Dear Friends & Colleagues:

Physicians and hospitals want the same things for our patients.  We want to give them high quality health care, and we want them to thrive after they leave our care. I know we also agree that we would rather focus on the care of our patients than on paperwork and fighting for reimbursement.

Increasingly, we share the burden of the cost for providing high quality health care. It is not being reimbursed adequately on the state or federal level. In some cases, it seems that the time spent wrestling for payment on a claim becomes more trouble (and more costly) than it’s worth.

All state Senate and Assembly seats, as well as the Governorship, are up for grabs this November and we are entering election season. We must support candidates who represent the best interests of health care delivery and of patients. Now is the time to rally! A powerful way to make our voice heard is to pool our political capital— physicians and hospitals throughout the state— through group advocacy.

As a participant in the political action committee (PAC) of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), New York hospitals have formed a unified stance for our budgetary and legislative needs. We need to make sure that our elected officials understand the challenges we face so they can advocate for effective approaches.  

In 2009, HANYS worked with the Medical Society of New York State and other hospital and physician groups to win enactment of a law to curb unfair managed care practices, such as speeding up claims payment and reducing administrative denials.

With our support and monies from its PAC, HANYS continues to push for medical malpractice reform. For the second straight year, the State Legislature has heard our collective voice and has frozen medical malpractice premium rates. We all agree, a long term solution is the next step for medical malpractice and for other stalled issues like the “doc fix” bill and tort reform.

This year I am serving as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the HANYS PAC and I hope, if you can, that you will lend your support to this year’s campaign. For more about the HANYS PAC, see page 4.

As providers of health care, important advice we give to our patients is that health is not something that we can afford to neglect or “save for another day.” We need our legislators to heed the same advice and make health care workable for our future.

Sincerely,
Stephen S. Mills

 

PEOPLE AND PROGRAMS

PROGRAM NEWS

New Building for Silvercrest Senior Housing
The Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation celebrated a ribbon cutting ceremony and reception for a new building dedicated for senior housing. Silvercrest, a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, operates a 320-bed, sub-acute center for long-term care, rehabilitation and ventilator- dependant patients.

The new building for senior housing totals 66,394 square feet and features 80 bedrooms for low-income individuals who are over 62 years of age.  The project received federal support from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and is situated on Silvercrest property in Briarwood, Queens. U.S. Congressman Gregory Meeks, State Assemblyman Rory Lancman, State Senator Frank Padavan, and Deputy Queens Borough President Barry Grodenchik were among the honored guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Tours of the new facility followed the formal program.

Another First for New York Hospital Queens
The first endovascular repair of a descending thoracic aortic aneurysm was performed by Gregg Landis, M.D., director, vascular & endovascular surgery, Kurtis Kim, M.D., attending vascular surgeon, and Charles Mack, M.D., attending cardiothoracic surgeon. They collaborated on the minimally invasive repair of a patient’s life threatening condition. Previously, this type of surgery required a wide incision opening the chest and abdomen and prolonged intensive care. In a less invasive way, through a tiny incision in the groin, a large stent was used to repair the diseased area of the artery in the patient's chest. Once the damaged artery was repaired, the patient recovered quickly and was discharged within a few days.

Hospital Bills Can Be Paid Online at www.nyhq.org
Many individuals have become accustomed to online commerce as a time-saving and useful convenience. We have made paying our hospital bills easier by adding a “click and pay” option for patients to settle their hospital bill from the convenience of their home, office or anywhere there is a web connection. Instructions on how to pay online are on each patients’ hospital bill, and are made through a secure portal on  www.nyhq.org.

Resources of the NYHQ Cancer Center
Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer extend beyond the physical needs of the patient. The NYHQ Cancer Center offers a range of support programs to help patients and their families cope with the challenges of a cancer diagnosis.

We offer a half dozen  support groups that range from smoking cessation and living through a cancer diagnosis to free transportation to and from the hospital for cancer treatment. A group of specialists are also part of our patients’ professional medical team to provide guidance on nutrition, genetic counseling, mental health, symptom management, as well as understanding and navigating a course of treatment.

