www.RUMCSI.org May 2014

Welcome New President & CEO

Daniel J. Messina, Ph.D., FACHE, LNHA

CHRONICLE

I am delighted to become part of Richmond University Medi-cal Center's family as your new President and Chief Executive Officer. It is my privilege to join such a dedicated team of employees, trustees, and medi-cal staff. As a resident and native Staten Islander, I have seen the out-

standing patient care firsthand with my own family. Born in this hospital and returning now to lead the institution is a pinnacle moment in my career, and in my life. Today, I am enthused to build a vision together for the improved health of our borough, and grow Richmond University Medical Center's levels of clinical excellence. I have witnessed the rise of the borough's rates for diabetes, obesity, smoking, and cardiovascular death, which are signifi-cantly higher than citywide statistics. Richmond University Medical Center is deeply committed to serving the 500,000 residents of the borough, and will play a pivotal role in help-

ing Islanders reduce incidence of chronic disease, preventable illness, and obesity as evidenced by our fine clinical perform-ance against industry benchmarks. Our integrative wellness care at the Women's Comprehensive Center is an important first step in this journey and serves as a model for improving the overall health of our community. I look forward to sharing important highlights and updates with you monthly through the Chronicle and I invite you to do the same on any special announcements by contacting our Community Relations team at info@rumcsi.org. There are so many great activities and achievements to highlight! The rec-ognition of quality improvements, outstanding employees, community engagement, and upcoming events will be com-municated. We will also begin to highlight board members, volunteers, staff, and physicians to keep you informed, so that you can share our vision and updates within the community. I am proud to come home to Richmond University Medical Center and look forward to working with each and every one of you in advancing our mission and positioning the organiza-tion for continued success. Daniel J. Messina, Ph.D., FACHE, LNHA

In early April Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Richmond University Medical Center will receive $12 million in FEMA funding to aid in efforts to in-crease the medical center's wind resil-iency and site drainage. This project is one of ten announced as approved for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding. The federal government pro-gram is aiming to mitigate the risks as-sociated with possible future disasters.

For both Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, RUMC was the only hospital to remain fully open on the Island. “We are tremendously grateful to Governor Cuomo and his leadership for recognizing the importance of advancing FEMA funding for our hospital. We thank our entire legislative delegation and the strong advocacy of Senator Andrew Lanza and Assem-blyman Mike Cusick,” shared Executive Vice President Dr. Pietro Carpenito.

RUMC Awarded $12 Million

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Funding

A PUBLICATION FOR EMPLOYEES, PHYSICIANS, TRUSTEES, AND VOLUNTEERS OF RICHMOND UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

Chronicle May 2014

RUMC Teddy Bear Clinic at Children’s Museum

RUMC sponsored the April 16th Teddy Bear Clinic at the Staten Island

Children’s Museum. Kids brought their favorite stuffed teddy bear

and learned how to provide first aid. If they forgot their favorite

stuffed animal, they were given a very special RUMC bear! During the

program children learned how doctors, nurses, and emergency

personnel can help them and their families in an emergency. Topics

also included helmet safety and dental hygiene. As a highlight, RUMC

provided an ambulance on-site and the EMTs provided tours for the

children.

Pictured Left: Christopher Ruiz, RUMC Trauma Coordinator with RUMC

Board Trustee, Katherine Connors with her brother, Brian McGarry and

her nephews Sean and Aidan.

Welcome Spring… But First, Special Thanks to Gary Zimmermann & the RUMC Snow Team!

Welcome April New Hires!

Robert M. Mozorosky

John D. Rella

Anthony Bosco

Jennifer A. Tripp

Kathleen C. Gardiner, RN

Julia R. Kenny, RN

Mykola Kovalenko, RN

Taylecia Bligen

Joahna Delvalle

Karina F Adlawan

Melissa Raymond

Angelica M. Cintron

Desiree S. Finley

Bianca L. Rosario

Amber J. Tortora

Cynthia Wilson

Dominick J. Varis

ICU Monitoring System Installation a Success!

The installation of all monitoring systems in both Intensive Care Units is complete; the

equipment is operational and in use. Chief Operating Officer Rosemarie Stazzone shares, “I

must thank all involved including the nursing staff (Dale and Yolanda), the Nihon Kohden

team, Mike Ford, and Victor Amatrudo. The success of this project has been based in the

ability of all departments, vendors and individuals to work together as a team.”

