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NYC Public Hospitals Recognize Outstanding Physicians
May 20, 2013
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) today honored 28 physicians with Doctors’ Day awards for their leadership and commitment to advancing the mission of the public hospital system and providing the highest quality healthcare to New Yorkers.
“The physicians we honor on this Doctors’ Day are vital to the well-being of our city,” said HHC President Alan D. Aviles. “They are helping to make HHC a national model of safe, efficient, and patient-centered health care delivery and care deeply about our mission to serve New Yorkers regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status.”
The awards were presented at the annual HHC National Doctors’ Day Ceremony, held this year at Baruch College in Manhattan. The award winning physicians represent every borough and New York City residents’ diverse ethnicity, and vary in age, education, specialties and years of service. Together they bring several hundred years of medical experience to bear on the expert care they provide to HHC patients.
Among the Doctors’ Day Award winners is a group of six community physicians who represent HHC’s relationship with doctors who serve outside the public hospital system and work closely with the public hospitals to manage care to HHC patients. These doctors have embraced and advanced HHC programs to improve patient safety and the effective treatment of chronic diseases in children and adults, such as asthma and diabetes.
The HHC Doctors’ Day 2013 honorees are:
Doctors’ Day Awards – Brooklyn
- Feliks Chechelniker, MD, Community Physician
- Olga Golubovskaya, MD, Associate Chair of Rehabilitation Medicine, Coney Island Hospital
- Carla Howard, MD, Pediatrics, East New York Diagnostic & Treatment Center
- Debbie Ollivieree-Noel, DDS, Cumberland Diagnostic & Treatment Center
- Francesco Serafini, MD, Director of Surgical Oncology, Kings County Hospital Center
- RosaAnabela Tavares, MD, Community Physician
- Rubina Waheed, MD, Deputy Director of Inpatient Psychiatry, Woodhull Medical & Mental Health Center
- Muhammad Zakaria, MD, Attending Physician, Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Doctors’ Day Awards – Bronx
- Marianne Haughey, MD, Attending Physician, Emergency Medicine, Co-Director of Hyperbaric Medicine, North Central Bronx Hospital
- Leslie Joyner, MD, Pediatrics, Segundo Ruiz Belvis Diagnostic & Treatment Center
- Muhammad Kamran, MD, Community Physician
- Abdul Mondul, MD, Associate Medical Director, Patient Safety Officer, Chief of Palliative Care, Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center
- Kathleen Porder, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Ambulatory Care, Jacobi Medical Center
- Raphael Stimphil, MD, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morrisania Diagnostic & Treatment Center
Doctors’ Day Awards – Manhattan
- Albert Kofi Adu, MD, Attending Physician, Surgery, Harlem Hospital Center
- Gale Blakley, MD, RN-BSN, MPH, FACOG, Community Physician
- Deborah Brotman, MD, FACP, Community Physician
- James Goodrich, MD, Internal Medicine, Gouverneur Healthcare Services
- Jonna Mercado, MD, Director of Medicine Clinic, Metropolitan Hospital Center
- K. L. Vasudeva Raju, MD, Chief of Hospital Medicine, Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital & Nursing Facility
- Linda Rogers, MD, Medical Director, Chest Clinic, Assistant Director, Asthma Clinic, Bellevue Hospital Center
- Diane Stumpf, MD, Pediatrics, Patient Safety Officer, Renaissance Health Care Network Diagnostic & Treatment Center
Doctors’ Day Awards – Queens
- Phillip Fairweather, MD, Associate Director of Emergency Medicine, Elmhurst Hospital Center
- Dave Holson, MD, MPH, Director of Emergency Medicine, Queens Hospital Center
- Galina Orenshteyn, MD, Community Physician
Doctors’ Day Award – Staten Island
- Howard Silverman, DDS, Attending Dentist, Vice Chairman, Medical Board, Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home
Doctors’ Day Award – Health & Home Care
- Brenda Merritt, MD
Doctors’ Day Award – MetroPlus Health Plan
- Glendon Henry, MD, Associate Medical Officer
National Doctors’ Day, officially observed on March 30, dates back to 1933 and marks the anniversary of the first use of general anesthesia in surgery. In 1991, National Doctors’ Day was established by Congress to show appreciation for the contributions of physicians to increase scientific knowledge of treating disease, and for the work they do to apply modern and patient-centered methods to improve healthcare and patient well-being.
Contact: Ian Michaels (HHC) (212) 788-3339
About HHC
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated healthcare delivery system with its own 420,000 member health plan, MetroPlus, and is the largest municipal healthcare organization in the country. HHC serves 1.4 million New Yorkers every year and more than 475,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 70 community based clinics. HHC Health and Home Care also provides in-home services for New Yorkers. HHC was the 2008 recipient of the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission’s John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. For more information, visit www.nychhc.org/hhc or find us on facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or twitter.com/NYCHealthSystem.