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Huntington Hospital

Huntington Hospital’s four midwives, from left, Laura Jabbour, Jessica Hilsenroth, Michele Mayer and Lindsay Price. Photo from Northwell Health

Huntington Hospital’s four midwives are now seeing patients at Northwell Health Physician Partners ob/gyn offices in Commack and Smithtown. 

Midwives Michele Mayer, Jessica Hilsenroth, Laura Jabbour and Lindsay Price have office hours at 777 Larkfield Road in Commack and 222 East Middle Country Road, Suite 114 in Smithtown. In addition, the midwives see patients at Huntington Hospital’s Women’s Center at 270 Park Ave. in Huntington.

“In response to patient requests, we have begun seeing women at these convenient offices to better serve the residents of Suffolk County,” said Mayer, supervisor of Huntington Hospital’s midwife practice. 

Midwives provide care to women from their first gynecologic visit through menopause with comprehensive prenatal care and natural childbirth; well woman exams; treatment of common gynecologic issues; and contraception consultation, initiation and surveillance.

To schedule an appointment with a Huntington Hospital midwife, please call 631-351-2415. 

For more information about the Northwell Health Physician Partners Obstetrics and Gynecology call 631-775-3290 (Smithtown office) or 631-470-8940 (Commack office).

Huntington Hospital will honor the owners of The Paramount — pictured from left, Brian Doyle, Jim Condron, Stephen Ubertini and Dominick Catoggio — at The Social, an event supporting the hospital and its future cancer center on Nov. 21.

“The Paramount has blossomed into a cultural center and economic engine for the Town of Huntington, a venue the community can be proud of,” said Dr. Nick Fitterman, executive director of Huntington Hospital. “They have reinvented and improved the cultural experience of downtown Huntington. I know that employees and patients alike excitedly look forward to attending performances at The Paramount.”

“It’s a great experience thanks to these gentlemen, who brought world class entertainment to our doorstep. Their artistic vision and community spirit are among the reasons we are excited to honor them at this year’s gala,” Fitterman said.

For more information, including sponsorship opportunities, contact Dolli Bross at 631-470-5204 or email [email protected].

Photo from Huntington Hospital

Town of Huntington will host a Organ Donor Enrollment Day Oct. 10. File photo by Rohma Abbas

 Huntington council members Mark Cuthbertson and Joan Cergol are urging Huntington residents to register to be an organ donor as the town is hosting an Organ Donor Enrollment Day October 10. Residents can sign up at Town Hall or Huntington Hospital. 

New York State ranks last in the country with only 35% of registered organ donors versus the average of 50% registered across the country.

A recent study showed that 92 percent of New Yorkers support organ and tissue donation, only 35 percent of New Yorkers are registered as organ donors. Every 18 hours, a New Yorker dies waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

That means that people can wait an average of 7 or more years to receive a lifesaving transplant. Meanwhile every 18 hours, a New Yorker dies on the waiting list. Now in its fifth year, Organ Donor Enrollment Day presents New Yorkers with a convenient opportunity to make their support known and to sign up as an organ and tissue donor.  This year, Huntington Hospital is hosting Organ Donor Enrollment Day as a facet of its partnership with the LiveOnNY to facilitate tissue and organ transplants.

 “I can tell you from personal experience that organ and tissue donation saves lives,” Cuthbertson said. “My son, Hunter, received a bone marrow transplant a few years ago and he is doing fine today. He was lucky, his donor was his brother. Only 25% of family members are a match, that leaves 75 percent of people needing transplants to rely on the kindness of strangers.”

Cergol also spoke on her experiences.

“A family friend’s son needed a heart transplant and I watched as he became weaker and weaker waiting for a heart, thankfully that call came and he received his transplant,” she said. “Not every New Yorker is as lucky as he was, we need to bring New York out of last place and save lives.”

Doing their part to help change the statistics, Cuthbertson and Cergol announced yesterday that preparations were underway for the 3rd annual 5k Run to Save Lives to be held on Sunday April 19, 2020 at Oldfield Middle School. 

The run annually brings together competitive and recreational runners with transplant recipients, donor families and organizations promoting organ donation and highlighting the need for people to enroll as organ donors. More than 250 people participated in the 2019 race, which raised $16,000 for organ donation groups.

