UHF’s Excellence in Health Care Award honors extraordinary personal leadership to improve quality of care, patient safety, and patient experience. Honorees are selected for their vision and accomplishments by participating hospital systems, long-term care facilities, home care organizations, independent practice associations, and federally qualified health centers from across the greater New York metropolitan region. Following are the 2021 honorees, listed by organization.
AdvantageCare Physicians
Eveth Green, FNP-BC, MBA, MSN, RN, Assistant Vice President of Nursing
BronxCare Health System
Dave A. F. Livingstone, MD, Chairman, Anesthesiology
The Brooklyn Hospital Center
Judy McLaughlin, DNP, MS, BSN, BS, RN, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive
Coalition of Asian-American IPA (CAIPA)
Jonathan M. T. Chang, MD, Vice President
and
Kevin Guo, MD, Member
Catholic Health
Jason M. Golbin, DO, Senior Vice President and System Chief Quality Officer
Community Healthcare Network
Diana Castillo, Center Director
and
Michelle I. Everett-Oxley, Center Director
Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center
Josephine Leung, MS, RN-BC, Senior Quality Informatics Specialist
Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Christina Jones, RN, BSN, Associate Director of Nursing
Hackensack Meridian Health
Suelyn Boucree, MD, MBA, FACP, Medical Director of Quality and Chair of the CIN Quality Committee
HealthCare Partners, IPA
Dutsi Behm, MD, Internal Medicine Specialist
Hospital for Special Surgery
Jennifer O'Neill, DNP, APN, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President, Chief Nursing Officer, and Chief Operating Officer
and
Douglas Padgett, MD, Associate Surgeon-in-Chief
Institute for Family Health
Kwame A. Kitson, MD, Vice President for Continuous Quality Improvement
Maimonides Medical Center
Shari Suchoff, Vice President, Population Health Policy & Strategy
MediSys Health Network
Alan R. Roth, DO, Chief, Integrative Pain and Palliative Care Medicine and Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine
Flushing Hospital Medical Center
Alessandro Solinas, MD, Chairman, Department of Medicine
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
Robert I. Mendelson, MD, Chair, Department of Medicine and Medical Director, TJH Medical Services, PC
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
MSK COVID Lab Testing Team
MJHS
MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care
Russell K. Portenoy, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director, MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care
MJHS Health System
Mary Foronda, RN, Director of Infection Control and Employee Health
Isabella Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care
Loyola Princivil-Barnett, MHA, LNHA, Administrator of Record and COO, MJHS Centers for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care
Montefiore Health System
Burke Rehabilitation Hospital
Valerie Vermiglio-Kohn, RN, CRRN, MSN, MS, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Nursing
The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Suzette Olubusola Oyeku, MD, MPH, Chief, Division of Academics General Pediatrics
Montefiore Medical Center
Jacqueline Myrie-Weir, RN, BSN, MPH, Senior Director of Performance Projects Network Performance Group
Montefiore Medical Center, Moses Campus
John Loehner, MD, Medical Director
Montefiore Medical Center, Wakefield Campus
Una Hopkins, DNP, MSN, BSN, FNP-BC, RN, Nurse Scientist and Director, Nursing Research and Evidence Based Practice
Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital
Dianne Gordon, EdD, MSN-ED, RN, Director of Nursing
Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital
Amrah Hasan, MD, Chief Resident/Junior Faculty Attending
Montefiore Nyack Hospital
Susanne Z. Stone, RN, MPH, CIC, CRCST, Director of Infection Prevention and Control
Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall
Sandeep Garwin, MD, MS, Medical Director of Critical Care
White Plains Hospital
Farrukh Nadeem Jafri, MD, MS-HPEd, Medical Director WPH Cares
Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Beth Israel
