MDNews - Long Island

The 13,800 square-foot building was designed by local Hampton architect, Blaze Makoid who took inspiration from the property's legacy as the site of a Southampton farmer's potato barn. The inte - rior is designed to enhance healing by healthcare facilities architect, Victor Famulari. Patients and families are cared for in private and shared treatment spaces featuring murals of soothing East End beach scenes. Chemotherapy treatment rooms overlook healing outdoor organic gardens and landscapes supervised by Edwina von Gal of Perfect Earth Project and Christopher LaGuardia of LaGuardia Design Group. There are separate entrances for Radiation Therapy and Medical Oncology patients. Mobile computers with automatic charting allow medical staff to focus more time and attention directly on the patient. From left: Assemblyman Fred W. Theile Jr., Kenneth Wright, Chair, Southampton Hospital Association; Robert S. Chaloner, Chief Administrative Officer, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital; Barbara Phillips, benefactor, and her son Andrew Phillips, cutting the ribbon; Kenneth Kaushansky, MC. MACP, Senior Vice President, Health Services and Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University; Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director of Stony Brook University Cancer Center, Vice Dean for Cancer Medicine, Joel Strum Kenny Professor in Cancer Research; and Samuel Ryu, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and Deputy Director, Clinical Affairs, Stony Brook University Cancer Center For the third consecutive year, Pink Aid has awarded Mercy Medical Center's Radiology and Imaging Center with a grant to support breast health services for the uninsured and underinsured on Long Island. This year's grant, for $30K, supports complimentary breast cancer screenings, breast biopsies, secondary screenings like the molecular breast imaging (MBI) — an advanced screening for women with dense breasts — and more. "We are so thankful to Pink Aid for their continued support," says Mercy Medical Center's Director of Radiology Conellia Ha, MD. "Long Island breast cancer rates are higher than the rest of the nation, and Pink Aid's support is crucial in allowing us to provide health care ac - cess to those in need. I'm confident that this year's grant will have an even bigger impact on our community as the FDA moves to imple- ment change by regulating breast cancer screenings in patients with dense breasts." Dr. Ha is referring to the recent FDA proposal to notify women with dense breasts about their increased cancer risk. The pro - posal will update mammography regulations for the first time in two decades. At Mercy, those screenings have been in place since 2013, and thanks to Pink Aid, have been offered to the unin- sured and underinsured. From left: Conellia Ha, MD, Director of Radiology, Mercy Medical Center; Margaret Glier, RN, Director of Nursing, Mercy Medical Center; Jeannie Colamussi, RN, Nurse Navigator, Mercy Medical Center; Barbara Gibbons, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Mercy Medical Center; Shan Ahmed, DO, Chief Medical Officer, Mercy Medical Center; Bonnie Williamson, Pink Aid Advisory Council Member; Colleen Vandermark, Assistant Director of Imaging Services, Mercy Medical Center; Pink Aid Long Island Co-President Rosemary Connors, Co-President, Pink Aid Long Island; Mercy's Development Associate Ivelise Cabrera, Development Associate, Mercy Medical Center; and Mercy's Executive Director of Development Temra Taylor. There is a groundbreaking partnership between Catholic Health Service's New Hope Center, the Nassau County District Attorney, Northwell Health and Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) that will further close the deadly treatment gap by providing overdose patients with immediate transportation and admission into New Hope's residential treatment from the emergency departments. April 15th, staff from Maryhaven's New Hope Stabilization Center—a member of Catholic Health Services– began a pilot program with Long Island Jewish Medical Center and NUMC. New Hope staff are on call to respond directly to the hospital emergency rooms to work with the hospital staff to counsel the patient and immediately transport the patient to New Hope to begin treatment. The patient will be assessed to determine the next phase of treatment. The New Hope staff will assist the patient with any necessary insurance, Medicare or Medicaid paperwork. The patient will remain at New Hope until there is availability in the next program and the average length of stay is 7 to 10 days. Typically, users who overdose and are revived are stabilized and released from the emergency department because withdrawal is not considered medically "life-threatening." The person in crisis is released back into the community while experiencing withdrawal. If the patient is released to a family member, the family member is frequently unequipped to handle the challenges of a person painfully withdrawing from drugs. In 2018, according to the Nassau County Medical Examiner, 123 individuals died of an opioid-related overdose in Nassau County. Currently, the Medical Examiner has 72 cases that are pending cause of death determination, and those cases may or may not be opioid overdose-related. In 2017, 184 individuals died of an overdose in Nassau County. n M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S L O N G I S L A N D ■ 2 019 2 9

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