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HeartbeatThe Magazine of St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center‰® Fall 2018

Always FirstLong Island’s top ranked hospital achieves several Firsts

Welcome In This Issue

Heartbeat Fall 2018 • St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center®1

HeartbeatPublished by St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center®. Questions or comments can be directed to St. Francis Hospital, Public Affairs & Marketing, 2200 Northern Blvd., East Hills, NY 11548. (516) 563-7950. Copyright© 2018. All Rights Reserved. St. Francis Hospital is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island, the healthcare ministry of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Editors/Writers: Jay Caruso, Rosemary Gomez. Editorial assistant: Debra Tischler. Contributing photographers: William Baker and Steve Moors. Designer: Roger Gorman, Reiner Design.

A Time of TransitionAs we come into the final weeks of 2018, we look back on what has been a very productive and re-warding year for St. Francis Hospital. We have once again been ranked the best hospital on Long Island by U.S. News & World Report, which also rated us as High Performing in Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Neurology

& Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics. Additionally, all six med/surg nursing units at St. Francis were honored with both the PRISM and Beacon awards for nursing excellence, the highest number for any hospital in the U.S. We were also honored by the American Heart/American Stroke Associations, earning their annual Get With The Guidelines Awards. It was also a milestone year in the area of medical conferences, St. Francis serving as host sponsor for conferences focused on our leadership in the areas of interventional cardiology supported by state-of-the-art intravascular imaging as well as our high expertise in TAVR — transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Our conferences are well attended by physicians across our region, indeed from other continents, as we seek to share our knowledge of complex treatment and care with the world around us. On a personal note, I need to add that this is my last year as Chief Administration Officer at St. Francis. In December I will be moving on to our sister hospital, Good Samaritan, in West Islip, where I will take on the role of president. I look forward to continuing to strengthen our Catholic Health Services organization of hospitals and continu-ing-care facilities on Long Island, and I am gratified to know that St. Francis will continue to grow, under the leadership of its incoming president, Charles L. Lucore, M.D.

Ruth E. HennesseyExecutive Vice President and Administrative Officer

Greetings to all in the community of St. Francis Hospi-tal — its physicians, nurses, lab technicians, employ-ees, and above all — our patients and families who we care for. It is my great pleasure to join this outstanding hospital, one that has a distinguished reputation on a national level. Until recently, I was president and chief executive officer of HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, the flagship ministry of the Hospital

Sisters Health System. As a cardiologist and administrator, I am well prepared for the challenges and growth opportunities that lie ahead for St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center®. I look forward to meeting and getting to know everyone in the months ahead. It is my pleasure to give a heartfelt thanks to Ruth Hennessey for her exceptional stewardship of St. Francis over the past several years. I know she will continue her great work as she takes the helm at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center. Please enjoy this edition of Heartbeat, the magazine of St. Francis Hospital. By spending a few minutes with it you’ll learn of the many ways that our distinguished hospital is adding years of improved health to so many lives across our community.

Charles L. Lucore, M.D., M.B.A.President

Welcome Messages 1

In the News U.S. News Honors 2Newsday Sounds out Chairman of Cardiology 2Happy Retirement to a Beloved Employee 2Bariatric Center Named Center of Excellence 3New Community Outreach Bus 3Another ‘A’ for Safety 3Expanding Cancer Care 3Getting with the Guidelines 4Highest Volume of Cardiac Surgeries on LI 4 Cover StoryAlways First 5

Q&A Director of Neurology, Vincent DeOrchis, M.D. 7

Vital Signs New Orthopedic Fracture Service 9Weight Management 9Cancer Institute Reaches 5 Year Mark 9LVAD Saves Lives 10Pain Management 10Better Prostate Cancer Outcomes 10Best Nurses in America 11 Giving BackHands on Heart Lab at Local High School 13Boy From Zambia Receives Gift of Life 13SFH Volunteers 13Profile of a Giver: Linda Pons 14Mr. Anonymous 15

SFH Leads the Way Live From the Cath Lab 16Nationwide aFib Trial 16Heart Valve Symposium 17Cardiology Clinical Trials 17

Heartfelt Memories 18

Staff News 18

In This Issue In The News

Fall 2018 • St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center® Heartbeat 2

U.S. News & World Report Ranks St. Francis Best on Long Island. Again.St. Francis Hospital has once again been rated the fifth best hospital in New York State and the sixth in the NY metro area in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. It was also rated the best hospital on Long Island for the sixth year in a row. The hospital was recognized by U.S. News as High Performing in five adult specialties: Cardiology & Heart Sur-gery, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Neurology & Neurosur-gery, and Orthopedics. St. Francis was also ranked High Performing in seven common adult procedures and conditions: abdom-inal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, colon cancer surgery, COPD, and hip replacement. Nearly 5,000 hospitals nation-wide were analyzed for U.S. News’ 30th annual Best Hospitals rankings. Hospitals were compared in 25 spe-cialties, procedures, and conditions. The methodologies include objective measures such as patient survival, rates of infection, and adequacy of nursing staff. To see the complete list of top- rated hospitals in our region and find out more about how they were chosen, log on to www.usnews.com/besthospitals/

SFH Chairman of Cardiology Tapped for Expertise on Tainted Blood Pressure MedRichard Shlofmitz, M.D., Chairman of Cardiology at St. Francis, was featured in a Newsday re-port about the recall of a medication known as valsartan. The FDA recall was first announced in July and then expanded to contain valsartan medications that also include hydrochlorothiazide, an additive that addresses fluid retention. The recalled medications are tainted with N-nitrosodi-methylamine, or NDMA, a byproduct of some industrial processes, including pesticide manu-facturing. It is also a component of liquid rocket fuel. NDMA has been known to taint drinking water and contaminate food. The Environmental Protection Agency lists it as a probable human carcinogen. Dr. Shlofmitz has taken his patients – and himself – off the recalled medications. “Valsartan is a great drug. It’s what I have been taking because I have hypertension,” he said. “A majori ty of my patients have been on it for years.” Valsartan is prescribed to an estimated 3 million people in the U.S. Experts say patients should meet with their doctors and be switched to another medication.