It’s not too early to sign up. People can register online at: https://events.elitefeats.com/april-2020-town-of-huntington-5k-to-save-lives

To sign up to be an organ donor, please go to www.liveonny.org 

Compiled by David Luces 

Photo from Northwell Health

Huntington Hospital has received a two-year designation as an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence (AS CoE) by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). The hospital is one of only 35 hospitals nationwide to receive this recognition.

More than 700,000 people die worldwide each year due to antimicrobial-resistant infections. The AS CoE program recognizes institutions that have created stewardship programs led by infectious disease (ID) physicians and ID-trained pharmacists who have achieved standards established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC core elements for antibiotic stewardship include seven major areas: leadership commitment, accountability, drug expertise, action, tracking, reporting and education.

Dr. Cynthia Ann Hoey and Dr. Adrian Popp, infectious disease specialists, worked closely with pharmacists Agnieszka Pasternak  and Nina Yousefzadeh to ensure Huntington Hospital met the rigorous criteria to be recognized by the IDSA.

“We are honored to have received this prestigious IDSA recognition,” said Dr. Nick Fitterman, the hospital’s executive director. “We are committed to fighting antimicrobial resistance through our comprehensive training and educational outreach program with all of our infectious disease specialists and pharmacists. The antimicrobial stewardship program will improve patient care and preserve the integrity of current treatments for future generations.”

Pictured from left, Nina Yousefzadeh,  Dr. Cynthia Ann Hoey, Agnieszka Pasternak and Dr. Nick Fitterman.

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From left, Huntington Subaru General Manager Gary Farley and Sales Manager Vinny Rizzo present Huntington Hospital’s Dr. Nick Fitterman and Dr. Robert Kerr with a $35,000 donation. Photo from Northwell Health

CHECK PRESENTATION

Huntington Subaru donated $35,000 – proceeds from its Share the Love program – to Huntington Hospital’s neurosurgery department on April 15.  

Subaru’s Share the Love program involves Subaru of America, on behalf of Huntington Subaru, donating up to $250 for every vehicle leased or sold at the Huntington dealership between Nov. 15, 2018 and Jan. 3, 2019.

“This generous donation will help Huntington Hospital’s neurosurgery program to continue to stay on the forefront providing cutting-edge medical care to Suffolk County residents,” said Dr. Nick Fitterman, executive director of Huntington Hospital.

The hospital’s neurosurgery department is led by Dr. Robert Kerr, chair of neurosurgery. He helped institute the O-arm in 2016, a state-of-the-art imaging system that allows surgeons to precisely see where to place hardware during delicate neurosurgery. Huntington Hospital was the first on Long Island to use this system.

For more information about Huntington Hospital’s neurosurgery department, call 631-351-4840.

From left, Bill Musto, deputy director of Huntington Parks and Recreation; Greg Wagner, town director of Parks and Recreation; Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci; Randy Howard, vice president of operations at Huntington Hospital; and Dr. Michael Dannenberg, chairman of dermatology at Huntington Hospital at the Crab Meadow Beach dispenser. Photo from Town of Huntington

Town of Huntington officials are taking steps to make sure residents can more safely have fun in the sun — without a cost to the town.

Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R) unveiled the installment of 16 sunscreen dispensers at the town’s parks, beaches and outdoor recreational spaces July 27 at Crab Meadow Beach in Fort Salonga sponsored by Huntington Hospital-Northwell Health.

“Families and visitors of all ages can now have extra peace of mind when spending time together at Huntington’s beaches and parks,” Lupinacci said.

One person dies every hour within the United States from malignant melanoma.”

– Michael Dannenberg

The bright yellow dispensers, designed by Long Beach-based Creative Vibe Advertising, were mounted near the entrance of 14 different town-owned facilities earlier this week. The sunscreen will be provided at no cost to Huntington taxpayers under the town’s skin cancer prevention program, which is now fully sponsored by Huntington Hospital-Northwell Health.

“Skin cancer has great significance since its incident rates are rapidly increasing,” said Randy Howard, vice president of operations for Huntington Hospital-Northwell Health. “We want to help our communities stay healthy in skin-care prevention by making these dispensers available to everyone.”

