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Northern Westchester Hospital Receives The Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award ™ 2019

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Mt. Kisco, New York— Northern Westchester Hospital has received The Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ 2019, which recognizes hospitals for outstanding performance in delivering a positive experience for patients during their hospital stay. The annual award given by Healthgrades, a leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, recognizes hospitals around the country that make patient safety a top priority and provide an outstanding patient experience.

“We are delighted to be recognized with this important award,” said Maria Hale, PsyD, MBA, Associate Executive Director at NWH. “As a teaching hospital and nationally recognized leader for patient-centered care, NWH is committed to creating innovative programs and services that are fundamentally attentive to the needs of our patients and their families.

Our patients’ health and well-being is our top priority, and we strive to provide our patients and their families with the best possible experience. We have a number of programs in place including the Ken Hamilton Caregivers Center, the Aranow Art Cart, our Food is Care program, Pet Therapy and Integrative Medicine, which support the delivery of patient-centered care, which we believe is essential in ensuring the best outcomes for our patients and their families.”

In 2019, 434 hospitals received The Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™, representing the top 15 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient experience. As part of the analysis, Healthgrades evaluated 3,449 hospitals that submitted at least 100 patient experience surveys to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), covering admissions from January 2017 through December 2017 to identify hospital performance in this area.

“Consumers are becoming more involved in their own health care, and are spending more time researching and selecting the right provider and hospital for their specific needs. Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ highlights the hospitals that are making patient experience a priority and will help patients feel confident to make more informed decisions about their health care,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical officer, Healthgrades.

Healthgrades evaluated hospital performance by applying a scoring methodology to nine patient experience measures, using data collected from a 32-question patient experience survey of the hospital’s own patients. The survey questions focus on patients’ perspectives of their care in the hospital, ranging from cleanliness and noise levels in patient rooms to factors such as provider communication. The measures also include whether a patient would recommend the hospital to friends or family.

Healthgrades found that 81 percent of patients would recommend Northern Westchester Hospital, 11 percent higher than the national average. It also found that 79 percent of patients gave the hospital a rating of nine or 10, 10 percent higher than the national average.

This is the third year that Northern Westchester Hospital was awarded Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award ™. It also received Healthgrades Stroke Care Excellence Award in 2019, 2018 and 2017.

For more information about Patient Centered Care and Innovation at NWH, visit https://nwhc.net/about-us/patient-centered-care.

About Northern Westchester Hospital

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH), a member of Northwell Health, provides quality, patient-centered care that is close to home through a unique combination of medical expertise, leading-edge technology, and a commitment to humanity. Over 650 highly-skilled physicians, state-of-the-art technology and professional staff of caregivers are all in place to ensure that you and your family receive treatment in a caring, respectful and nurturing environment. NWH has established extensive internal quality measurements that surpass the standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) National Hospital Quality Measures. Our high-quality standards help to ensure that the treatment you receive at NWH is among the best in the nation. For more information, please visit www.nwhc.net and connect with us on Facebook

 About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, about 750 outpatient facilities and more than 13,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 69,000 employees – 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We’re training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

Saying YES & Imagining the Future at the Ossining Children’s Center

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Tarrytown, NY — When Susan Midgley Komosa, Ossining Children’s Center (OCC) board president, accepted the Center’s Visionary Leader Award, she said that there was one message she wished to leave with attendees of the lively and heartwarming ‘Our Children, Our Future’ spring benefit gala on May 19: “The importance of saying yes.”

“Whatever form your yes takes, it does make a difference,” she told those gathered inside the stately Tappan Hill Mansion to support OCC child care scholarships and future fundraising initiatives.

Susan, to her own credit, “stepped up to leading the board just when we needed her most,” said OCC executive director Howard Milbert, describing Susan’s consensus-building that over three years helped OCC move forward with funding and planning a new and larger facility “specifically designed for our childcare and education programs,” after a new site at 32 State Street was gifted to OCC by Art and Becky Samberg. Susan, he said, “kept every board member engaged and informed… she gives everyone a voice…” The ‘yes’ Susan spoke of was in ample supply at the gala, too. Angel donors matched money pledged by generous gala goers for childcare scholarships. A record $106,000 was pledged during an animated, pre-dinner ‘auction’ led by Vanessa Pairis, OCC board member.

Before the auction, OCC ‘parent’ Deepti Sharma relayed how OCC helped both she and her son thrive in his early childhood years beginning at age two, with vital, quality after school care where he learned English, formed friendships and gained valuable life skills. Eight years later, she described her son as “a good, kind person,” and said, “I would have peace of mind and could concentrate on my job.” Thanks to OCC too, she added, “I have become a better parent and provider for my family.”