Time to Stop and Smell the RosesThe retirement of beloved St. Francis land-scaper Pat Sblendorio was the subject of a Newsday story on “the explosion of colors” and “floral finery” the 76-year-old gardener brought to the hospital for nearly 30 years Pat retired during one of his favorite seasons — spring — when the hospital’s garden was beginning to bloom just in time for summer. But before putting his hospital hedge clippers to rest, the constant gardener made his rounds to bid fond farewell to all of the friends and co-workers whose lives he brightened over the past three decades. “To St. Francis employees, Sblendorio is much more than a landscaper. He is a force of nature — charming and cheerful — always wearing a smile and offering up a warm hello,” cites the article.


In The News

Getting into High Gear St. Francis has a new Outreach Bus that will ramp up our free health screenings to commu-nities throughout Long Island and Queens. The state-of-art mobile clinic has an extra work station, more waiting areas, and a TV used for educational videos. “People love it. There’s more privacy and great climate control for more comfort,” says Theresa F. Kelly, R.N., a community health nurse, who’s happy to be on the road again with a new set of wheels.

Health Systems Expanding Cancer Care on Long IslandBhoomi Mehrotra, M.D., Chairman of Can-cer Services at Catholic Health Services and the Director of the Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital, was featured in a Newsday business article about how regional health systems are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to open new locations and expand cancer care in a highly competitive market. “In the end, the proximity of patients and doctors helps most aspects of care,” said Dr. Mehrotra. “As the need for cancer care grows, we will grow. But I wish there wasn’t a need. I would love to be put out of business.”

St. Francis Gets Another ‘A’ in Nationwide Safety Test For the twelfth time, St. Francis Hospital has received an ‘A’ in a national safety score that rates hospitals on the quality of their care. The letter-based rating system was devised by the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization that

ranks hospitals nationwide. St. Francis was one of only three hospitals on Long Island — and the only one in Nassau County — to get an ‘A.’ Of the 145 hospitals surveyed in New York State just 12, or eight percent, received ‘A’ ratings.’ The hospital has earned an ‘A’ 12 out of 14 times since the safety score’s debut in 2012. The semi-annual rankings rely on data from Leapfrog’s own ratings as well as outside sources including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission. Grades range from ‘A’ to ‘F’ based on 27 publicly available safety measures. Hospitals are rated on how well they prevented errors, infec-tions, injuries, and drug mix-ups that could lead to medical complications and unnecessary loss of life. Of all the hospitals Leapfrog reviews nationwide, less than a third earn an ‘A’ rating for safety. According to Leapfrog, selecting the right hospital can reduce your risk of avoidable death by 50%. The ratings service says its scores empower patients to make informed decisions about the safety of their hospital care. To read more about the scores and see how hospitals were rated, you can log on to: http://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/.

St. Francis Named Bariatric Center of Excellence AgainThe Bariatric Surgery Program at St. Francis has been recertified by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. The nationally accredited program continues to increase its surgical volumes at St. Francis. Under the direction of Shawn Garber, M.D., it offers patients leading-edge surgical procedures that include:

• Sleeve Gastrectomy• Adjustable Gastric Banding (Lap Band)• Gastric Bypass• Revision Surgery

The program also provides pre-operativeseminars and post-operative support groups. For more information or to make an appointment call: 1-888-851-0555.


In June of this year, St. Francis Hospital received two top honors from the Ameri-can Heart/American Stroke Associations when they awarded their Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award as well as their Get With The Guidelines® – Heart Failure Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award. These awards recognize St. Francis Hospital’s commitment to ensuring that patients receive the most appropriate treat-ment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. St. Francis earned the awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. Before discharge, patients also receive education on managing their

Top Honors from the American Heart/American Stroke Associationshealth, schedule a follow-up visit, as well as other care-transition interventions. “Our highly trained medical team is dedicat-ed to enhancing the quality of care for patients coping with both stroke and heart failure through this nationwide initiative,” said Ronald J. Gulotta, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer. “The tools and

resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.” Additionally, St. Francis received the Stroke Association’s StrokeSM Elite/Target award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

St. Francis Hospital’s standings in the latest New York State Department of Health Adult Cardiac Surgery Report were highlighted in a Newsday “Top Stories” article. St. Francis once again performed the most coronary bypass and valve repair/replacement surgeries on Long Island, according to data compiled from 2013–2015. The Hospital was also cited for performing the most transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs) on the Island. In addition, Maksim Rovensky, D.O., of the St. Francis Hospital Open Heart Surgery Pro-gram at Good Samaritan Hospital, was recog-nized for having risk-adjusted mortality rates significantly lower than the statewide average. “Health care is a team sport,” said Ronald J. Gulotta, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Office at St. Francis. “No single person can lay claim to the excellent results. One of the things that makes us stand out is our nursing staff.” “For the past 25 years, St. Francis has posted consistently excellent outcomes,” noted Newell Robinson, M.D., Chairman of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (left).