Dr. Michael Dannenberg, chairman of dermatology at Huntington Hospital, said while basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma remain the most common types of skin cancer, cases of malignant melanoma — the deadliest form — have increased by 53 percent since 2008.

“One person dies every hour within the United States from malignant melanoma,” he said.

Families and visitors of all ages can now have extra peace of mind when spending time together at Huntington’s beaches and parks.”

– Chad Lupinacci

Suffolk County Legislator Susan Berland (D-Dix Hills), previously on the town board through December 2017, had been diagnosed with skin cancer while in office. Berland sponsored legislation for Huntington to test run a free sunscreen dispenser at Crab Meadow Beach in 2016 and successfully advocated for townwide expansion of the program in 2017.

“I’m glad they are continuing the program I worked so hard and diligently to create for the town,” she said. “Nothing is more important than people’s skin.” 

Berland said that it was always her intention to find a sponsor for the program as the sunscreen cost the town approximately $600 in 2017. Now she plans to bring a proposal to expand the program before Suffolk Legislature to cover the county’s recreational facilities.

Free sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 30 will be provided at the following locations: Crab Meadow Beach, Crab Meadow Golf Course, Asharoken Beach, Breezy Park, Centerport Beach, Crescent Beach, Dix Hills Park swimming pool and golf course, Elwood Park, Fleets Cove Beach, Gold Star Battalion Beach, Hobart Beach, Manor Field Park, West Neck Beach and Veterans Park. Each unit will be checked once a week and restocked on an as-needed basis, according to Howard.

I’m glad they are continuing the program I worked so hard and diligently to create for the town.”

– Susan Berland

Dannenberg said that he professionally recommends that people use sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 15, which is proven to reduce the risk of skin cancer by more than 50 percent. He said there is a reason the town’s units will offer sunscreen with SPF of 30.

“We all have a tendency to under apply sunscreen when we put it on,” he said. “The actual SPF you are seeing on your skin is lower than the SPF on the bottle. We tell people to use a minimum SPF of 30, knowing when they under apply it will get them to approximately a 15.”

Now that the dispensers are installed, Huntington Hospital’s chief dermatologist said the most important thing is for parents to be good role models.

“If parents come to the beach, bring their kids and don’t apply their sunscreen, they are teaching the kids that it’s not an important thing,” Dannenberg said. “It gets to be as a teenager they won’t use their sunscreen.”

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Owner expects to raise up to $7,000 a month for two Long Island hospitals

A customer paying 5 cents to purchase a plastic bag from IGA Fort Salonga. File Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

By Sara-Megan Walsh

A Fort Salonga business owner has found a way to put a positive spin on one of Suffolk’s newest mandated fees for the Huntington community.

Charlie Reichert, owner of IGA Fort Salonga Market, announced Jan. 25 that he will be donating all proceeds from the county’s new 5-cent fee for plastic bags to benefit Huntington Hospital and Eastern Long
Island Hospital in Greenport. He is calling for other business owners to do the same.

“It came to me when people were really complaining about the plastic bag, ‘Why are you charging a nickel? Why are you getting the money?’” Reichert said. “That gave me the idea, why don’t we give the money to charity.”

The new 5-cent fee, approved by the Suffolk County Legislature in September 2016, applies to the single-use plastic or paper bags provided by cashiers at the end of a sale and used to carry goods from the store.

Reichert who owns five IGA supermarkets in Bayville, Fort Salonga, Greenport, East Northport and Southold, said he’s already seen a 50 percent decrease in consumer use of single-use plastic bags since Jan. 1.

“It’s amazing how people are walking in with the reusable bags again,” the supermarket owner said. He noted his stores gave away 3,000 reusable bags in January.

Reichert said he expects the nickel surcharge to generate approximately $6,000 to $7,000 a month for charity.

Dr. Gerard Brogan, executive director of Huntington Hospital, said the funds will be used to help toward building and renovating the hospital’s facilities — most immediately, the hospital’s maternity ward.

“It’s kind of a double privilege for me as a doctor who works at Huntington Hospital,” said county Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport), who sponsored the initial legislation. “Huntington Hospital is a hospital I’ve called home, where I’ve worked for 20 years. Their mission is to improve the community. It’s a perfect match.”

