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Mercy Medical Center earned the Catholic Health Services (CHS) Pinnacle Award for Quality & Patient Safety for Severe Sepsis Improvement in the system's acute care cat - egory. Catholic Home Care's REACT program won the Pinnacle Award in the continuing care category. The presentations were made at a conference held at the DeMatteis Center for Cardiac Research & Education in Greenvale on April 8. St. Joseph Hospital earned finalist honors in the acute care category for improving emergency department throughput and patient experience. Our Lady of Consolation Nursing & Rehabilitative Care Center was awarded final - ist honors for its Music and Memory Program in the continuing care category. During the month of April, a coalition of local organizations donated a combined $23,000 to help establish specialized fitness equipment and curricula at three East End elemen- tary schools. A partnership with Peconic Bay Medical Center, GYMGUYZ East End, the Mattituck Lions Club and Kait's Angels will help bring Project Fit America to the Greenport and Cutchogue East elementary schools and Riverhead Charter School. Project Fit America is a national non - profit that provides schools with the fitness equipment, curriculum and guidance needed to reduce the onset of childhood obesity and diabetes. In 2013, Project Fit America launched in all five public elementary schools in Riverhead, the first program in New York state. The Riverhead program has been tremendously successful, helping the school district win the inaugural Suffolk County Community Health Improvement Plan Award in 2014. The Guilds of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center recently presented a check for $54,000 to The Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation. The donation will provide a new incubator for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Not only do the Guilds of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center generously donate their time to volunteer at the hospital, they are one of The Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation's most gener - ous benefactors. In addition, The Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation is celebrating the first anniver- sary of the volunteer-led Brave Hearts group, which supports the hospital's open-heart surgery patients and their loved ones. In its first year, Brave Hearts volunteers visited more than 250 patients and welcomed 52 members into the program. There are many ways to participate as a member of the Brave Hearts, including making hospital visits, assisting with the newsletter, organizing special events and meetings, sharing contact information for the Heartline, and reaching out to others to share and support. Doctors at Northwell Health's Neuroscience Institute have begun enrolling patients in an international research study to test the safety and efficacy of an investigational vaccine to prevent Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infections following spinal surgery. S. aureus is a leading cause of hospital- acquired infections in the United States. Hospital-acquired S. aureus, as well as methicillin-resistant S. aureus infections, are often associated with a longer hospital stay, greater morbidity and mortality, and high treatment costs. The study will test the safety and efficacy of Pfizer's S. aureus 4-antigen vaccine in adult patients undergoing elective posterior lumbar spinal fusion surgery. Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C. an - nounced that Executive Director Mae Caime, RN, traveled to Ethiopia in mid-May to evaluate hospitals where the practice could perform scoliosis surgery. Caime repre - sented SpineHope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to treating underprivileged children around the world. Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C. has supported three medical mission trips to Ethiopia. In February, Laurence E. Mermelstein, MD, and Kristopher Stillwell, LOCAL Mercy Medical Center received the Catholic Health Services Pinnacle Award for Quality & Patient Safety in the acute care category. Catholic Home Care's REACT program won the Pinnacle Award in the continuing care category. 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 ■ 2 016 2 9