Saying yes might well be second nature to the recipient of the Young Leader’s Award, Jasmine Bar, whose ‘truly remarkable efforts,’ said OCC’s Director of Development Shawn Cribari, became the ‘blueprint’ for what turned into five years of ‘Dancing for the Children,’ and its always “financial and artistic success.” Dancing for the Children has raised over $20,000 since Jasmine launched the first event with her then five-member team. “Can you imagine at age 16 creating what has become a philanthropic legacy?” Shawn said of Jasmine, who graciously accepted a gorgeous plaque, hand painted by her aunt, Aggie Shah, owner, A Maze in Pottery in Briarcliff.

Not hard to imagine at OCC, where, as Susan pointed out too, “my fellow board members excel at saying yes.” Prior to dinner, campaign co-chair Marilyn Wishnie, together with Natalie Gorlin, building co-chair, presented “Special Report: The Rumors are True,” which included detailed visual renditions of the plans for OCC’s future headquarters at 32 State Street.

A capital campaign, which has already raised $13 million toward a $17.8 million goal, aims to continue its work to fund the new facility. In the meantime, the staff and volunteers of OCC aim for ever more expressions of ‘yes.’

Shawn Cribari (left) and Jasmine Bar
Howard Gilbert with Susan Midgley Komosa

Temple Beth El’s Rabbi Maura Linzer Receives Prestigious ‘Young Pioneer Award’

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Rabbi Maura Linzer

Last month Rabbi Maura Linzer of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester was one of the recipients of the Young Pioneers Award from the Jewish Education Project, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and empowering educators to create transformative Jewish experiences that help children, teens, and families thrive in today’s highly complex and challenging world.

As Associate Rabbi-Educator, Maura Linzer has dedicated her rabbinate to building positive Jewish memories in a family-centered, experiential, and inclusive environment. Under her leadership, she built a program of more than 45 teen volunteers, whose primary focus is to assist the 30 percent of students who have unique learning or emotional needs.  Beth El’s Religious School has become known for its experiential learning units, Artist-in-Residence Programs, which expose the students to music, yoga, mural art, theater, pottery, and dance. The religious school has expanded greatly under her leadership with 368 students enrolled this year.

2019 Citizen and Organization of the Year

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF ARMONK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Armonk Chamber of Commerce has announced its 2019 Citizen and Organization of the Year. The recipients were selected due to their long-term volunteer commitment to help improve the North Castle Community. The Chamber pointed out that this year’s honorees “have gone above and beyond for the good of the Byram Hills School District.”

· Ira Schulman is the District’s longest serving school board member, who has also served in other local leadership and board positions.

· The Byram Hills Education Foundation, selected as Organization of the Year, is celebrating 25 successful years of providing grants to the District, totaling $4.6 million.

The Chamber stated they will celebrate “these local champions” at the annual Citizen of the Year Golf Outing and Dinner. This year, it will take place on Tuesday, May 14 at the Whippoorwill Club in Armonk. The public is invited to attend and may register at armonkchamberofcommerce.com.

Byram Hills High School Senior Wins Prestigious Rising Scientist Award

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on the Use of Avatars for Helping Teens with Autism

Byram Hills High School senior Ellen Amico was honored by the Child Mind Institute and the City University of New York with a 2018 Rising Scientist Award.

Ellen was one of five high school students in the New York metro area to win the award, which is presented to students who “demonstrated extraordinary promise in research in the fields of child and adolescent mental health or pediatric neuroscience.”

Byram Hills High School senior Ellen Amico was one of five New York-area students to win a Rising Scientist Award.

“Each recipient of the Rising Scientist Award shows drive, commitment and vision for the future of mental health and neuroscience,” said Dr. Harold Koplewicz, president of the institute. “At such a young age, these impressive students already have the motivation and the promise to make strides towards changing the way we look at and treat mental health disorders.”

Ellen received the award and a $2,000 scholarship at the On the Shoulders of Giants Scientific Symposium this past October, the institute’s annual celebration of scientific achievement in child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology and developmental neuroscience.

Through the Byram Hills Dr. Robert Pavlica Authentic Science Research Program, Ellen conducted research aimed at improving the ability of people with autism spectrum disorder to recognize emotions. She tested whether computerized avatars are an effective teaching tool in emotion recognition.

“It felt good to be recognized for my work,” Ellen said. “Working with people with autism was a great experience, and I loved it.”

As part of her research, Ellen worked with a mentor at Vanderbilt University, studying teenagers with and without autism. The subjects viewed videos of human faces and computerized avatars.

“Avatars are used a lot in research and treatment for people with autism spectrum disorder, but no one so far has tested to see if avatars are similar enough to humans,” she said.

The research found that “they are similar to humans and they’re a useful tool in cosimulating real-world interactions for people with autism spectrum disorder,” she said. “A real-world interaction can be a source of anxiety, but replacing it on the computer in a virtual way, it’s less anxiety-inducing, and they can practice.”

“Hopefully other researchers can use my study to back up or support their use of avatars in treatments they may create for people with autism spectrum disorder,” she said.

In addition to recognizing the winners for their scientific contributions, the award also honors students for their leadership and extracurricular involvement. The award is given by the institute and the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.