless, and pregnant women. Amy Fox, MD, MS, Director, Montefiore Einstein Department of Pathology’s Virology Laboratories, and Professor, Pathology, Einstein, served as emcee, and D. Yitzchak Goldstein, MD, Assistant Director, Virology Laboratories, served on the planning committee, along with Matthew Akiyama, MD, MSc, and Jonathan Schwartz, MD, Montefiore Einstein Department of Medicine. Dr. Goldstein presented research on the reflex testing protocol for hepatitis C, which reduces time to confirm infection by providing clinicians with several essential test results from a single patient specimen. Montefiore has the highest compliance rate for reflex confirmatory testing in New York City. Ginger Wey, MD, Medical Director, Montefiore Hepatitis C Treatment Network, reported on an interdisciplinary approach to improve hepatitis cure rates among hepatitis C patients in the Bronx.
Left to right: Judd Fastenberg, MD, and Waleed Abuzeid, MD.
A collaborative team effort involving both basic and physician scientists from Montefiore and Einstein, led by Waleed Abuzeid, MD, Assistant Professor and Director of Rhinology and Skull-Base Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Montefiore and Einstein, and Joel Friedman, MD, PhD, Professor, Physiology & Biophysics and Medicine, Einstein, yielded early success in a promising new potential treatment approach for chronic rhinosinusitis. The team's research paper, "Nitric Oxide-Releasing Microparticles as a Potent Antimicrobial Therapeutic Against Chronic Rhinosinusitis Bacterial Isolates," won the 2018 American Rhinologic Society's Best Basic Science Manuscript Award and was presented at the organization's national meeting. Judd Fastenberg, MD, Resident, Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and a member of the research team, won first prize at the New York Otolaryngology Resident Research Day for his presentation of the findings.
The team is investigating using nanoparticles to deliver nitric oxide, a naturally occurring chemical that functions as a part of the body's immune system, to the sinuses to help eliminate bacterial infections that are hard to treat with standard antibiotics. "This research builds bridges between clinicians and scientists, with the goal of transitioning novel treatments from the lab to the bedside," says Dr. Abuzeid.
Dr. Friedman added, "This successful collaboration is a model of how Einstein and Montefiore are bigger than the sum of their parts when researchers and clinicians get together and brainstorm."
Montefiore's film Corazón and the integrated "Give Your Heart" campaign brought home top honors at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, including the Cannes Lions Grand Prix in Health and Wellness. Montefiore's entry also won the Cannes Gold Lion in Entertainment and the Cannes Silver Lion in the For Good category. The Cannes Lions are the most established and coveted awards for the creative and marketing communications industry.
Center: Loreen Babcock, Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Montefiore; left: John McKelvey, JohnxHannes, New York; and right: Hannes Ciatti, JohnxHannes, New York, receiving the Cannes Lions Grand Prix in Health and Wellness.
Montefiore was credited with elevating advertising and marketing in the Health and Wellness category and met the jury's five criteria for the top Grand Prix award: raising the profile of health and wellness, exploring how to push the category forward, technical precision, responsibility, and fusing health and wellness into everyday lives.
Corazón is based on a true story of a Montefiore patient who came from the Dominican Republic to receive lifesaving heart surgery, and it provides a call to action around the important issue of organ donation. The "Give Your Heart" campaign makes it easy for everyone to become part of the solution through interactive mobile technology—urging people to register with Donate Life America, starting by pressing their phones to their hearts.
The New Rochelle Police Department, as part of its effort to increase community involvement by officers, joined Montefiore New Rochelle and Meals On Wheels in their collaboration to prepare and deliver meals to housebound residents seven days a week. The hospital's dieticians and staff produce the meals, which are picked up by Meals On Wheels volunteers and delivered to grateful residents of New Rochelle. The New Rochelle Police Department arranged for 10 officers and five police cars to accompany seasoned volunteers on all five of the Montefiore routes through New Rochelle.
Representatives from Montefiore New Rochelle, Meals On Wheels and the New Rochelle Police Department getting ready to deliver meals.
Now in more than 30 children's hospitals across the country, the No Hitting Zone program reinforces a culture of safety, health and respect for children and adults. "If we want to see a decrease in adult violence, then we need to teach our children nonviolent conflict resolution skills through early adult modeling, teaching and coaching," says Lynn Hamberg, LMSW, MEd, Acting Director, J.E. and Z.B. Butler Center for Children and Families. "We know that family violence, including physical punishment, is linked to myriad negative health outcomes."
The J.E. and Z.B. Butler Center for Children and Families provides comprehensive evaluations and treatment for children who are victims of physical or sexual abuse, have been exposed to violence or may have experienced a traumatic event. Services include expert medical evaluations, forensic interviews, behavioral health services, training and consultation.
To learn about the No Hitting Zone program and the Butler Center, visit www.cham.org/butlercenter.
The occasion gave staff an opportunity to relax, engage with one another and co-create a "Healing Garden." Led by Teaching Artist Samantha Nye and Director of the Healing Arts Program Ronit Fallek, contributions from individual participants were assembled to form the composite installation. The final artwork is currently being displayed in the Greene Medical Arts Pavilion for patients and staff to enjoy. Stop by and have a look!
It's a World Cup year, and athletes aren't the only ones who have undergone extensive training, and since then, more than 700 pathology lab associates, including pathologists, phlebotomists, pathology assistants and specimen accessioners, have been trained on Epic Beaker.
Montefiore is heavily invested in training associates, and Epic Beaker training has also been put in place for non–pathology lab associates whose workflow integrates with the advanced system—including patient care technicians, nurses, clinicians and residents, just to name a few—to make its new features easily understood. In addition to providing these associates with role-based e-learning videos and tip sheets via the Talent Management System, ambulatory and inpatient clinical readiness sessions will be scheduled at Moses, Wakefield and Weiler before the end of July. These sessions will provide non–pathology lab associates a high-level overview about the Epic Beaker Go- Live and the opportunity to ask questions.
Check out the Epic@Montefiore intranet for additional training tips and clinical readiness sessions schedule.
Associate Wellness is hosting a FREE biometric screening as part of the Associate Health Improvement Program (A-HIP). Screenings include weight, blood pressure, A1c and/or cholesterol. Register at uswellnesscom/montefiore, and join us at the Wakefield campus.
Wakefield Campus, Education Room A
Monday, July 23 | 7:30–11:30 AM
Montefiore Healing Arts and Human Resources will offer a three-day residential workshop titled “Healing Loss,” a powerful experiential and educational program led by experienced facilitators in a safe, supportive and confidential setting. The workshop provides an opportunity to work through losses, grief and trauma that can occur in caregivers’ lives. Participants acquire new tools for resilience and healing to help maintain balance when faced with these and other stressors. Up to 24 continuing education (CEU) credits are available. Workshop is limited to 25 participants, and registration is required.
Stony Point Conference Center
Wednesday through Friday, October 17–19, 2018
Wednesday through Friday, April 3–5, 2019
Please follow the link to complete an application:
https://einsteinyu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9HbQiCvMhRmwL7T
E-mail Terysia Browne at tbrowne@montefiore.org or Peter Selwyn, MD, pselwyn@montefiore.org to learn more.
