Children's Eye Health and Safety Month in August highlights the critical importance of healthy vision for every child. Part of the back-to-school routine for many parents is scheduling wellness visits with the pediatrician, and this is a great time to schedule an eye exam too. Sunju Park, MD, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Montefiore Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, notes that eye problems are surprisingly common in children. Left uncorrected, poor eyesight can impact social adjustment and behavior in school in addition to challenging a child's ability to read and focus.

Dr. Park suggests parents watch for these signs and schedule an appointment with an eye specialist if you notice:

• Eyes that don't line up, or an eye that drifts from time to time.
• Holding objects close to the face, blinking or rubbing eyes a lot.
• Squinting or frowning to focus on text, objects or images.

Children with poor eyesight often won't complain because they don't know what it is to see clearly. They just assume everyone sees the world the way they do. A routine vision screening by your primary care provider/pediatrician may pick up a problem, and if you are referred to a specialist, be sure to follow through. Eye problems can worsen over time and are easier to correct if caught and treated early. Learn more about the most common eye disorders in children, and tips for keeping children's eyes healthy and protected from harm at http://bit.ly/lohud-children-eye-health

Seven executive women at Montefiore are included in the 2019 Crain's New York Business Notable Women in Health Care, which recognizes 100 exceptional women in senior healthcare positions in the New York metro area. Congratulations to Montefiore's Colleen Blye, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Carolin Dohle, MD, Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital; Susan Fox, President and CEO, White Plains Hospital; Mooyeon Oh-Park, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital; Amanda Parsons, MD, Vice President, Community and Population Health; Tia Powell, MD, Director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Bioethics; and Lynn Richmond, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Honorees include clinical and administrative leaders, entrepreneurs, healthcare providers, physicians and scientists, all committed to expanding gender equity in healthcare.

Montefiore's world-renowned pediatric neurological surgery team recently made two trips to Brazil to separate two sets of twins conjoined at the skull (craniopagus twins). James T. Goodrich, MD, PhD, Chief, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Montefiore, and Professor, Neurosurgery, Einstein, along with Oren Tepper, MD, Director, Craniofacial Surgery Program, Montefiore, and Assistant Professor, Plastic Surgery, Einstein, along with a team of anesthesiologists and their nurse practitioners, volunteered their time to assist in the separation of the 10-month-old and 12-month-old twins. Both surgeries were successful, and both sets of twins continue to do exceptionally well. The team has had incredible outcomes in these highly complicated procedures, with 100 percent survival. Dr. Goodrich has consulted on 35 surgeries throughout the world and has participated in 10 of those with his team, either performing the surgery or directing the surgical team incision by incision. Elyse Uppal, NP, and Kamilah Dowling, NP, gave a lecture to over 30 members of the Brazilian medical team to prepare them for the surgery.