Calvary Hospital announces new medical director
Calvary Hospital’s new medical director,
Robert M. Siegel, MD, FACC.
Photo courtesy of Calvary Hospital
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR UGUST 23-29, 2019 49
Calvary Hospital announced that Robert
M. Siegel, MD, FACC, has joined the hospital
as medical director.
Dr. Siegel has significant experience in
palliative care/end-of-life care with cardiac patients.
He was most recently associate medical
director of Compassionate Care Hospice,
where he was director of the Cardiac Connections
program in the Bronx and Brooklyn. His
responsibilities included supervising patient
care and nursing education for patients receiving
palliative cardiac care, teaching cardiology
and palliative care fellows, and lecturing on
medical grand rounds.
During his nine-year tenure at Jacobi
Medical Center, Dr. Siegel served in multiple
roles including Heart Failure Program Director,
Cardiac Care Unit director, Echocardiography/
Stress Laboratory acting director, and Critical
Care Quality Improvement director.
Since 2010, Dr. Siegel has been assistant
professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine. He has taught or
mentored more than 300 trainees in medicine,
including medical students, medical residents
and cardiology fellows.
Dr. Siegel has been honored with multiple
awards including: Jacobi Medical Center
Internal Medicine Residency Program Faculty
Mentorship Prize (2018) and Faculty Teaching
Prize (2011), as well as the Leo M. Davidoff Society
of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Medical
Students (2017).
Dr. Siegel has published research on
GUIDE-IT Trial (2012-2016). He is currently
the principal investigator for Weight-based
Torsemide Dosing in Subjects with Heart Failure
(2017-present).
Dr. Siegel graduated from Yale University
with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in
History/Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry,
and from the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. He was Medical Resident at Columbia
University Medical Center and Chief Cardiology
Fellow at Montefiore Medical Center.
Dr. Siegel is Board Certified in Internal
Medicine. He is active in the American Medical
Association, American Heart Association,
American College of Cardiology, and the Medical
Society of the State of New York. He is fluent
in English and Spanish.
* * *
The Board of MetroPlus Health Plan
announced the appointment of Sanjiv S. Shah,
M.D. as the health plan’s new Chief Medical Officer
(CMO). As the health plan owned by NYC
Health + Hospitals with more than half a million
members in the five boroughs, MetroPlus is a
vital part of New York City’s initiative to guarantee
health care to all New Yorkers. Dr. Shah
assumed his new position on August 12.
Dr. Shah has more than 20 years of experience
as a physician leader, managed care
executive, and infectious disease specialist. He
joins MetroPlus from the Mount Sinai Health
System where he served as medical director.
He also served as chief medical officer at
Fidelis Care and deputy chief medical officer
and associate medical director of HIV Services
at MetroPlus. He earned his medical degrees
from University of Nottingham School of Medicine
in the UK and a Master of Public Health
in Epidemiology from the Mailman School of
Public Health at Columbia University. He completed
his residency at Mount Sinai, served
as Chief Medical Resident at NYC Health +
Hospitals/Elmhurst, and was a Fellow in Infectious
Diseases at the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. Dr.
Shah has published and presented extensively
on numerous medical issues.
* * *
Stop by picturesque City Island and enjoy
the exciting programs offered at the PSS City
Island Center, which is located at 116 City Island
Avenue, Monday through Friday from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. Experience the exercise classes
from gentle Yoga Stretch, Balance Class, Arthritis
Workshop and Tai Chi as well as the vigorous
Fit For Life and Cardio Fit. They also offer
acrylic painting, health presentations, blood
pressure monitoring, gardening exchange,
singing group and parties. Lunch is served
from noon to 1 p.m. suggested donation is $2.
The center participants go on shopping trips
every day; i.e. Shop Rite, Dollar Tree, Target,
Kmart, as well as theatre excursions, special
trips, special luncheons and more. It’s free to
become a member, but you must be 60 years
of age or above.
Upcoming special events: Thursday, August
22 at 1:10 p.m., Brain Games (a program
about the crazy wonderful brain).
For more information contact Patty at
(718) 885-0727 or email pattis@pssusa.org for
our monthly calendar.
* * *
Do you need help getting to and from your
medical appointments? Transportation services
are available to seniors Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in community districts
9, 10, 11 and 12. The program provides doorto
door service for all medical appointments.
Their drivers are courteous and professional;
and their vehicles are clean and handicap accessible,
including wheelchair lifts.
For further information, contact Mildred
Cardona, program director of the R.A.I.N.
Transportation Program, at (718) 882-8513.
* * *
Pelham Art Center is now taking registrations
for its fall semester that begins Monday,
September 23. With back-to-school around the
corner and the season ready to change, the Art
Center announces its roster of fall classes for
all ages and interests.
Once-a-week classes for adults and high
school students cover a range of media. Oil
Techniques, a new class on Monday evenings,
invites painters of all levels to come improve
their technique. Digital Photography on Tuesday
evenings is an opportunity to train the eye
and learn a new skill.
Sketching in Oils, another new class at
the art center, will introduce a fresh approach to
landscape painting, while In-depth Painting will
cover fundamental to advanced techniques.
Drawing the Face will provide detailed guidance
to execute the perfect portrait, and Figure
Drawing will focus on the human figure. school
students with a special interest in visual art can
build their college portfolios at High School Figure
Drawing for Portfolio on Wednesday evenings.
