Bethpage Best of the Boro The Woman's Health Pavilion
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
Remember folks cheering and
banging on pots and pans across
New York City’s neighborhoods, in
support of healthcare heroes? These
three Queens-based healthcare
facilities were voted Bethpage Best
of the Boro, and have touched New
Yorkers’ lives in a big way during the
coronavirus pandemic, and beyond:
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, winner
of Best Hospital; CityMD Urgent
Care, which took home the award
for Best Urgent Care Center; and The
Woman’s Health Pavilion, winner of
Best OBGYN.
Working tirelessly at those stellar
facilities are doctors, nurses, and other
healthcare employees who deserve
recognition for their courage and
dedication, as they continue to help
patients heal while ensuring everyone’s
safety.
Spotlighted here are several
physicians from the winning facilities,
who fought on the frontlines during
the height of the pandemic. Juggling
work and home life, they’ve been
dealing with stressful, high-risk
situations on the job, while keeping
their families safe.
They were eager to share their
personal experiences.
BEST OB-GYN
Kindhearted Doctors Bring
Families Together with
'Virtual' Births at the
Woman's Health Pavilion
Well-known for their excellence
in maternity care, LIJ/The Woman’s
Health Pavilion (Forest Hills, Howard
Beach, Long Island) is proud of their
team of highly qualified and caring
physicians, nurse practitioners and
physician assistants, who continue
to work tirelessly to keep moms and
babies safe during the pandemic.
Osasumwen Asemota, MD
“One of the most memorable
experiences I remember during the
height of the pandemic, was trying to
recreate the human connection of the
delivery process – virtually. Mothers
were not allowed to have anyone at
bedside that may have symptoms
or have had high risk exposure of
COVID -19,” Dr. Asemota, who
works at the Forest Hills location and
occasionally, in Westbury, recalled.
Unfortunately, the dad-to-be had
COVID-19 and couldn’t come to the
hospital to witness the birth of his first
child. The patient was understandably
very distraught, as this would be her
first time delivering a baby and not
being able to share this experience
with a loved one, according to the
doctor, who said, “She really desired
him to be ‘there’ with her, even if it
is through the phone! The husband
was able to FaceTime his wife when
she was pushing (from the waist
up of course!) and help her with
her counts and breathing. Again,
although uncanny, the family really
appreciated their ‘virtual’ delivery.”
That experience really highlighted
the importance of human connection
and presence, especially during these
difficult times.
After long days helping patients,
family life posed its own challenges.
“I was fearful of being a ‘carrier,’
especially working in the hospital. My
parents are just at the cusp of being
considered the vulnerable age group,
so I wanted to reduce their chance
of getting the virus,” she shared. So,
the tired doc would change out of
her clothes in front of her Jamaica,
Queens home, disinfect doorknobs
and countertops daily, and eat dinner
separately for a while.
“I’m always in awe of the resilience
and fortitude of my co-workers who
also worked during the pandemic,
with little information and some
degree of uncertainty, but strived with
this desire of helping as many people
as possible,” Dr. Asemota continued.
“I drew strength from their courage,
as well as the hope for a better
tomorrow.”
Eronmwon E. Oronsaye, M.D., M.S.
Recalling her challenging
experiences early on during the
outbreak, Dr. Oronsaye likened it
to “entering a warzone.” She said
a typical day was, arriving at the
hospital and donning PPE “to ready
yourself for what felt like a war.”
While sitting at the physician
workstation, she would hear overhead
announcements every 30 to 60
minutes, often requesting emergency
personnel for patients succumbing to
their COVID-19 illness.
“The baseline high-stress
8 BEST OF THE BORO 2021 • VOTERS GUIDE • BESTOF.QNS.COM
environment of keeping mothers
and babies safe back then, was now
compounded by the ever-growing
fear of contracting a potentially
fatal virus,” she said. Having CoV-2
positive patients became a normal
occurrence.
The mother of two found that
balancing work with family life
was tough as well, but said her kids
were surprisingly well-adjusted to
the pandemic. “My 5-year-old was
finishing up the latter half of pre-K
when the pandemic struck. This
created the challenge of effectively
administering his remote learning
activities all while working full-time.
Luckily, I was able to succeed at this,
despite the challenges,” she shared.
As she heals emotionally, Dr.
Oronsaye also shared her new ‘mantra’
for dealing with stress: “Just keep
pushing,” she offered. “I was forced
out of my comfort zone and nothing
was guaranteed: not job security, not
one’s health and wellness, not some
semblance of the world that once
existed. However, pushing through
times of turmoil just paves a path to
better days ahead. I have been making
a point to cherish every day and to
love my loved ones as if our time may
end abruptly.”
She added: “I believe that virtually
any healthcare worker experiencing
this pandemic can agree that the
support we have provided one another
has been unmatched. We worked
together as united fronts, placing our
lives at risk on a daily basis, to provide
care to those that needed it.”
Andre Saad, MD
Dr. Saad is president and CEO
and his priority is keeping his staff
and patients safe. He stated it was a
challenge of a lifetime.
“Personally, I spend most of my
time performing elective gynecologic
surgery. Since elective surgery was
cancelled in NY for 3 months, I was
not on the ‘frontlines’ of the pandemic
like some of my colleagues. Still,
I’ve never worked harder in my life,”
Dr. Saad shared. There was no road
map for navigating the challenges
they faced as a practice: “How do
we remain available for patients who
need us, but still maintain a safe
office environment? How do we get
our hands on supplies that suddenly
became scarce? How do we pay the
practice’s bills when our half of our
income disappears?”
He added: “I’m so proud of the
clinical team, who literally risked
their lives during this crisis. I’m also
proud of the support staff, whose work
‘behind the scenes’ kept us all safe and
kept our offices open.”
The Woman’s Health Pavilion
is located at 109-33 71st Rd., #2G,
Forest Hills, Queens and can be
reached at (718) 263-1963 or you can
visit www.ilovemygyn.com for more
information.
BEST URGENT CARE
CENTER
CityMD Doc Keeps
Fighting the Good Fight
Against COVID-19
Matthew Mavroson, D.O.
Well-known for providing topnotch
care to all New Yorkers, CityMD
Urgent Care has evolved with the
changing demands of this public
health crisis. They will continue to do
so until they can successfully beat the
virus, according to Dr. Mavroson. In
addition to COVID-19 testing, their
facilities handle routine urgent care
needs while helping patients during flu
season.
A Board-certified physician in
internal medicine, Dr. Mavroson
is committed to serving the diverse
communities of Jamaica and Astoria.
Early into the pandemic, he
helped a family at the Astoria facility.
A young adult patient served as
the interpreter for his family. “He
lived with his sister, parents, and
grandparents. They all lived together
as a multigenerational family in
Queens, a common occurrence in the
five boroughs,” the doctor recalled.
“The grandparents were observed
to be critically ill, gasping for air;
the parents were having shortness of
breath, and the son had a low-grade
fever. It appeared that he likely brought
this illness home, which quickly and
progressively spread throughout his
household. The grandparents needed
to be sent to the ER.”
The compassionate doc spoke
with the son nearly every day to check
in on them. Sadly, both grandparents
passed away after a short time on
ventilators, as did the father.
“My colleagues and I saw the
devastation COVID-19 can cause to
families, firsthand. I’ll never forget it,”
said Dr. Mavroson, who is a devoted
dad.
The Woman's Health Pavilion
/www.ilovemygyn.com
/BESTOF.QNS.COM
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