www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY May 17, 2020 4
BY ST. BARNABAS HOSPITAL
It was the coronavirus pandemic
that kicked the department’s
wellness and psychological
well-being program into high
gear.
Dr. Joshua Schwarzbaum,
an emergency medicine physician,
initially came to St.
Barnabas Hospital a year and
a half ago with the intention of
starting such a program for department
personnel that would
enhance its physical and emotional
well-being. The program
would take certain business
and psychological principles
and bring them into the world
of emergency medicine in order
to generate organizational
change, make staff feel valued
and respected, and teach those
working across the healthcare
spectrum — doctors, nurses, security,
environmental services,
clerical — how to communicate
more effectively.
Acceptance of the program
progressed slowly — until the
virus hit.
“Leadership was always
on board, but it takes time to
get things moving, to create
change and get buy in,” said Dr.
Schwarzbaum.
And it takes a life-changing
event.
Beginning in mid-March,
when patients with COVIDlike
symptoms began to arrive
in the ER, Dr. Schwarzbaum
and Dr. Joel Warden, an ethics
consultant and professor at
Fordham University, who holds
a doctorate in theology and
teaches such subjects as Death
and Dying, and Moral Aspects
of Medicine and is the Catholic
scholar-in-residence at St.
Francis College in Brooklyn,
have led Sunday evening sessions
for the hospital’s ER residents
and attendings. The hourlong
sessions are virtual and
interactive.
“As doctors, we spend so
much time learning how to
practice medicine but just as
important is focusing on breaking
down barriers of communications,
improving interpersonal
relationships, learning to
connect with people better and
dealing better with emotions,”
said Dr. Schwarzbaum.
The sessions are intended
to teach participants how to
cultivate their strengths and
improve on their weaknesses.
Objectives include giving attendees
the tools to address the
gamut of emotions encountered
while working in the emergency
room, interacting better with
others, opening lines of communication
and gaining understanding
of others.
“It really allows you to see
how other people see things.
This is always important, but
even more so at a time like this
when we don’t have a good treatment
for the disease and we have
to explain and guide patients
through it,” said Dr. Schwarzbaum.
“We’re not only doctors
or nurses at this time, but because
we’re the only ones here,
we’re also the patient’s family
when they’re sick and alone.”
Like the virus itself, the Sunday
night topics have evolved
from the pandemic’s beginnings
in mid-March (Stress, Anxiety
and Uncertainty,) to when the
St. Barnabas emergency department
became overwhelmed
by the volume and illness of its
patients in early and mid-April
(Strategies During COVID,) to
when the hospital fl attened the
curve in late-April (The New
Normal and How to Transition
Back.)
Dr. Schwarzbaum, who is
working towards an MBA degree,
majored in psychology at
the University of Maryland before
attending medical school
in Israel. He tinkered with the
idea of becoming a psychiatrist,
choosing instead to complete
a residency in emergency
medicine upon returning to the
United States.
“During residency I would
often come home frustrated
wondering what impact I was
having on people,” he said. “The
more I thought about it the more
I realized I can’t change everyone
around me, I can’t necessarily
change my environment, but
I can change myself.
“In the ER, I’m working with
people from different countries
and different cultures who
don’t necessarily think alike.
So how do you get them to work
effectively as a team? It got me
to thinking about how to get
through to and communicate
to them in ways that transcend
cultural boundaries.”
This has never been more important,
he said, than at times
like now.
“The coronavirus showed us
this. We need to work as a team
in what we do for our patients.
We’re all in it together.”
Law fi rm delivers lunch to
Childrens Hospital at Montefi ore
BY JASON COHEN
Barasch McGarry, a longtime
advocate for fi rst responders
and the entire 9/11 community,
brought lunch to the
Children’s Hospital, at Montefi
ore on May 8.
The law fi rm has also provided
meals for medical professionals
at hospitals across the
city and Long Island including
Glen Cove Hospital, New York
Presbyterian, Mount Sinai
Hospital, St. Francis Hospital,
NYU Winthrop Hospital, Good
Samaritan Hospital, St. Catherine
of Siena Medical Center,
Stony Brook University Hospital,
Staten Island University
Hospital and Southside Hospital.
“These people are our heroes
– they need to be fed and
they need to be taken care of,
so they can take care of us,”
said Michael Barasch, managing
partner of Barasch Mc-
Garry. “In this time of need,
we are proud to support fi rst
responders who have been
forced to sleep in their cars
and the medical providers
working extended shifts to
protect the public health. We
owe them all an enormous debt
of gratitude.”
Barasch McGarry represents
more than 20,000 fi rst
responders and survivors
with 9/11 Victim Compensation
Fund claims. The fi rm
successfully advocated for
the Never Forget the Heroes:
James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer
and Luis Alvarez Permanent
Authorization of the September
11th Victim Compensation
Fund Act, which extended
the 9/11 Victim Compensation
Fund until 2092.
Coronavirus pandemic helps launch
E.R. department’s wellness program
Dr. Josuha Schwarzbaum Photo
courtesy of St. Barnabas Hospital
Doctors at CHAM receive food from Barasch McGarry last week.
Photo Photo courtesy of Barasch McGarry
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