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New Castle Releases

North Shore-LIJ to Change Name to Northwell Health

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Eighteen years after the historic merger that created the North Shore-LIJ Health System, its Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a name change for New York State’s largest private employer and health care provider–Northwell Health.

“Being highly visible and clearly understood within and beyond the New York metropolitan area requires strong brand recognition,” said Michael J. Dowling, the 21-hospital network’s president and chief executive officer. “The Northwell Health name is a reflection of our past and a beacon of our future. It’s unique, simple and approachable, and better defines who we are and where we are going.”

The new Northwell Health name will be the centerpiece of a broad rebranding and marketing campaign that will launch in 2016, beginning a multi-year process to build recognition of the new name and distinguish the organization in a cluttered health care market. As a first step, the health system will begin introducing the new brand to its more than 61,000 employees, 10,000+ affiliated physicians and other internal audiences, including more than 13,000 nurses.

The names of all of the health system’s hospitals will remain intact, in recognition of their rich and unique community-based histories, such as: North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, Staten Island University Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, Huntington Hospital, Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow and Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco. Main_Entrance

“While we have considered many different ideas over the years, our Board of Trustees selected a new name that signals a clear vision for the future of health: Northwell Health,” said board chair Mark L. Claster. “All those associated with this organization clearly are proud of our heritage and deeply grateful for the extraordinary support we receive from the communities we serve. Yet, our trustees recognized the need for a more consumer-friendly name that did not confine us geographically and reflects our emergence as a regional health care provider with a coverage area that extends beyond Long Island.”

With the continuing shift in the nation’s health care delivery system and the growing emphasis on health and wellness promotion and disease prevention, Mr. Dowling said, “We wanted a name that underscores our focus on keeping people well and better managing their health, rather than only treating them when they are sick or injured. The future of health care is about guiding and engaging consumers in a very different way.”

Earlier this year, the health system began working with branding consultants Monigle and Interbrand to develop a new company name and brand platform. In addition, the marketing communications firm J. Walter Thompson was brought in to develop a broad communications program. “Leveraging the new Northwell Health name, we will build strong recognition regionally and nationally, with the goal of elevating our reputation among both consumers and medical professionals,” said Ramon Soto, the health system’s chief marketing and communications officer. “We have a powerful story to tell and we believe our new name is the ideal platform to deliver that message.”

The health system’s current name stems from the 1997 merger of the North Shore Health System and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System name has proven to be confusing to consumers, the news media, medical professionals and even the health system’s own employees. In addition, the health system’s name is not well recognized among consumers outside of Long Island, so the goal is to develop a marketing/communications plan for Northwell Health that will be driven by a compelling, powerful brand vision that resonates with the public.

Since the creation of the North Shore Health System in 1992 and its eventual 1997 merger with LIJ Medical Center that created the North Shore-LIJ Health System, the organization has evolved into a vast clinical, educational and research enterprise. It has grown over the years to become the largest private employer in New York State and the 14th-largest health system in the nation, with annual revenues of nearly $8 billion. Among the milestones over the past two decades include:
• the 1999 establishment of a biomedical research arm, now known as The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, which includes more than 1,500 scientists, investigators and other employees ;
• the 2010 expansion into Manhattan with the addition of Lenox Hill Hospital and the 2014 opening of Manhattan’s first freestanding emergency center, Lenox Health Greenwich Village;
• the 2010 founding of New York State’s first allopathic medical school in 40 years – the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, which graduated its first class in May of this year and will be renamed the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine;
• the 2013 creation of the health system’s own health insurance company, CareConnect;
• the 2014 addition of two Westchester County hospitals, Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow and Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco;
• the August 2015 strategic affiliation with Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn,;
• the September 2015 addition of Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead in eastern Long Island;
• the September 2015 launch of the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies at Hofstra University;
• a major ambulatory expansion that now includes about 450 outpatient physician practices throughout the metropolitan area;
• the largest ambulance transport system on the East Coast and the New York area’s first hospital-based, helicopter emergency medical service; and
• strategic alliances with such internationally renowned institutions as the Cleveland Clinic, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

Beyond its hospitals, the health system also offers a full continuum of care through a broad network of skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation programs, home care, hospice services, urgent care, primary care and specialty services throughout the metropolitan area, as well as access to more than 2,100 clinical research trials that have enrolled over 15,000 participants.

“This has been an incredible journey over the past two decades,” said Mr. Dowling. “The name change and rebranding campaign represent a very exciting milestone that positions us for even greater success in the years to come.”