Young Im Lee, MD, Director, Medical Intensive Care Unit
Mount Sinai Brooklyn
Vadim Leyko, MSA, RRT, RPSGT, Associate Director of Administration for Hospital Operations/Director Respiratory Therapy
The Mount Sinai Hospital
Jorge L. Rodriguez, MPA, Senior Vice President, Ambulatory Care
Mount Sinai Morningside
Berthe Erisnor, Vice President for Ambulatory Services
Mount Sinai Queens
Ellina Babar, Director of Hospital Operations
Mount Sinai West
Andres S. Moreira, Senior Director, Patient Experience & Patient Relations
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
Cindy Girdusky, RN, CNOR, Vice President, Perioperative Services
Mount Sinai South Nassau
Karine Austin, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, Service Line Administrator, Oncology Services and Infusion Therapy
The New Jewish Home
Jeffrey Farber, MD, MBA, President & CEO
and
Ruth Spinner, MD, Senior Medical Director
Northwell Health
Cohen Children's Medical Center
Dhalia Puri, MSN, RN, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Community and Population Health
Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD, MPH, FACP, Senior Vice President
Glen Cove Hospital
Lorraine Daphna, RN, Registered Nurse, Critical Care
Huntington Hospital
Corazon R. Paraso, RN, MS-FNP, CCRN, NE-BC, Advisor, Clinical Quality Improvement
Long Island Jewish Forest Hills
Michelle Parcells, MSN, BSN, RN, FNP-CCRN, ICU Registered Nurse
Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Karina Gutierrez, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC, CWOCN, Wound Care Specialist
North Shore University Hospital
Michael D. Montanez, Assistant Manager, Patient Care, Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Center
Peconic Bay Medical Center
Dawn Leonard, Critical Care Charge/Staff Registered Nurse
Plainview Hospital
Kwest-Ann Samuels, BSN, RN-BC, Registered Nurse (Medical Surgical)
Southside Hospital
Shehzad Khan, RN, BSN, Registered Nurse
Staten Island University Hospital
Vanessa Cabatbat, MS, RN, FNP, Rapid Response Team and Staff Nurse
Syosset Hospital
Bernie R. Alivio, BSN, RN, CCRN, CMSRN, Registered Nurse, Special Care Unit
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAFP, SFHM, Chair, Department of Family Medicine
Zucker Hillside Hospital
Marie Germaine Rancy, RN, MSN, CDCES, CWCN, Clinical Professional Development Educator
NuHealth/Nassau University Medical Center
Grace Y. Ting, MD, Associate Medical Director, Department of Emergency Medicine
NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
Suzanne Bentley, MD, MPH, FACEP, Attending Physician, Emergency Medicine; Medical Director of the Elmhurst Simulation Center; and Helping Healers Heal Lead
One Brooklyn Health System
Kurt S. Kodroff, MD, MMM, Chief Quality Officer
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation
Verna Sinclair, RN, MSN, Director of Infection Control & Staff Development
Richmond University Medical Center
Marianne LaBarbera, MD, President of the Medical Staff
SBH Health System
Susan Singh, Director of Infection Control
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
Tessy Peter, MD, FCCP, Director, Intensive Care Unit
St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children
Judy Vigliotti, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing
SOMOS Community Care
Yomaris Peña, MD, Internal Medicine Physician
Stamford Health
Ellen M. Komar, MPA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President Patient Care Services, and Chief Nursing Officer
Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Carol Odnoha, RN, BSN, MPA, Director, Nurse-Family Partnership
Yale New Haven Health
Bridgeport Hospital
Zane K. Saul, MD, Section Chief, Infectious Diseases
Greenwich Hospital
Kisha A. Mitchell Richards, MD, FCAP, FASCP, Director, Pathology and Clinical Laboratory
Lawrence + Memorial Hospital
Shannon R. Christian, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Administrative Director, Patient Care Services
Yale New Haven Health System
Danielle M. Zawatsky, Director, Quality Improvement & Safety
Yale New Haven Hospital/Yale New Haven Health System
Richard A. Martinello, MD, Medical Director, Infection Prevention