MDNews - Long Island

address the challenges facing returning veterans and their families, serving as both a treatment provider for veterans and their families, and as a major employer of veter - ans that recognizes the value they bring to their jobs. As part of that ongoing pledge, for the sixth consecutive year, Northwell President and CEO Michael Dowling presented three veterans with checks in the amount of the difference between their military pay and the regular salaries they would have received had they not taken military leave from their jobs at Northwell Health. The veterans honored were U.S. Army Reservists Omar Bholat, MD, a U.S. Army colonel for 21 years who works as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Long Island Jewish Medical Center; Michelle Wilson, an emergency medicine technician at Northwell's Center for EMS in Syosset with two years of military service as a construction engineer; and Nelson Martinez, an environmental services worker at Plainview Hospital with eight years of service as an engineer. If you or someone you know is a veteran interested in learning more about Northwell Health's Military and Veterans' Liaison Services, call 516-719-3125. Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center's Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Program was recently accredited as a Comprehensive Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), a joint program of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. To earn the MBSAQIP designation, Good Samaritan met essential criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The center also participates in a national data registr y that yields semiannual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes, identifying opportunities for continuous quality improvement. In recognition of the value it places on superior nursing care, Mercy Medical Center has once again received Pathway to Excellence designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Pathway to Excellence identifies the elements of work environments in which nurses can flourish. It substantiates the professional satisfaction of nurses at Mercy and identifies the hospital as one of the best places for nurses to work. For an organization to earn the Pathway to Excellence distinction, it must success - fully undergo a thorough review process as defined by nurses and supported by research that documents foundational quality initiatives in creating a positive work environment. Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, par t of Nor thwell Health, was recently awarded a $210,998 grant from Kohl's through its Kohl's Cares cause merchandise program. Presented at the children's hospital during the annual Children & Healthcare Week fair, the Kohl's donation to Cohen Children's will suppor t the Kohl's Cares Keeping Kids Healthy Program, a community-wide nutrition and physical activity program that works to improve children's overall health and wellness. Since 2000, Kohl's has donated more than $4.2 million to Cohen Children's. More than 30 second graders from Our Lady of the Snows in Glen Oaks, Queens, par ticipated in the "hands-on" health fair, visiting 12 tables staffed by physicians, nurses and other clinicians. The event covered a wide range of topics, including the operating room, listening to the hear t with a stethoscope, learning about helmet safety, dental care and injur y prevention. It also included a tour of an ambulance and a presentation on healthy eating. Held in the hospital's lobby, the health fair showcased Kohl's Cares Keeping Healthy program, with local Kohl's employees vol - unteering at the event. During Children & Healthcare Week, Cohen Children's hosted more than 650 elementar y school children who par ticipated in the kids' health fair. Stony Brook Medicine is expanding its clinical relationship and ser vice to the Nor th Fork of Long Island on the heels of the State University of New York Board of Trustees' approval of the affiliation between Stony Brook University Hospital and Eastern Long Island Hospital. The most recent development in Stony Brook's deepening relationship and commitment to the Nor th Fork comes in the form of a second Emergency Medical Ser vices (EMS) first responder vehicle and dedicated full-time paramedic staffing to supplement the community's volunteer corps. The new EMS team began operating in the Greenpor t, East Marion and Orient communities on May 23, providing greater emergency care coverage to those areas. The communities of Mattituck, Cutchogue and Southold are covered by another first responder vehicle provided by Stony Brook since Februar y 2016. Sgt. 1st Class Clint Castro of Melville is stationed at Fort Totten. George Procchi (center), Kohl's District Manager, presents a donation of more than $210,000 to Cohen Children's Medical Center. Also pictured are Jonathan Scheidt, the hospital's Deputy Executive Director for Finance and Administration, and Debbie Riccardi, DNP, Director of Community Outreach. Two First Responder vehicles, staffed with a Stony Brook paramedic, enhance the service of local fire departments in Greenport, East Marion, Orient, Mattituck, Cutchogue and Southold. 2 9 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

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