Joint Commission Guidelines for Patient Safety
The Joint Commission, the accrediting body for health care facilities throughout the United States, established seven National Patient Safety Goals for hospitals that we follow very closely. Each of those goals was established to address recurring patient safety issues nationwide. One of those goals addresses the need to identify safety risks that are inherent in the patient population, such as, how well a hospital identifies patients who are at risk of suicide or causing serious harm to themselves (high risk of falling from bed).

• Suicides in hospitals are very rare. However, according to the American Psychiatric Association, hospitalized patients are at higher risk because of heightened physical or emotional distress.  An acute care hospital can sometimes be the first place where patients are diagnosed with a mental health issue. Here at NYHQ we have guidelines in place to address the patient’s immediate safety needs and determine the most appropriate setting for treatment.

PEOPLE NEWS

We are pleased to announce new clinical and administrative appointments.

The Heart and Vascular Center welcomes two new attending physicians who have been appointed to the cardiology faculty and announces the new office location for one of our attending cardiologists.

Seth H. Goldbarg, M.D., a specialist in electrophysiology, is a graduate of Harvard University, Yale University School of Medicine, and he completed his internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He also completed a cardiology fellowship and a two–year extended fellowship in electrophysiology at Mt. Sinai. Hospital in Manhattan. Dr.Goldbarg is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and cardiology. He joins George Juang, M. D., in the practice of cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia services. Contact Dr. Goldbarg, at (718) 670-2087.

 

 

 

 

Andrew J. Buda, M. D., leads the division’s research efforts. Dr. Buda is a graduate of the University of Toronto School of Medicine, and completed cardiology fellowships at Toronto General Hospital and Stanford University Medical Center.  He was director of the Echocar- diography Laboratory at the University of Michigan Medical Center, chief of cardiology at Tulane University Medical Center and most recently, chief of clinical cardiology at Montifiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Contact Dr. Buda, at (718) 670-2087.

 

 

 

 

 

Marios D. Gagos, D.O., an attending cardiologist, has opened a private practice in Astoria, Queens. Dr. Gagos, board certified in both cardiovascular diseases and nuclear cardiology, specializes in preventive cardiology, helping patients avoid or manage the early symptoms of heart disease, as well as treatment of acute conditions such as congestive heart failure and acute coronary syndromes. Dr. Gagos’ office is located at Astoria Medical Plaza, 27–47 Crescent Street, Suite 101, Astoria. The office is equipped with advanced technology, including echocardiography and stress testing, for diagnosis and development of patient treatment plans. Dr. Gagos may be contacted at (718) 606-6800.

 

 

The Emergency Medicine Department welcomes two new attending physicians and a new research coordinator:

Christopher Calandrella, D.O., joins us after completing his postgraduate training in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital, Bronx, NY, where he served as chief resident. He achieved his medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, NY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerianne B. Brady, M.D. completed her internship, residency and fellowship training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine – Childrens’ Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY, and she received her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kruti Joshi, M.P.H., joins the department as research coordinator.  Ms. Joshi holds a master's degree in Public Health with Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, N.J., and an undergraduate degree in Public Health from Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ.

The NYHQ Women’s Auxiliary’s mission is to raise funds to support programs that benefit the hospital and the community. The Auxiliary installed a new slate of officers for the next one-year term. We offer many thanks to Susan Leder, past president, for her many years of leadership.

• The officers for the new term are:  Jody Eglinton, president; Fran Zanni, vice president; Kathleen Soltan, vice president for administrative affairs; Celia Edouard, assistant vice president for administrative affairs; Rose Cutugno, treasurer; Marie Gavroy, assistant treasurer; Rose Marie LaRuffa, recording secretary; Alberta Squillante, assistant recording secretary; Connie Fokianos, corresponding secretary; Nilda Janacek, assistant corresponding secretary.

Our physicians frequently present their work at national medical conferences and in peer-reviewed publications.