In this class, students will create wellstructured
drawings and works of other media
to develop a strong, diverse portfolio.
Several adult/high school courses are offered
at two different time slots. Artists can Create
with Collage, study Ceramics, and practice
Drawing & Painting according to their schedules.
For those seeking some independent
studio time, there is the Painting & Drawing
Open Studio on Monday mornings and Friday
afternoons.
In Learn to Draw, Traditional Drawing
Techniques, and Ceramics & Wheel Throwing,
students will have hands-on fun that develops
motor skills and problem-solving. Young artists
will also enjoy Cartooning on Tuesdays and
Drawing & Watercolor Illustration on Saturdays
where they can put ideas onto paper.
New media youth classes this fall include
two courses in Scratch Coding, Pixel Pals,
Young Photographers, Animated Doodles,
Hand Animation, Drawing in Photoshop, 3D
Modeling, and Stop Motion Animation.
Parents, grandparents and caretakers
are welcome to sign up for Pre-School Art on
Tuesday mornings and Create with Me! on
Thursday mornings. These classes create a
shared, exploratory experience for both adult
and child. Need to drop the little one off? Paper
Mache & Sculpture, Clay Creations, Art Stars,
and Art Explorations will inspire young individuals
to experiment and express themselves.
Call Pelham Art Center at (914)738-2525,
ext. 111 or visit them at 155 Fifth Avenue,
Pelham, NY. Online registration is now open.
Need-based scholarships and David Uskali
scholarships for teens are available.
* * *
The JASA Van Cortlandt Senior Chorus
continues this fall with inspiring Bronx
opera teaching artist and professional singer
Cheryl Warfield. The course includes vocal
technique, learning songs, chorus training,
and culminates with a holiday performance for
peers, family and friends. Rehearsals are held
on Mondays from 1 to 2:30 p.m. An orientation
meeting will take place on Monday, September
9, at 1 p.m.
For information call (718) 549-4700.
BY CHRYS NAPOLITANO
Thanks so much to the
Bronx Times Reporter for attending
the Market at Preston
and covering the 2019 Grant
Check Presentation from Citizens
Committee for NYC.
Sherrill Cropper, Lourdes
Gamez and I rely on this organization,
as well as our generous
neighbors, to help us bring
food education programming
to our community. So far, we
have used the grant funds to
purchase the tents, tables,
banners, postcards and other
supplies to help us get started.
The grant this year funds our
ability to bring food education
programming to Confetti Kids
and Preston High School. In
the fall, we are planning an
arts based food educational
event and will share all the
pertinent information once we
have confi rmed our details.
One of the last food demos
we did with the Confetti Program
was making fruit slushies.
I adapted a recipe I had developed
last year at Christmas
time. I had lots of apples and
needed to make applesauce.
Plus, we had hosted Thanksgiving
dinner and had a couple
of opened bottles of wine
in the fridge. Neither of us
drinks, so I was going to make
vinegar when I had the idea
to make a sorbet. I brought it
to one of the Holiday Pop Up
Markets at Confetti in December
2018 and shared it with our
fellow vendors, who loved it.
Our CSA distribution this
week already included pears
and I know we will all soon
be inundated with apples and
pears, so think about making
this at Christmas Time for
a simple dessert…or make it
now! If you don’t have applesauce,
use one cup of wine and
three cups of pureed fruit.
1 cup wine
2 cups applesauce
1 cup pureed berries
Combine all ingredients
and pour into the bowl of a pre
chilled ice cream machine and
prepare according to machine
directions. Mixture should be
properly chilled in 20 minutes.
To ensure a good freeze, make
sure all of the ingredients are
chilled when they are mixed together,
you don’t want anything
to be warm or even room temperature.
If you would like to make a
non alcoholic version, just use
grape juice or any fruit juice
instead of wine. The key to the
recipe is that you need a total
of four cups of fruit/wine/applesauce.
The wine makes the
sorbet never completely frozen,
so the texture is smooth.
We made it for the summer
school program and substituted
pureed peaches and the
kids loved it.
Ice cream machines can
be found at Home Goods and
Marshalls for usually under
$30. You can also fi nd them at
thrift shops and yard sales for
lots less.
If you do not have an ice
cream machine, try making a
granita. Pour the mixture into
a square pyrex baking dish
with a plastic cover. Put it in
the freezer and start a timer
for an hour. Take out the mixture,
give it a stir to break up
any ice that has formed and
continue to do this every half
hour or hour (depending on
how fast your freezer freezes)
until the mixture is frozen
and slushy with small grains
of ice. Serve.
And don’t forget, the Market
at Preston is up and running
every Tuesday from 4 to
7 p.m. Our anchor farm, DIG
Farm, is bringing in lots of
beautiful produce. Add to that
the produce from Stoneledge
Farm, meat, dairy and pantry
products from Lewis Waite
Farm, prepared foods from
Two Wrasslin’ Dogs Farm,
bread and fresh baked pastries
from Siobahn’s Baked
Goods, Connecticut Grown
Fruit, Miss Myrtle’s Chocolate
Chip Cookies, Chameleon
Body Lotion, Cropper Crossing
Teas, Morris Perk Coffee,
Mushrooms and Herbs from
James Farm - there is pretty
much everything you need.
Stop by one night and follow
us on Facebook at Northeast
Bronx Community Farmers
Market Project.
In the meantime, be the
change you want to see in the
world.
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