St. Francis Performs Highest Volume of Cardiac Surgeries on Long Island

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Cover Story


Always FirstLong Island’s top ranked hospital achieves several firstsSt. Francis Hospital has been rated the best hospital on Long Island for the sixth year in a row by U.S. News & World Report rankings. It’s an achievement that speaks to the level of excellence across several specialties our hospital excels in, each of which had its own distinct ”firsts.”

St. Francis Hospital prides itself on using leading-edge approaches in the treatment of both cardiac and non-cardiac conditions. For avid soccer fan Bogden Karas, (right), our focus on accuracy scored a winning goal. The 74-year-old retired water department employee, who knows a lot about plumbing, is taking part in a global study that could change the path of treating clogged arteries. The major clinical study — known as the ILUMIEN IV trial — will evaluate the superiority of a light-based, 3D imaging system called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) as compared to traditional X-ray based angiography in patients with complex coronary artery disease who receive a stent. With Karas are

Richard Shlofmitz, M.D., Chairman of Cardiology, (center), and Allen Jeremias, M.D., (left), Director of Interventional Cardiology Research (left), worldwide leaders in precision angiography.

Precision Angiography Scores High

Mitral Valve Replacement, Yes. Open Heart Surgery, No.

Archie “Ace” Dalton of Plandome is a walking break-through. The 90-year-old Long Islander received a minimally invasive mitral valve replacement at St. Francis as part of a major global study that could prove to be a savior for elderly patients unable to undergo open heart surgery. Just days after receiving the revolutionary procedure, the former advertising executive was able to share a few laughs with co-investigators George Petrossian, M.D., and Newell Robinson, M.D., along with members of the medical team that gave him a new lease on life by inserting the bovine-based device.

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Advances in Neuroscience

St. Francis stepped forward to minimize invasive surgery by acquiring a revolutionary robotic navigation system called Excelsius GPS™. The high-tech spinal GPS system streamlines surgical time and reduces overall radiation exposure for surgeons and staff. It also minimizes blood loss and muscle damage for patients, potentially yielding faster recoveries. St. Francis was the first hospital on Long Island to use the device. Pictured left to right: Richard Johnson, M.D., Di-

rector of Neurosurgery; Kim Pensabene, RN; Mabel Wong, PA; neurosurgeons Rick Madhok, M.D. and David Chen, D.O.

New Knees in the Morning, Walk Away in the Afternoon

#1Retired police officer Kathleen Longo and warehouse worker Joseph DiGirolamo each suffered from bad knees as a result of their active jobs. When they learned they could have total knee replacement sur-gery and walk out the very same day, their immediate response was “sign me up.” Orthopedic surgeon Michael Kang, M.D., performed the twin surgeries the same day at the East Hills Surgery Center in what is believed to be a first for any ambulatory surgical center on Long Island. DiGirola-mo, who says his knee was “bone on bone,” was able to get around with just a cane soon after surgery. Longo was able to ride on a stationary bike with-in weeks. She says her neighbors saw her walking around and said, “I can’t believe you just had knee surgery.”

St. Francis Hospital is proud of its many firsts. Yet we are even prouder to have helped restore so many patients to good health.


Q&ASt. Francis is a center of excellence in stroke care.

The Neurology program at St. Francis has been evolving. Tell us how.Until recent years, the role of the neurologist at St. Francis had been mostly to support our primary care doctors and special-ists, consulting on neurological issues for patients presenting with symptoms that may indicate a neurological issue.

The mid-1990s brought a change in paradigm for the role of the hospital based neurologist. The advent of intravenous tPA, more commonly known as the “clot busting drug,” provided us the ability to potentially dissolve a clot if administered within three hours of a patient’s presenting symptoms. Recent ad-vances in our understanding of stroke evolution has permitted the window for IV tPA to be extended as far out as 4.5 hours after the event in select patient groups.

Stroke therapy has seen its greatest advancement in the past three years with the integration of endovascular therapeu-tic options in which a specially trained interventionalist can directly engage and remove the clot within the brain utilizing a catheter passed through the vessels in either the groin or the wrist. These techniques are similar to those used by cardiolo-gists for decades to perform angioplasty or place stents within the vessels of the heart, and because they do not necessarily involve blood thinners, the window of treatment can be as far out as 24 hours after the stroke in certain circumstances.

So some stroke patients are treated with an intravenous tPA while others may be candidates for endovascular intervention?Yes, and in some cases patients are eligible for both. Ideally, we hope most patients will arrive within the window for IV tPA as well, which provides the best benefit for recovery. Those patients with neuroimaging findings suggestive of a clot amenable to the endovascular catheter-based approach can be

quickly transported to our catheterization lab, where there is further opportunity to open the vessel.

However, some patients are simply not candidates for IV tPA. These includes individuals taking certain forms of blood thin-ners as well as patients who have undergone recent surgery, and, in some circumstances, patients with history of previous brain hemorrhage or bleeding disorders who are deemed too high risk to be exposed to the “clot buster.” Now, in the era of endovascular neurology, we can potentially intervene with the use of catheter-based techniques in such cases, thereby focus-ing therapy solely on the brain vessel involved.