About North Shore-LIJ Health System
The nation’s 14th-largest health system, North Shore-LIJ delivers world-class clinical care throughout the New York metropolitan area, pioneering research at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, a visionary approach to medical education highlighted by the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, and healthcare coverage to individuals, families and businesses through the CareConnect Insurance Co. Inc. North Shore-LIJ cares for people at every stage of life at 21 hospitals and about 450 outpatient physician practices throughout the region. North Shore-LIJ’s owned hospitals and long-term care facilities house more than 6,600 beds, employ more than 13,300 nurses and have affiliations with about 10,300 physicians. With a workforce of more than 61,000, North Shore-LIJ is the largest private employer in New York State. For more information, go to www.northshorelij.com

Vital Expansion Planned at Sunshine Children’s Home & Rehab Center

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* Expansion Necessary to Accommodate Burgeoning Waitlist
* NY State Issues Certificate of Need to Accommodate Growing Demand for Care

Ossining, NY–The Sunshine Children’s Home & Rehab Center, which specializes in the care and treatment of medically complex children (all who require long-term residential care and many whose lives are terminal) is planning to expand its home at 15 Spring Valley Road. This expansion will enable Sunshine to improve the quality of life for the current number of children who live there, as well as to reduce the number of waitlisted children who are in dire need of the kind of care that this 55-year old facility provides.sunshine 1

Sunshine’s expansion plans and facility discussions began four years ago with the goal of enhancing support of the care, health, and positive psychological growth of the children who live there. Plans to do this include the increase of its square footage from 19,000 to 146,000 to create long-needed space for additional beds, essential specialty medical equipment and circulation areas, improved classroom space for the onsite school, rooms for visiting families, etc. sunshine 2

“These 33 acres and the Sunshine Children’s Home have become a lifeline for our families over the past 55 years. We are known as a ‘second home’ for the families of the children who need to live here and the only home that these children have ever known,” said Linda Mosiello, who has served as director of the Sunshine Children’s Home since 2009. “We are so very grateful to have been granted this Certificate of Need from NY State, which shows that the planned expansion size is more than appropriate for the size of our site and its surrounding acreage, and moreover, comports with the bulk and dimensional requirements of the Zoning Code.”

She continued, “We desperately need this space in order to improve the quality of care and living for our children and to make room for the overwhelming number of children who need to be here. Our goal is to soon be able to care for them with better medical facilities and to provide a true school experience for them, as our current space for school is housed in a makeshift addition.”sunshine 3

Mosiello offered details regarding Sunshine’s long-planned, careful process including research, studies and approvals to date:

● In 2014, the Sunshine Children’s Home was granted a Certificate of Need by the New York State Department of Health. The Home is currently operating at 100% capacity, and has a waitlist of over 70 sick children, all of whom will need the resources that Sunshine provides for the duration of their lifespan, which is limited for 50 percent of the children in care. The planned expansion will allow the facility to increase from 54 to 122 pediatric nursing facility beds in order to make somewhat of a dent in the waitlist.
*Note: Including Sunshine, there are currently only nine nursing facilities in New York State with dedicated pediatric nursing units, two of which intend to cease pediatric operations in the near future. Only three of these facilities are able to fully address special-needs pediatric care. The need to expand the Sunshine Children’s Home has never been higher.

● The application for the expansion project was first filed in December, 2014, following several months of pre-application meetings with the town, and was revised after three months of meetings with the town. This review process began after a year-long approval process from the New York State Department of Health.

● The application’s traffic study, conducted by a professional traffic engineer with over 25 years of experience in traffic engineering, shows that the proposed project will not result in any significant adverse impacts on traffic. No existing levels of service in the town or surrounding areas will change as a result of the project. The traffic study for this project was reviewed by the town’s traffic consultant, who has extensive expertise in traffic engineering and whose firm has more than 60 years of history in Westchester County. The town’s traffic engineer concurred with the results of the study.

● Environmental reports detailing the project’s impacts on wetlands, tree removal, steep slopes, rock removal and water usage were prepared by Sunshine and agreed upon by the town. Field tests indicate that there is adequate water supply to service the proposed addition without impacting water supply at neighboring properties. In fact, the reports identify the impacts of the project and demonstrate that they will not at all be significant including water usage and sewage disposal.