Suffolk Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) said he has reached out to other stores in his district to discuss the initiative. Trotta said he’s gotten ShopRite locations in Hauppauge and Patchogue to support the cause, donating proceeds of the fee to Hauppauge-based Long Island Cares, specifically to benefit local veterans in need. He’s currently in conversations with several big-box retailers including Walmart, Target and CVS.

“I hope it spreads like wildfire,” Trotta  said. “I think this has the potential to put millions of dollars in local Suffolk County charities.”

When asked if this charitable initiative would work well with the law’s original intent of reducing plastic waste in our environment, both Trotta and Spencer called the situation a “win-win.”

“If this fails, it means people aren’t purchasing plastic bags, which is a win,” Spencer said. “If there is a lot of money and it’s going to charity, it’s also a win.”

Editor’s note:  This post was undated 

Pilot programs aimed at identifying and aiding trafficking victims and potential targets

Dr. Santhosh Paulus, of Huntington Hospital, and Shandra Woworuntu, a human trafficking survivor, together at Huntington Hospital. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

Huntington Hospital is taking the first step toward helping its health care workers better identify and aid human trafficking victims in the community.

Dr. Santhosh Paulus, a hospitalist at Huntington Hospital, will launch a pilot program for Northwell Health aiming to train hospital staff how to recognize and then provide support to human trafficking victims.

“Six months ago, when I was asked to join a human trafficking task force I said, ‘Gee, that’s interesting. I’m here 19 years and I’ve never come across a patient involved in human trafficking,’” said Judy Richter, a social worker at Huntington Hospital. “We have been missing quite a few patients as we had not been trained in how to recognize the signs or what we can do to help them.”

We need to promote humane work in hospitals. This is the front line to identify victims.”
— Shandra Woworuntu

In December 2017, the former owner of the Thatched Cottage in Centerport was indicted on federal charges for allegedly illegally trafficking workers from the Philippines.

Paulus and his approximately 30-member task force is undergoing training from Restore NYC, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to end trafficking in New York. The task force will then train the hospital’s emergency room department and ambulatory center in recognizing signs of both current victims and potential victims.

“Labor trafficking in agriculture or the restaurant industry looks so different from sex trafficking,” Paulus said, noting human trafficking occurs in more than 25 different trades. “There are so many avenues of how you can be trafficked, there’s no simple answer.”

Some signs physicians will look for are patients seeking treatment accompanied by another individual who is holding onto a patient’s documents and identification for them, answering all questions for them, avoiding eye contact and certain tattoos.

“Human trafficking victims are hard to identify because it’s hidden, you cannot see it with plain sight,” said Shandra Woworuntu, a member of the U.S. Council on Human Trafficking. “Sometime, they walk around. When [my captors] escorted me around, nobody saw me.”

Human trafficking victims are hard to identify because it’s hidden, you cannot see it with plain sight”
— Shandra Woworuntu

As a sex trafficking survivor, Woworuntu spoke to hospital staff Jan. 12 to share her personal perspective. The former bank manager and money market trader came to the United States at age 34, when religious persecution made her feel unsafe in her home country of Indonesia. She arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport through an employment agency that promised her a $5,000-a-month job working in a Chicago hotel. Instead, her passport was seized and she was abducted into a sex trafficking ring operating out of Queens.

“[My captor] demanded from me $30,0000 to be free,” Woworuntu said. “I was compliant due to the abuse, the violence, guns and knife.”

She would make her escape by climbing through a second-story bathroom window. However, Woworuntu said she faced skepticism when initially seeking help from New York City police, churches and even the Indonesian consulate. When brought to a hospital, she recalled screaming as physicians examined her because she didn’t speak any English and wasn’t fully informed what procedures were being done.

“Even if I came from a place that was dirty, I am still human,” Woworuntu said. “We need to promote humane work in hospitals. This is the front line to identify victims.”

As a survivor, Woworuntu hoped sharing her story with Paulus and other Huntington Hospital would help staff members to treat victims with dignity. She now runs Mentari, a 501(c)(3) organization in New York that provides support, basic necessities and vocational training for trafficking victims.

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File photo

Suffolk County Police 2nd Squad detectives are investigating a two-vehicle crash that killed a Centerport man Nov. 6.