What’s accelerated the use of neurovascular intervention?Two things: First, advances in neurovascular imaging have made it possible to more accurately localize the source of a stroke and determine whether the injured tissue is salvageable. Second, St. Francis in particular is well suited for this kind of rapid assessment and intervention because we already have a highly refined workflow based on our long-standing cardiac measures. This begins with rapidly identifying those patients presenting with stroke symptoms at triage, efficient transport, imaging acquisition, corroboration of the stroke team mem-bers, and execution of the appropriate treatment plan. Ideally, we like to see these steps performed within 30 minutes of the patient passing through the door of the emergency room.

So our effectiveness as a rapid response heart center has in effect paved the way for effective stroke care?Exactly. The framework was already present and well polished following years of fine-tuning the hospital’s response to acute coronary events. The neurovascular team has leveraged this well-orchestrated machinery to efficiently identify and treat stroke patients as soon as they enter the hospital – and in fact

Vincent DeOrchis, M.D., is Director of the Division of Neurology atSt. Francis Hospital and Director of Stroke Care. He joined us in 2012, after earning his medical degree from Downstate College of Medicine, as well as a master of science degree from Georgetown University in physiology and biophysics. We asked Dr. DeOrchis to give us some background on how St. Francis has emerged as a center of excellence in stroke care.


we’ve developed further measures to ensure this workflow is effective for our inpatient and post-surgical population as well.

Is St. Francis recognized for its high performance in stroke care?Yes, The Joint Commission and the New York State Depart-ment of Health review our protocols and practices as well as our individual caseload each year and have certified us not only as a Primary Stroke Center but also as a center of excellence in stroke response and care. The team here has accomplished a great deal, all very safely, swiftly, and efficiently, improving our metrics year after year.

In 2018, St. Francis received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus award for the eighth year in a row. Additionally, we were placed on the Target Stroke Honor Roll Elite, which recognizes high performance in administering tPA (the clot-busting drug) to patients well within the optimal response window.

Who makes up our stroke team?It starts with our physicians and nurses in the emergency department, then the neurologist who is informed when a patients appears to be presenting stroke symptoms. Addition-ally, there are many key players involved, such as the radiology technicians who ensure we get clean and rapid scans of the brain, the radiologists who review those scans, the specially trained staff on our stroke floor and within the critical care units, the physical therapy and speech therapy teams, nurse educators, and our stroke coordinator, who oversees all as-pects of the team and reviews every stroke case from start to finish.

What’s the future looking like?As my interest is focused on the one organ in the human body yet to reveal all of its secrets, recent technologic revolutions have ensured that the future of neurologic and neurovascular therapies will be both promising and exciting.

At St. Francis we are currently undergoing construction in our catherization suite for a new biplane fluoroscopy machine that will allow us to visualize the brain’s vasculature in 3 dimensions, a technique required to perform more complex interventional procedures such as aneurysm coiling and management of vascular malformations.

Your ability to identify a Stroke can save lives. Recognize the tell-tale signs of Stroke – and know what YOU can do about it:

• Is there a loss of Balance?

• Is there vision loss in one or both Eyes?

• Is the Face uneven?

• Is one Arm hanging down or unable to move?

• Is the person’s Speech slurred or confused?

• Remember: Time is BRAIN – Call 911!

If a stroke occurs within St. Francis Hospitaldial 3333 to activate our stroke team.

BE FAST!

The award-winning stroke team at St. Francis


Vital Signs

St. Francis Launches New Orthopedic Fracture ServiceSt. Francis Hospital has recently introduced a new orthopedic Fracture Service, along with a 24-hour hotline: 1-833-SF ORTHO. In the event of an emergency involving bone injury you can contact our hotline any time, day or night, and self-refer to St. Francis Hospital. The Hospital’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery has a large group of surgeons specially trained to care for general and com-plex fractures, including those of the upper and lower extremities, pelvis, acetabulum, and spine. In addition, we have expertise in the care of malunions, nonunions, and infected fractures. Patients who have sustained a fracture or similar injury can come to St. Francis Hospital, regardless of where their injury occurred. “Our physicians are experts in complex fractures,” says Richard J. D’Agostino, M.D., Chairman of Orthopedics. If you or someone you know suffers a sudden bone injury, call 1-833-SF ORTHO. Our referral coordinators will handle all logistical issues, 24/7.

The St. Francis Weight Management Program is now in its second year, with more than 250 patients enrolled in the medically supervised program, which takes a heart-healthy approach to weight loss. One of the biggest winners so far has lost over 93 pounds. The average weight loss for patients on its very-low-calorie diet is now 50 pounds. The program provides customized plans for achieving weight control. Options include a choice of diet meal plans, nutritional counseling, exercise planning, and psychosocial support.For more information, call (516) 563-7940.

Weight Management Program

Now in its fifth year of operation, The Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital already commands a breadth and depth in treatments and services, while making significant contributions toward research and prevention. “This past year was a very busy one for us,” said Bhoomi Meh-rotra, M.D., Director of the Cancer Institute and of Oncology. “We saw significant growth in our outpatient services; but it’s not just about the numbers, it’s about the quality of care, the compassion that our Cancer Institute is known for.” In 2017, St. Francis Radiation Oncology, formerly located in Garden City, joined the Cancer Institute at its East Hills location, and also acquired a linear accelerator to perform stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy. These forms of high-intensity radiation therapies aggressively treat tumors, often shortening the duration of treatment. “This is very precise, very state-of-the art technology that we can use to treat tumors at various body sites: prostate, pancreas, bone, lung, and even brain,” said Jay Bosworth, M.D., Director of Radiation Oncology. In medical oncology, the Cancer Institute sees a significantly di-verse patient population with unique needs for cancer care and more. “A lot of people with cancer have other illnesses, difficult conditions, and with the expertise we have at St. Francis we are able to take care of highly complicated hematological and solid tumor malignancies,” Dr. Mehrotra said.