● The Sunshine Children’s Home has worked with both the Department of Health and the Westchester Office of Emergency Management on the formulation of their Indian Point Evacuation Plan. It is a well thought out, state-approved response that does not draw upon town or local resources. A preliminary update of this plan to reflect a new projected census has been drafted and will follow the same approval process as the previous plan, which includes working with nearby hospitals and nursing homes to jointly handle evacuations, and covers both the shelter and the transportation of residents. It also includes a “Shelter in Place” response which details specific contingencies for incidents at Indian Point. Sunshine is required to conduct mock evacuations and Shelter in Place drills at least twice a year.

The mission of the Sunshine Children’s Home and Rehab Center is to create a loving and supportive environment that provides the highest level of quality pediatric care for children who need it. The Home takes in children from birth to 18 years of age who require post-acute medical care and/or rehabilitative therapy, combined with psychological and developmental interventions. About 46 percent of the children in residence require palliative care, while an equal percentage of others improve enough with care to be discharged to a group or community facility, or ideally, at home with their families. For more information, visit www.sunshinechildrenshome.org.

New Castle Historical Society to Host Sept. 19 Garden Party Fundraiser

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For release from The New Castle Historical Society:

The New Castle Historical Society is hosting its first annual “An Evening in Greeley’s Garden” event at the Horace Greeley House Museum on Saturday, September 19, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The evening will include live music performed by a Civil War Era string band, beer and wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction. The New Castle Historical Society’s Board of Trustees and volunteers, Westchester based artist Cindy Sacks, Kramer Portraits, and Hilltop Wines have each generously provided silent auction items for the event. General admission tickets for the “An Evening in Greeley’s Garden” begin at $65 and may be purchased by visiting www.newcastlehs.org or by calling 914-238-4666.
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“The New Castle Historical Society is extremely excited to offer this first time special event at the Greeley House,” said Cassie Ward, Executive Director of the New Castle Historical Society. “The Garden Party is an opportunity for local residents and their guests to experience our museum and grounds in a new and unique way. The Garden Party will provide guests with the chance to experience the museum’s outdoor space similar to the way Horace Greeley did in the mid-1800s when he established his country home and farm in what is now downtown Chappaqua.”

All proceeds from this event will benefit the New Castle Historical Society, a nonprofit educational organization that seeks to discover, preserve, and share knowledge about the history of the Town of New Castle and about the life of Horace Greeley. Established in 1966, the Historical Society maintains a historic collection of artifacts and documents related to the Town of New Castle, it provides programs and exhibits about the Town’s history, and it preserves Horace Greeley’s second home in Chappaqua. The Historical Society will turn 50 next year and will continue to offer expanded programming and activities to encourage a greater interaction with the history and culture of the local area.

In addition to the “An Evening in Greeley’s Garden,” the Historical Society will host an array of new programs this fall. Some of the new programs include:

– A printing press education program for children under 10 (9/27/15),
– A purse party fundraiser for locals that love their accessories (10/17/15),
– An oral history program at the Chappaqua Library where residents will be encouraged to share their stories from the 1960s (10/7/15),
– A 50th Anniversary Kick-Off Party and Last Man Standing Cash Raffle (11/14/15),
– And a “Gold in Your Attic” Pop-Up Store at the Greeley House, just in time for the holidays (12/5/15).

For more information regarding these programs, please visit www.newcastlehs.org, call 914-238-4666, or email Cassie Ward at director@newcastlehs.org.

The New Castle Historical Society is a non-profit organization that discovers,
collects, preserves and communicates the history of the Town of New Castle.

Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe to Participate in America’s Journey for Justice

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A coalition of organizations, led by the NAACP, left Selma, Alabama on Saturday, August 1 beginning an 860-mile, 46-day march for freedom to Washington, D.C.

Called America’s Journey for Justice the march begins with a prayer before crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on the trek to the nation’s capitol. The organizers expect thousands of people to join the marchers at every stop, with a core group of more than 100 to make the entire trek.RabbiJaffeheadshot (2)

On Thursday, August 27, Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe, Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester, will be joining the Journey for Justice in Columbia, South Carolina, for a one day march.

The Journey for Justice, organized by the NAACP, is both a memorial to the Selma march that took place 50 years ago and a statement about voting rights and the criminal justice system. Each evening there will be a rally and interfaith teaching service.

Rabbi Jaffe is marching with more than 150 other Reform Rabbis from around the country over the course of 46 days. He welcomes other clergy and congregants from Chappaqua to join him for this historic occasion.