Pinchi Srinivasan, M.D., director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Michael Brandler, M.D., attending neonatalogist, Pediatrics; Peri Millman, M.D., director, Pediatric Gastroenterology; have published the results of a case study, “Allergic enterocolitis presenting as recurrent necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates,” in the Journal of Perinatology.

Michael S. Radeos, M.D., M.P.H., research director, Emergency Medicine, and the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Ambassador to Greece, served as faculty at the “Emergency Medicine Training and Practice Conference: International Aspects,” sponsored by the University of Crete and the Hellenic Society for Emergency Medicine, in Heraklion, Crete. He spoke on Emergency Medicine training, how emergency departments function in the U.S., and “Critical Decisions in Emeregency Medicine: The Golden Hour.”

The Department of Emergency Medicine presented eight research abstracts at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ. Four abstracts on severe sepsis were authored by Jeffrey P. Green, M.D., assistant residency director, Nidhi Garg, M.D., research coordinator, and emergency medicine resident Jeanette Guzman, M.D. Two studies concerning the medical education of residents were authored by James G. Ryan, M.D., residency director, and David Barlas, M.D., associate residency director. Alison Suarez, M.D., assistant residency director, and Michael S. Radeos, M.D., M.P.H, research drector, presented their work on “Insufficient Clinician Documentation of Significant Electrocardiographic Findings in Adults Presenting to the Emergency Department with Dysrhythmias or Conduction Disorders,” and Dr. Garg and Sanjey Gupta, M.D., authored “The Preventive Health Knowledge of Obtaining a Flu Shot in Queens, NY.” 

PROGRESS

Update on the “West Wing Building”
The new West Wing building was inspected and received a certificate of occupancy by the NYC Department of Buildings. The New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) conducted a preoccupancy survey of floors 4 and 5 in mid June. The hospital still awaits authorization to occupy the floors. The 4th and 5th floors contain 80 medical, surgical and orthopaedic beds.

The NYS DOH inspection for the lower level, 1st and 2nd floors has been requested for August. Once this inspection is successfully completed, and we have received authorization for occupancy, we can proceed with the opening of the new Ambulatory Surgery and Interventional Procedure areas.

Tours of the New “West Wing”
We have been conducting tours for employees, news media and community leaders who request a tour of the new building. We want to make sure that our medical staff has an opportunity to take a tour now through September 1. All physicians who are interested in taking a 30-minute narrated tour, should call (718) 670-2301, Pamela Williams, Medical Staff Office.

 

Contribute to the HANYS-PAC
The 2010 Annual HANYS-PAC campaign will kick-off this month throughout the state and at New York Hospital Queens. HANYS is an industry advocacy organization that represents hospitals across the state.

This PAC pools individual contributions of thousands health care leaders in New York State and many more across the nation. The contributions support the HANYS PAC, New York State Hospital and Health care Associations’ (NYSHHA) Federal PAC, and our federal activities, as a portion of each contribution is shared with the American Hospital Association PAC (AHAPAC). A PAC steering committee of health care leaders, representing all regions of the state, guides the distribution of contributions to candidates who are advocates for health care.

If you are interested in making a donation to the New York Hospital Queens campaign for 2010 HANYS-PAC funds, or would like more information, please contact Debra Pagano Cohen at (718) 670-1586.

United Hospital Fund Hosts Conference Addressing Federal Reform and Fiscal Uncertainty
The United Hospital Fund presented a conference, “A New Era in Medicaid: Federal Reform and Fiscal Uncertainty.” Featured speakers included Rima Cohen, Counselor for Health Policy, U.S. Departament of Health and Human Services, and Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch.

• Ms. Cohen addressed the upcoming implementation of the new health care reform bill. Consumer education is the first step. She announced a new federal online resource for consumers to use to review the differences between a number of public and private health insurance plans. The Lieutenant Governor reviewed the current difficulties regarding the New York State’s budget process and the state’s financial woes. Unfortunately, he predicts the state debt will worsen next year because there are many cuts that still need to be made.