Recognizing that optimal care requires a multi-disciplinary approach, the Cancer Institute now conducts approximately 100 tumor boards a year at which all members of the cancer care team meticulously review cases and make treatment decisions. “Each of these conferences has surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, and others. We review various tumor types and sites of origin to make plans and recommendations for individual patients,” Dr. Mehrotra said. “These are prospective discussions, real-time decision making.” The Cancer Institute has been active on the preventive front as well, debuting a Lung Cancer Screening program in 2017. “We know that if people at high risk — those with significant smoking exposure — un-dergo an annual low-dose CT scan, it increases their survival, not just from lung cancer but from all-cause mortality,” Dr. Mehrotra said. “Looking forward, our goals are to stay on the frontier of rapidly changing evidence-based recommendations for various types of cancer, and to enhance our portfolio of clinical research to bring novel therapies to our patients.”

Delivering Complex Care with Compassion

Fall 2018 • St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center® Heartbeat10

St. Francis Hospital’s Pain Management Department is in its third year at its newlocation: 2200 Northern Boulevard. “We can now refer our patients right down the hall for surgical or internal medicine consultations, as well as referrals for MRI or CT scan imaging,” said Patrick Annello, M.D., the Hospital’s Director of Interven-tional Pain Management. With the recent acquisition of ultrasound technology, Dr. Annello and his colleagues are able to perform a number of additional procedures.

Advances in Pain Management

“Ultrasound provides a superior visu-alization of nerve plexuses, allowing us to transition a lot of patients out of the hospital for simple procedures that can be performed right here in our office.”The Pain Management Department offers many alternative treatments to help allevi-ate chronic pain. Says Dr. Annello, “It’s hard to describe the gratification when a patient says to you, ‘Thanks, Doc, for giving me my life back!’”

John DePerte spent his career as a New York City EMS officer saving the lives of others. So when advanced heart failure took its toll on him, he realized he needed a lifeline of his own. The 74-year-old Linden-hurst resident received the first HeartMate 3™ Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) at the Kroll Family Center for Heart Failure and Circulatory Support at St. Francis. The implantable mechanical device

A Real Life SaverLeaders in Ventricular Assisted Device Treatment

assists his heart in pumping blood through his body and increasing the supply of ox-ygen to his organs. DePerte (pictured left to right with Rita Jermyn, M.D., John De Pietro, NP-C, and Edward F. Lundy, M.D., Ph.D.) says he doesn’t even realizehe has the device implanted in him. His wife agrees, “He refuses to use a cell phone or a computer but has more tech-nology inside of him than anything.”

Better Prostate Tumor Outcomes in Far Fewer SessionsThe Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital uses advanced stereotactic radiosurgery to treat various tumors non-invasively. Our Radiation Oncology unit is capable of eradicating prostate tumors in just five sessions, each lasting about 15 minutes. Alan Katz, M.D., recently joined St. Francis after establishing him-self as a pioneer in the use of radiosurgery for prostate cancer. He has treated over 1,000 patients. Our board certified team uses the latest advance in radiotherapy technology for unsurpassed precision and real-time tumor-tracking with reduced exposure to healthy tissue. Beyond prostate cancer, we also use the same advanced radiosurgery for tumors of the brain, lung and pancreas. For a consultation call: (516) 222-2020.

A revolutionary new approach to orthopedic surgery now uses a patient’s own cells to regenerate damaged cartilage, producing a biological repair of the injury. The procedure is called MACI and Richard D’Agostino, M.D., Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Francis, was the first surgeon on Long Island to perform the new procedure in March of this year. “Right now, there’s only a handful of surgeons in New York State who are trained and certified in the MACI procedure,” says Dr. D’Agostino. “But based on the result we’re seeing, I think this is definitely the way of the future. The ability to regenerate damaged tissue will return patients to a higher level of activity faster and with fewer complications.” The advent of MACI — which stands for matrix autologous chondro-cyte implantation — is just one of several new initiatives the Depart-ment of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Francis Hospital has committed to over the past year. Little wonder our volume of orthopedic cases has expanded so rapidly. Yet at the same time, we continue to maintain our high standards of quality, as evidenced by the lowest readmission and complication rates in our region.