Tyler Gomes was driving a 2007 Subaru eastbound on Cuba Hill Road in Greenlawn when he lost control of his vehicle, crossed into the westbound lane and struck a 2016 Toyota 4Runner, driven by Allison Raich, at approximately 9:35 a.m.

Gomez, 26, who was alone in his vehicle, was transported to Huntington Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Raich, 33, of East Northport, and her 9-month-old son were transported to Huntington Hospital where Raich was treated for broken bones and the child was evaluated and released.

Both vehicles were impounded for a safety check and the investigation is ongoing. Detectives are asking anyone with information on this crash to call the 2nd Squad at 631-854-8252.

Huntington Hospital volunteers pose with MD Anderson Cancer Center nurses in Houston. Photos from Meghan Billia

Huntington nurses went to work and rolled up their sleeves to help out the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Three Huntington Hospital nurses stepped forward to answer a call for aid from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The Texas hospital had put out a nationwide request for volunteer nurses to provide relief for their own staff members impacted by the storm.

“I got into nursing because I wanted to help people,” Meghan Billia, an oncology nurse at Huntington Hospital, said. “When you hear there’s a greater scale on which you can help people, it feels like something you should do.”

Billia, of Huntington, stepped up for the first time as she knew firsthand the havoc that storm and flooding could wreak on one’s personal life. She had lived on the South Shore of Long Island when Hurricane Sandy hit Oct. 22, 2012.

ER nurse Demetrios Papadopoulos, of Bellmore, traveled to Houston from Sept. 9 to 16 with Billia.

“When I got down there, the first thing I asked was if I could work every day,” he said. “Houston is a lovely city, but I’ll go down another time to see it.”

Papadopoulos said he learned that roughly 70 percent of the employees of MD Anderson had been affected in some way by the storm. To further add to its problem, the Houston hospital had been forced to cancel approximately 300 surgeries scheduled the week that Harvey hit.

Meghan Billia stands with co-worker and friend at MD Anderson. Photos from Meghan Billia

“They were adding on 100 cases a week in order to catch back up,” Papadopoulos said. “In addition to being understaffed, they were overbooked.”

The volunteers were given a one-day crash course on MD Anderson’s computer systems then immediately scheduled to work up to 12-hour shifts. By taking over Houston nurses’ schedules, Huntington Hospital’s staff was providing much-needed time for them to file insurance claims on flooded homes, begin ripping out damaged floors and sheetrock, and grieve the death of loved ones.

“We were covering nurses who were affected by the hurricane personally,” Billia said. “It’s not often you get to go somewhere and help other nurses. You usually go to help the patient. This was helping the staff and giving back to fellow nurses.”

While rolling up their sleeves and putting in long hours at the hospital, the volunteers also said it turned out to be an unexpected learning experience.

“There are parts of MD Anderson that are highly specialized,” Papadopoulos said. “I got to see what they have and what they are capable of. They had a few ideas that I hope to bring back here.

MD Anderson is nationally ranked as the No. 1 hospital for adult cancer treatment by U.S. News & World Report.

Billia said working in oncology she learned about a different style of IV pump and equipment that allows chemotherapy to be administered differently to cancer
patients. She brought a sample product back to Huntington Hospital for staff members to review and discuss.

Both first-time volunteers said they were surprised, and nearly overwhelmed, by the appreciation and gratitude of MD Anderson’s staff. Papadopoulos said Houston staff members attempted to take him out to dinner on his last night in the city, while Billia was given a few small presents for her hard work including a T-shirt.

A third nurse who volunteered, Shaneel Blanchard, could not be reached for comment.

Dr. Gerard Brogan Jr., the executive director of Huntington Hospital, said he fully supported the actions of his employees taking time to volunteer in Texas.

“I’m very proud of our dedicated staff who went down to Houston to help the people
affected by Hurricane Harvey,” Brogan said in a statement. “As a hospital that turned into a community resource during Hurricane Sandy with caregivers who constantly go above and beyond for their patients, it’s not surprising that our staff would feel compelled to help people whenever they can.”

Billia and Papadopoulos said they have both stayed in touch with those they met while volunteering. Papadopoulos hopes to make a trip down once the city has recovered, while Billia is keeping in touch via text messages.