This winter was difficult and dropped more snow on our cam-pus than we have seen in a few years! While we’re anxious to open our windows and welcome spring, the administration wishes to thank Gary Zimmermann and the RUMC Snow Team for their hard work with this year’s snow removal. RUMC Snow Team: Louis Mazza, Errol Yearwood, Dennis Cropely, Danny Poggioli, Arkady Khaykin, Alex Calantone, Mike Ippolito, Chris Zavodsky, Albert Hendricks, Miguel Reyes, Nicky Amaniera, Scott Rand. Special Thanks to Artie Cossean!

Chronicle May 2014

Another Successful Drug Take Back Day at RUMC

On Saturday, April 26th, the Medical Center participated in the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative. This program

is sponsored by The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) which has collected back hundreds of tons of unwanted medi-

cation for proper disposal for community safety. Anyone who had old, unwanted or unused medications in the community

was able to bring them into the main lobby and have them properly disposed of for free. In total, RUMC has collected nearly

300 pounds of prescription drugs! Thank you to RUMC staff who participated in making the Take Back another success!

RUMC Volunteers Recognized During Spring Brunch at the Staaten

On Friday, April 4th the Volunteer office and Senior Administration thanked and celebrated the RUMC Volunteers with a special brunch. Nearly 70 of our devoted volun-teers attended the celebratory event, where they were presented gifts and recognition certificates. The hospital’s 200 volunteers are composed of nearly 100 auxilians and 100 hospital volunteers that work in clerical and patient care areas. In 2013 alone, nearly 6,300 hours of dedicated services were provided to RUMC by our outstanding volunteers.

We appreciate the support of our volunteers and commend them for their service to our hospital. We would like to again extend our thanks and appreciation to each volunteer at RUMC!

To learn more about the volunteer program or if you would like request support from a volunteer or intern, please contact Stefanie Racano at x2103.

May Lobby Sales

May 1- Anna Erica Sale

May 2- Agnes Brown Sale

May 8- J&G Jewelry

May 16- Auxiliary Bake Sale

May 23- Steve Visconti Sale

May 29- KASA Jewelry

Stroke Team Wins National Quality Award

People who suffer a stroke and receive the drug within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and are less likely to suffer severe disability.

RUMC receives the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award for the fourth con-secutive year! The award recognizes RUMC’s commit-ment and success in imple-menting a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally ac-cepted guidelines.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that RUMC has been recognized with a quality achievement award. Get With The Guidelines–Stroke helps the hospital’s

staff develop and implement acute and secondary preven-tion guideline processes to improve patient care and outcomes. The quick and efficient use of guideline pro-cedures can improve the quality of care for stroke pa-tients and may reduce dis-ability and save lives. RUMC also received the associa-tion’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll for meeting stroke qual-ity measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with clot buster tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

In Our Community

Women’s Comprehensive Center Ribbon Cutting at 4434 Amboy Road!

Richmond University Medical Center—a Proud Sponsor of the 2014 High Rock Challenge

Pictured above right: Sons of Anarchy Actor Theo Rossi stopped at the RUMC table to get his blood pressure checked.

RUMC Around Town

Welcome Tea with New President & CEO Dan Messina

Heart Health Fair at the Staten Island Mall

Auxiliary Baby Shower Event in the Lobby

April 12th Community Health Fair at 800 Castleton Avenue

Quality & Patient Care

Ambulatory Care Pavilion Opens at 800 Castleton Avenue!

The Patient Centered Medical Home Model of Care

The Richmond University Medical Center Staff at the Ambulatory Care Center at 800 Castleton Avenue.

What is Patient Centered Medical Home?

Patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a team based health care delivery model led by a physician, PA or NP that provides comprehensive and continuous medical care to patients with the goal of obtaining maximized health outcomes. Care coordination is an essential compo-nent of the PCMH.

A team of physicians, nurses, and medical staff keep track of a patient’s health pro-gress or concerns together, offering strong preventative care. This team will create a wellness plan for the patient, one that is tailored to each individual’s specific needs and provides a blueprint for the patient to manage their care at home. Our ultimate goal at RUMC, is to begin to reverse the alarming trends in chronic illnesses and pre-ventable diseases that we see throughout Staten Island, where there is a higher rate of mortality when compared to the other boroughs. Staten Island shows an increased rate of death from cardiovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, and can-cer. Staten Island residents also suffer from a higher incidence of cancer and heart disease (Source: NYS Community Health Indicator Reports 2007-2011).