Breakthrough Orthopedic Surgery


St. Francis Hospital has set a national record by receiving the highest level of recognition for nursing excellence, both in our medical surgical lcal nursing units and also our intensive care units. In April of 2018, the American Association of Crit- i-cal-Care Nurses (AACN) gave the Beacon Silver ver Award to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) at St. Francis Hospital. That recognition for nursing ex- cel-lence brought the total number of Beacon Awards for the hospital to six. Three intensive care units, the CTICU, SICU, and IMCU, hold Gold-level Beacon Awards. Two others, MICU 2 and the Cath Lab/ACU, each have Silver-level awards. St. Francis is the only hospital in New York State to hold six Beacon Awards for nursing excellence. The Beacon Award for Excellence is a nationally ally recognized three-year award with gold, silver, and bronze designations that mark significant milestones on the path to exceptional patient care as well as a healthy work environment. It recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align their practices with the AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve this recognition meet national criteria consistent with Magnet recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige Na-

The Best Nurses in America

2 West

K2

Vital Signs


2 East

K2

tional Quality Award, and the National Quality Healthcare Award. On a parallel track, in April the Academy of Medical–Surgical Nurses (AMSN) and the Medical–Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB) gave its PRISM Award for exempla-ry nursing practice to the K2 Nursing Unit at St. Francis. This makes the sixth time a med-ical–surgical unit at St. Francis has achieved this high recognition – a national record. The AMSN PRISM, which stands for Premier Rec-ognition in the Specialty of Med-Surg, is the first award of its kind honoring medical–sur-gical units in the US. Two other nursing units at St. Francis — 2 West and 2 East — each received their second PRISM awards in March. “Receiving a sixth PRISM award is yet another

affirmation of the ongoing commitment our medical – surgical units have in providing topnotch nursing care,” says Ann Cella, M.A., M.Ed, R.N., N.E.A.-B.C., Senior Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer at St. Francis. “PRISM, along with Beacon and Magnet recogni-tion, all reflect why St. Francis is consistently ranked one of the best hospitals in America.”

PACU


Giving Back

HS Students at St. Dominic Get “Hands-on Heart Lab” from St. Francis Cardiac Surgeons, Second Year in a RowIn April of this year, nearly 140 students at St. Dominic High School in Oyster Bay gained firsthand experience on the structure and function of the heart from two top cardiothoracic surgeons at St. Francis Hospital. Lawrence Durban, M.D., and Albert C. DiMeo, M.D., conducted three sessions in the school’s state-of-the-art science lab: teaching aspiring doctors, nurses, and healthcare pro-fessionals how to dissect pig hearts. Every student got a hands-on experience in dissection. “This is the second year our physicians are participating in this

exciting educational program,” said Ronald J. Gulotta, M.D., VP of Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer at St. Francis. “We think it’s a great way to in-spire students interested in pur-suing careers in the healthcare field. St. Dominic’s teaching lab

provides an outstanding setting for two of our foremost surgeons to inspire students about the marvels of medicine.” The program is an outgrowth of the school’s STEM Program, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It’s designed to give students an accelerated track to these four aca-demic fields before they enter college. The initiative began through a $10 million endowment and partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Lab. “The Hands on Heart Lab is an extraordinary opportunity for our students, especially those interested in pursuing careers in medicine. Our STEM Program is often cited as the reason why students choose St. Dominic High School,” said Maureen Appel, Principal. “We are extremely grateful to Drs. Durban and DiMeo for helping make this day possible.”

Over 300 Volunteers and CountingAt this year’s Volunteer Awards Celebration, 159 of our volunteers were honored for reaching service milestones ranging from 100 hours to 22,500 hours. All totaled, St. Francis Hospital volunteers provided over 66,600 hours of service in 2017. This resulted in an annual savings of well over $1 million in staffing.

SFH Director of Volunteer Services Kim Arlotta (right) takes a fresh-air break with volunteers representing four generations. Left to right: Barney Lough, Jackie Giron, Tara Funk, Clara Mazzei.

A New BeginningSt. Francis has helped hundreds of children from around the world receive life-saving cardiac procedures through its long-standing relationships with Gift of Life International and Great Neck’s Gift of Life, Inc. Milton Miti, a four-year-old child from Zambia, is one of the latest recipients. The little boy was born with a very large hole in his heart. But thanks to Sean Levchuck, M.D., Chairman of Pediatric Cardiology, who donated his services, the Interact Club of Manhasset High School, which raised $6,000 to bring Milton to the U.S., and help from the Nicholas J. Vizza Memorial Fund for Pediatrics, the youngster was able to play soccer for the very first time in his life.


Giving BackProfile of a GiverLinda Pons will be forever grateful to St. Francis Hospi-tal for the surgery that saved her life; and St. Francis is equally grateful to Linda for her generosity – promised before she ever set foot in the hospital as a patient. Linda became acquainted with St. Francis several years back when she volunteered to be a participant in a research study on coronary artery disease. She lost both her parents to heart disease and felt a personal connec-tion to the project. Linda enjoyed the benefits of being a study partici-pant, including participating in a supervised exercise program at the cardiac fitness center at the Hospital’s DeMatteis Center for Cardiac Research and Education. Over time, she realized how much she appreciated the personal care provided by the nurses and staff. To demonstrate her appreciation, she named St. Francis Hospital as a beneficiary in her will. As a member of the Sr. Jean M. Pignone Legacy Society, Linda attended special events, lectures, and private tours where she was treated to a firsthand look at the newest initiatives taking place at the Hospital. During one of these tours of the new high-tech oper-ating rooms, Linda shared her admiration of the space and her wish that she would never need to visit one as a patient. Four months later, while exercising at the cardiac fitness center, Linda experienced symptoms of angina, symptoms she remembered well from her mother’s illness. After a series of tests, Linda’s cardiologist transferred her directly to the Hospital’s emergency de-partment. Linda underwent triple-bypass, open-heart surgery in the very same operating room that she had seen on her tour! She never expected she’d be experi-encing the Hospital’s top-ranked medical care when she first informed us of her promise of a future legacy gift. Linda recovered fully and is back at the cardiac fitness center. In her great gratitude, Linda now makes an annual gift to St. Francis Hospital on the anniversary of her life-saving surgery. Linda’s annual gifts and legacy gift will help future generations to benefit from the world-class health care provided by the wonderful doctors, nurses, and staff at St. Francis.

