Long Island Business News recently recognized the North Shore-LIJ Health System’s “Mobile Health Long Island” program and its medical director, Alec Thundercloud, MD, as the winner of the newspaper’s Healthcare Heroes’ community outreach award.

North Shore-LIJ staff and volunteers honored as “healthcare heroes” by Long Island Business News were, from left: Alec Thundercloud, MD, Jill Maura Rabin, MD, Rear Admiral Robert Rosen, Lorraine Lehmann, Mary Cavaciuti, RN, and Peter Silver, MD.

The Healthcare Heroes awards, presented on Oct. 18 at a breakfast held at the Crest Hollow Country Club, recognize outstanding people and organizations that have an especially powerful impact on the lives of Long Island patients or communities. In addition to community outreach, Long Island Business News honored healthcare professionals in five other categories: achievements in healthcare, healthcare professional hero, nurse hero, physician hero and volunteer hero. Honorees were nominated by the healthcare community; and a distinguished panel of judges selected and determined the winners and finalists.

Among the other North Shore-LIJ Health System staff and volunteers who were honored by Long Island Business News were:

• Lorraine Lehman, a patient care associate at Glen Cove Hospital, was recognized as a “healthcare professional hero” for her exceptional passion in helping others, both in the hospital and in the community. Ms. Lehman volunteers at Locus Valley Emergency Medical Service, as Red Cross disaster action team member, and with the Salvation Army’s Community Emergency Response Team, where she assists with search and rescue efforts. Additionally, she is an interfaith minister, offering spiritual and emotional comfort to her community.
  
  
• Mary Cavaciuti, RN, an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at LIJ Medical Center for 16 years, was honored as a “nurse hero” for outstanding care and dedication to the most critically-ill patients, and for her vigorous support of a ground-breaking infection-control project that significantly reduced the number of new infections last year. She also chaired the planning committee for the ICU’s multidisciplinary grand rounds presentation on sepsis—part of a national program aimed at reducing mortality in health care facilities throughout the U.S.
  
  
• Jill Maura Rabin, MD, LIJ Medical Center’s chief of ambulatory care, obstetrics and gynecology, head of urogynecology, and medical director of the Prenatal Care Assistance Program (PCAP), was recognized as a “physician hero” for providing state-of-the art pre- and post-natal care to women, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. Through her tireless efforts, she expanded the PCAP initiative to encompass dental care—an important step in helping to prevent gum-related infections in pregnant women. Dr. Rabin is also a part-time cantor, and believes that integrating the body and spirit helps to improve her healing skills.
  
  
• Peter Silver, MD, clinical director of the pediatric ICU at Schneider Children’s Hospital, and Rear Admiral Robert Rosen (Ret.), were recognized as “voliunteer heroes.”

Dr. Silver, who is also an associate professor of clinical medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has dedicated the past 20 years to treating the most seriously ill children. In his spare time, Dr. Silver helps save lives as a volunteer battalion chief with the Syosset Fire Department.

Admiral Rosen, along with his wife Florence, established the Rosen Family Wellness Center earlier this year, providing confidential mental and emotional health support services to military and law enforcement personnel and their families, free of charge. North Shore-LIJ psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers staff the Rosen Center, helping those that protect us to cope with the emotional pressures of their professions and lives. As a trustee of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, Admiral Rosen realized that there was a need for a behavioral health center that could provide such services for our law and military members and loved ones.

“We are exceptionally proud of these six outstanding individuals, who truly exemplify what caring is all about,” said Michael J. Dowling, President & chief executive officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “We have many healthcare heroes among us, but these honorees truly personify what our mission is all about—providing the best, high quality patient care and giving back to our communities.”

Media Contact: Terry Lynam 516-465-2640/2600