Quality & Patient Care

Volunteer Star of the Month: Beatrice Jacobson

For the past 15 years, Beatrice Jacobson has been helping Richmond Univer-

sity Medical Center as a volunteer messenger. Beatrice helps our RUMC com-

munity, offering to assist with projects big and small. Her dedication and

commitment is truly appreciated by not only the volunteer office, but all by

staff, physicians, and the board of trustees.

We thank Beatrice for her service and we congratulate her on being recog-

nized as our May Volunteer Star! Beatrice has completed more than 3,600

hours of service to the Richmond University Medical Center family.

Beatrice was recently recognized by NY1 as Staten Islander of the Week for

her service to RUMC, and received an award at the United Hospital Fund’s

2014 Volunteer of the Year Tea at the Waldorf Astoria in March.

Good News! Community Members Celebrating RUMC Staff

A community member recently wrote a letter of gratitude to Dr. Pietro Carpenito, Executive Vice President. She shared detail of her experience with our staff (please see the letter below). We acknowledge the staff who assisted her family member, and thank everyone for going above & beyond with patient care!

Dear Dr. Carpenito:

My sister in law was a patient at RUMC in January. She was transferred from a nursing home to the ER for a

CAT scan and then admitted to the 6th floor in serious condition.

During her stay on the 6th floor she received excellent care from an intern, Dr. Omar Ullah and a Registered

Nurse, Adriana Scalici. Often, Dr. Ullah had the difficult task of giving her bad news and did it in a firm, but gen-

tle way. He was there with us as she signed her DNR forms. He explained all procedures but while he constantly

tried was unable to convince her that she was in great need of a central line. He assured us she was in good hands

and that gave my husband and me great comfort. He will be a wonderful doctor, caring and concerned for his pa-

tients and their families. We wish him well.

My sister in law was extremely uncomfortable. Adriana did all in her power to accomplish the goal of COM-

FORT which was posted on the whiteboard in her room. She answered all our questions and was so very gentle

and caring as she put in the IV's etc. Every time we left, she assured us she "was around" and "not to worry." One

night she stayed later just to be sure everything was the way it should be before she went off duty. She talked

about her family, her children and I think listening to her, her patients enjoyed her stories and forgot their pains

for a few minutes. She is an outstanding nurse.

My sister in law was on the 6th floor for over a week before being transferred to the 4th floor cardiac wing. Up

until the day she died, January 21st, she was still asking to be transferred back to the 6th floor!!!!!

My husband and I wish to thank Dr. Ullah and Adriana for their wonderful care. They are true examples of excel-

lent service, love of patients and role models for their peers.

Sincerely,

Mary H.

Mary H.

Training Physicians in

Minimally Invasive Procedures

at Richmond University Medical Center

Richmond University Medical Center is now leading the way in single-site laparoscopic surgery advancement and training of other physicians. “This will be the foun-dation for Richmond University Medical Center to do prospective randomized studies on the advocacy of single-site laparoscopic vs. single-site robotic surgery. Now that we have mastered this, we will be able to compare single-site traditional manual laparoscopic vs. single-site robotics,” says Frederick Sabido, M.D., FACS, Division Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Direc-tor of Advanced Gastrointestinal Minimally Invasive Surgery/Flexible Endoscopy Fellowship Program. At RUMC, the first robot-assisted surgeries have been gall-bladder removals, or cholecystectomies, performed by Dr. Sabido.

In April, Dr. Sabido performed the Island’s first single incision gallbladder removal with the da Vinci robot in under thirty minutes. “We took the best techniques from everyone to make this the most efficient process possible, and I took suggestions from my nurses to make the procedure even easier and go more smoothly,” he says. With his understanding of those techniques, Dr. Sabido will begin training other physi-cians to perform minimally invasive surgeries using manual and robotic single-site procedures. “Sharing the knowledge and methods with other physicians is ex-tremely important to me and to Richmond University Medical Center,” he says. “Now we can train our fellows and other attending physicians in both manual single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy and da Vinci robotic single-site cholecystectomy. We are excited to be able to provide this cutting-edge procedure to the Staten Island community.”

Pictured above: Dr. Sabido welcomed Dr. Maurizio Miglietta, Director of Trauma at Englewood Hospital and Attending Surgeon at Hackensack UMC, to demonstrate his take on the procedure.