For information about planning a gift to St. Francis Hospital, contact Michael Maglione at (516) 563-7967 or email [email protected].


Gifts come in all shapes and sizes… and sometimes arrive in the most unexpected ways. That was the case when a grateful patient showed up at the St. Francis Hospital Founda-tion’s office with a check in hand – for $1 million. In between a tumble of words of thanks and awe, our Foun-dation staff learned more about this generous donor whom they had never met before. He shared that he was enormously grateful to the entire team at St. Francis Hospital. He’d decid-ed to make this wonderful gift as a way to honor their com-passion and caregiving skill. As for recognition, the kind gentleman was not interested

Giving Back

in plaques, donor walls, or meeting with any of the Hospital’s leaders. He preferred to remain anonymous. His only request was that his gift be used to support the Hospital’s general needs, so that future patients would be given the same person-al care he’d received. After a few minutes, he was on his way to meet up with friends, with our solemn promise that we would share his thanks with all the good people and medical professionals at St. Francis Hospital. And here is that million-dollar message: THANK YOU, for making a difference!

Enter Mr. Anonymous

Blood Drives at St. Francis Hospital St. Francis is regularly asked by the New York Blood Center to help pre-empt blood supply shortages by staging multiple blood drives a year within our campuses. Hundreds of employees regularly take the time to donate blood, producing an average of dona-tion of close to 400 pints per year. We extend a very grateful thank you to all who step up to make this life saving gift.


SFH Leads the WayLive From The Cath Lab Last May, St. Francis Hospital hosted a major medical conference devoted to precision angiography. The conference, held at the Dominick Hotel in New York City, was attended by over 300, including physicians from around the world. They came to learn how new technologies are enabling interventional cardiologists at St. Francis to optimize percutaneous coronary interventions

St. Francis is participating in a large clinical trial focused on whether a com-bined treatment for atrial fibrillation may be more effective than pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) alone. “We are very excited about participating in this study,” said Joseph Levine, M.D., Director of Electrophysiology at St. Francis and principal investigator. “It may offer new hope for patients who’ve under-gone repeated ablations, but whose atrial fibrillation persists.” Called the aMAZE Trial, the study will compare whether PVI and closure of the left atrial appendage using the LARIAT procedure may treat atrial fibrillation better than PVI only. The LARIAT procedure involves placement of a suture over the left atrial appendage. “It’s a way of isolating the left atrial appendage so that any electrical stim-ulation arising in the appendage is no longer able to foster afib,” said George Petrossian, M.D., Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Procedures and co-investigator. The LARIAT is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin-

istration for use with general surgery to close soft tissue, but it has not been studied extensively to close the left atrial appendage in afib patients who are receiving catheter ablation, according to the trial website. A total of 650 patients from 65 sites are participating in the trial, includ-ing patients from St. Francis. Patients will be randomized to have PVI alone or the LARIAT procedure followed by PVI about a month later. Although results from the trial are not expected for at least a year, Dr. Petrossian is hopeful that the outcomes will offer some promise to patients with persistent afib. “There could potentially be combined procedures to improve efficacy and help patients who are symptomatic to have less palpitations,” he said. The full name of the trial is aMAZE Trial: Left Atrial Appendage Ligation with the LARIAT Suture Delivery System as Adjunctive Therapy to Pul-monary Vein Isolation (PVI) for Persistent or Longstanding Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.

Nationwide trial targets better treatment for persistent atrial fibrillation

Always Cool Under Pressure Richard Shlofmitz, M.D., Chairman of Cardiology at St. Francis (right), and Allen Jeremias, M.D., Director of Interven-tional Cardiology Research and Associate Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab (left), perform a coronary invention telecast live to conference attendees in NYC. Attendees were able to ask questions of the two performing physicians mid-procedure.

– angioplasties and the implantation of stents – to treat blocked arteries. “This is the only conference in the United States specifically devoted to intravascular imaging and physiology,” said Jeffrey Moses, M.D., Director of Advanced Cardiac Interventions at St. Francis. “The new imaging technologies we’re using are making complex angioplasty more effective for more patients.”


Cardiology Clinical Trials in 2018Intracoronary imaging continues to be the core of interventional cardi-ology research led by Richard Shlofmitz, M.D., Chairman of Cardiology, the objective of which is to understand the impact of image-guided PCI on procedural and clinical outcomes, using Optical Coherence Tomog-raphy (OCT) and Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS). Dr. Shlofmitz is also leading an investigation to evaluate the effectiveness of complex calci-fied lesion preparation using orbital atherectomy prior to OCT guided stenting.

Allen Jeremias, M.D., a leading expert in Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR),is conducting multiple studies investigating the utility of using FFR and iFR to predict future cardiac events. In addition, he is also assessing the value of derived FFR using computational flow dynamics based on angiographic images.

