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.
The 2023 honorees were celebrated at the Tribute to Excellence in Health Care on May 8 at Cipriani 42nd Street.
Following are the 2023 honorees, listed by organization.
BronxCare Health System
Gilda Diaz-Fuentes, MD, Chief, Pulmonary/Critical Care
The Brooklyn Hospital Center
Anu Iyer, MS, CPHQ, CJCP, Senior Director, Quality Management
Coalition of Asian-American IPA (CAIPA)
Xiaoxia Zhang, MD, CAIPA Member, CAIPA Shareholder
Catholic Health
Chukwuma J. Egbuziem, MS, RN, CPHQ, Assistant Vice President for Performance Improvement
Community Healthcare Network
Nicholas Martin, Center Director – Crown Heights Health Center
Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center
Caryn B. Leggio, BSN, RN, CPN, Nursing Supervisor
Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Maria L. Franco, PharmD, BCGP, Chief Pharmacy Officer
Hackensack Meridian Health
Jose M. Azar, MD, Executive Vice President, Chief Quality Officer
Hospital for Special Surgery
Catherine H. MacLean, MD, PhD, Chief Value Medical Officer
Institute for Community Living
Edward Tabasky, MD, Medical Director, East New York Health Hub
Institute for Family Health
Alba C. Pumarol, MD, Regional Medical Director, Bronx
The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services
Laura M. Yacino, RN, Chief Nursing Officer
Maimonides Health
Maimonides Medical Center
Sameh Samy, MBBCh, MSA, CPHQ, CSSBB, Chief Quality Officer and VP, Quality Management Department
Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital
Charmaine Rose, MBA-Healthcare, BSN, RN, CPHQ, Vice President of Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement
MediSys Health Network
William Lynch, MPA, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Tania N. Bubb, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC, Senior Director, Infection Prevention and Control
MJHS
Isabella Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care
Karen Harper, BS, MS Ed, CNA, CTRS, CDP, Director of Dementia Care
Menorah Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care
Kendra D. Ray, PhD, MPH, MBA, MT-BC, LCAT, Dementia Program Director
MJHS Homecare
Anna Briskman, MSN, RN, COS-C, Clinical Director
Montefiore Health System
Burke Rehabilitation Hospital
Kathleen Dundee, MSN, RN, CWON, Director of Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Care
The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Kevin Fiori, MD, MPH, MSc, FAAP, Director of Social Determinants of Health in the Office of Community & Population Health and Director of Community Health Worker Institute
Montefiore Medical Center, Einstein Campus
Brenda Pinder, MSN, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, Assistant Vice President of Nursing
Montefiore Medical Center, Moses Campus
Kristine Torres-Lockhart, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center, Wakefield Campus
Daniel G. Fein, MD, Director of the Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Unit and Director of Inpatient Pulmonary Services for Montefiore Medical Center
Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital
Jill M. Ferson, MA, LCSW-R, ABD, Program Director, Substance Abuse Treatment Program
Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital
Maureen Miller, MSN, FNP-BC, RNC-OB, C-EFM, RN, Maternal Child Health Clinical Nurse Specialist
Montefiore Nyack Hospital
Thomas J. Mattice, CHESP, CMIP, T-CHEST, Senior Director, Support Services
Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall
Veronica Ferencz, DO, FACOS, MBA, Breast Program Director
White Plains Hospital
Karen M. Banoff, DNP, Vice President, Organizational Performance
Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Beth Israel
Joy A. McIlvaine, MS, RN, NPD-BC, ANP-BC, L.Ac., Director Patient Care Services, Quality, Standards and Practice
Mount Sinai Brooklyn
Karen Brody, MSN, RN, GERO-BC, CIC, Infection Surveillance Officer
The Mount Sinai Hospital
Amanda J. Rhee, MD, MS, Medical Director of Patient Safety, System CMO Office, and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Mount Sinai Morningside
Alondra Hernandez, MSN, RN, Director of Nursing
Mount Sinai Queens
Yendy L. Ozoria, Population Health and Administrative Director
Mount Sinai South Nassau
Lina Fonseca, BA, Certified Healthcare Interpreter™-Spanish, Manager of Language Services and DEI Development Programs
Mount Sinai West
Danielle Kaufman, PA, Chief Physician Assistant, Department of Orthopedics
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
Masako Chen, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Comprehensive Ophthalmology Clinic
The New Jewish Home
Manhattan Campus
Shiny Mathew, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, CCRN, WCC, Nurse Practitioner
Sarah Neuman (Westchester Campus)
Leeada Durant, BSN, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing
Northwell Health
Center for Equity of Care
Johanna Martinez, MD, MS, Vice President of Health Equity
Center for Global Health
Eric Cioè-Peña, MD, MPH, Director
Center for Gun Violence Prevention
Chethan Sathya, MD, MSc, FACS, FRCSC, Director
Center for Maternal Health
Dawnette Lewis, MD, MPH, Director
COVID Related Outpatient Work Navigators (CROWN) Program
Gita Lisker, MD, Director
Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Margaret Murphy, DNP, RN, NE-BC, Chief Nursing Officer, Associate Executive Director Patient Care Services
Long Island Jewish Valley Stream
Isabel Law, RN, MSN, CCRN, Director of Patient Care Services
Northwell Health At Home
Irina Mitzner, RN, MSN, Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations, Nurse Executive
Plainview and Syosset Hospitals
Marianna Vazquez, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Associate Executive Director for Patient Care Services, Chief Nurse Executive
NuHealth/Nassau University Medical Center
Matthew J. Bruderman, Chairman of the Board of Directors
NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull
Jillian Diuguid-Gerber, MD, Medical Director, Adult Primary Care and Health Equity Lead
One Brooklyn Health
Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center
Sandra R. Scott, MD, Executive Director
Interfaith Medical Center
Andrea Schulters, RN, Senior Director of Quality and Performance Improvement
and
Donna A. Pritchard, MA, BSN, RN, CNOR, NE-BC, Director of Nursing Perioperative Services
Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
Tony Renteria, Vice President for Operations
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation
Lorraine Breuer, Senior Vice President, Research and Grants and Compliance Officer
Richmond University Medical Center
Philip E. Otterbeck, MD, MBA, Chair, Department of Medicine and Chief, Division of Endocrinology
SBH Health System
Manisha Kulshreshtha, MD, Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical and Strategy Officer
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
Leigha Clarkson, MD, Chairperson Emergency Medicine
St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children
Ariana Ruiz, Associate Director Quality, Safety and Emergency Preparedness
SOMOS Community Care
Henry S. Chen, MD, Co-Founder and President
Stamford Health
Mary A. Laucks, MSHA, BSN, RN, CCM, Executive Director, Care Management
Summit Health
Ashish D. Parikh, MD, Chief Quality and Population Health Officer
Urban Health Plan
Debbie Lester, LMSW, MS, Chief Quality and Social Impact Program Officer