Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/896170
Mickel L. Khlat, DO, MBA, RPh, has been appointed Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center. Dr. Khlat is board-cer tified in internal and geriatric medicine, and has been a valuable member of the medical staff as a hospitalist for the past nine years. Prior to his new role as CMO at St. Catherine of Siena, Dr. Khlat was the director of the Hospitalist Program — a position he diligently held for the past six years. He also holds the position of Chair of Hospital Medicine for Catholic Health Ser vices (CHS), where he helps to ensure CHS facilities are utilizing best practices. Southside Hospital has hired Lana Emerick, RN, to help guide patients through the complexities of the health - care system as they are receiving can- cer treatments. Cancer patient navigators aid patients in a variety of ways, including ser ving as a bridge between patients' doctors, provid - ing emotional suppor t, interacting with families and suppor ting them through dif - ficult decisions, making medical appoint- ments, and ensuring that patients comply with their care recom- mendations to suppor t the best possible clinical outcomes. Emerick was previously an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. Southside Hospital is less than one mile from the Imber t Cancer Center, a $46.5 million, 46,000-square-foot comprehensive cancer care and imaging facility. Nor thwell Health has cancer naviga - tors available to patients at seven hospitals as well as the Monter Cancer Center and Imber t Cancer Center. Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Associate Professor Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH, and Research Coordinator Sonia Jacome, MSCH, are continuing their col - laboration with the community-based organization El Poder de Decidir (El Poder) to improve the education and treatment of asthma patients in the Hispanic community with a second phase project suppor ted by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). In the first phase of this project, Dr. Hajizadeh's team, along with El Poder, arranged community meetings throughout Brooklyn and Queens to assess top priorities and concerns regarding asth - ma care. El Poder is a community-based organization in Queens that empowers Hispanic people to make informed decisions about their health after assessing risks and benefits of different treat - ment choices. From these meetings, researchers identified areas to examine in the second phase of the study. The research team will continue to meet with community mem- bers, through established relationships with El Poder, to assess which priority the community believes will have the highest poten- tial impact. They will then submit an application to PCORI for the next level of research suppor t in the form of a larger clinical trial. Mickel L. Khlat, DO, MBA, RPh Lana Emerick, RN Feinstein Institute Associate Professor Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH (left), and Research Coordinator Sonia Jacome,¯MSCH P E O P L E I N T H E N E W S 1 4