Expanding clinical trials designed to evaluate novel treatments of mitral regurgitation are underway at St. Francis Hospital. These trials are aimed at either replacement or repair of the mitral valve. The Structural Heart Disease team led by George Petrossian, M.D., and Newell Robinson, M.D., is investigating mitral valve replacement via a catheter-based pro-cedure, possibly avoiding the need for open-heart surgery. In addition to the mitral valve, the team is also actively engaged in the research of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

In the area of heart failure, Rita Jermyn, M.D., Director of the Center for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, is involved in multicenter drug and device trials aimed at the optimization of treatment of heart failure, reduction in heart failure hospitalization, and reduction in cardiovascular mortality. Dr. Jermyn is also a renowned expert in CardioMEMS, a system for wirelessly measuring and monitoring pulmonary artery pressure and heart rate. Her research is focused on improving the quality of life for heart failure patients.

The Cardiac Imaging Department, led by Jane Cao, M.D., has a large number of original research protocols encompassing echocardiogra-phy, nuclear imaging, cardiac CT, and MRI technologies. The acces-sibility of multi-modality imaging creates a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship of myocardial tissue property and myo-cardial mechanical performance, led by Dr. Cao and Lin Wang, M.D. A broad interest in qualitative and quantitative myocardial perfusion research has led to investigations using MRI, CT, echocardiography, and PET imaging led by Madhavi Kadiyala, M.D., Timothy Christian, M.D., Aasha Gopal, M.D., Andrew Van Tosh, M.D., and Eddy Barasch, M.D. The team continues to evaluate physio-logic insights and clinical outcomes associated with aortic stenosis. Artificial intelligence is an important area of leading-edge research in cardiac imaging. Led by senior scientist James Goldfarb, Ph.D., there is exciting development of artificial intelligence in large-scale cardiac imaging analysis.

Another senior scientist Yulee Li, Ph.D. and his team are working on an NIH-funded study to develop techniques to increase the speed of cardiac imaging. Dr. Cao is collaborating with engineers to develop 3D printing to investigate the role of personalized planning in complex cardiac device deployment.

Please call (516) 562-6790 for more information about any of these trials.

SFH Leads the Way

Long Island’s First-EverHeart Valve SymposiumGeorge Petrossian, M.D. (left), and Newell Robinson, M.D. (right), Co-Directors of the John Brancaccio Heart Valve Center at St. Francis, hosted the Hospital’s first-ever heart valve symposium back in March. Physicians from across the region came to learn more about how St. Francis is leading the way in the treatment of vavular disease. The highlight of the conference was a live telecast a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) proce-dure, performed by Drs. Petrossian and Robinson at St. Francis. Con-ference attendees were able to ask questions during the procedure and have them answered by the doctors. The success of our Heart Valve Center has led to the opening of The St. Francis Hospital Heart Valve Center at Good Samaritan Hospital, offering patients in Suffolk County the same level of excellence and expertise that has made St. Francis a national leader in cardiovascular care.


Heartfelt Memories

A Legacy of GivingOver the summer, the St. Francis Hospital community lost a dear and longtime friend, Mr. John Brancaccio. Some 28 years ago John came to St. Francis for open-heart surgery to repair his aortic valve. He fully recovered and was so grateful that he became a very generous donor to the St. Francis Hospital Foundation. The John Brancaccio Heart Valve Center at St. Francis is his lasting legacy, extending to the next generation the benefits of continuing advancements in minimally invasive approaches to the treatment of valvular disease. As John once put it, “There are many charitable options available today, if you are in a position to give. My attitude is to provide help where the goal and outcome is almost an immediate impact in the lifestyle of an individual human being.” This special man was a very loving and giving individual who brought his wisdom and love of life to all he encountered.

Staff News

Timothy Christian, M.D., M.P.A. joined the SFH cardiac imaging department as a new faculty member in 2017, specializ-ing in cardiac MRI and cardiac CT imaging. A senior researcher with a focus in MRI 4D flow and CT stress perfusion imaging, Dr. Christian has completed fellowships incardiac imaging at the Mayo Clinic and NIH.

Steve W. Rucker, M.D. has been named Director of Nephrology. The Division Director of Nephrology is based at 1999 Marcus Ave – Suite 216 in LakeSuccess, and will develop and expand St. Francis Hospital’s ability to treat patients suffering from kidney disease.

Jim N. Hilepo, M.D. joins St. Francis Hospital, assisting Dr. Rucker in the newly formed Division of Nephrology. Dr. Hilepo is board certified in Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Hypertension.

Stefan M. Muehlbauer, M.D. Ph.D., F.A.C.E.P.,has been appointed Chairman of Emergency Medicine. Prior to this, Dr. Muehlbauer had been the Director of Emergency Department Infection Oversight as well as a full-time emergency medicine physician at St. Francis.

Hamid Mostafavi, M.D. has been appointed Chief of Orthopedic Fracture Service at St. Francis Hospital. In this new role, Dr. Mostafavi will oversee the evaluation and management of all fractures, and help to develop St. Francis Hospital’s orthopedic fracture referral center.

A Legacy of CaringSt. Francis Hospital will never forget Filippo Balboni, M.D., Director of Pediatrics between 1963 and 1993. Dr. Balboni worked to bring children from impoverished countries to St. Francis for life-saving procedures at no cost to their families. The effort bloomed

into the Gift of Life International program, an organization that now treats thousands of children worldwide and helps train physicians. Among those who sought out Dr. Balboni were President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, who personally brought two children with defective hearts from South Korea to St. Francis in December of 1983. Dr. Balboni will be remembered as a superb practitioner who was always extremely good to the children entrusted to his care.

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45th Annual Golf ClassicMonday, June 3, 2019 • The Creek • Meadow Brook Club• Nassau Country Club

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For more information, please call (516) 563-7950.

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