28 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 11, 2013 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com victoria’s secrets VICTORIA SCHNEPS vschneps@queenscourier.com Ramon Rodriguez, new CEO of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, is beginning to turn the hospital around. the Month: LAVENDER come in for our WINTER specials DYNAMIC DENTAL WORK 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 175-15 JAMAICA AVENUE • JAMAICA Photo Courtesy Wyckoff Heights Medical Center $500 OFF $500 OFF A knight in shining armor With the closing of so many hospitals, it’s been amazing to many that Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, which straddles the border of Brooklyn’s Bushwick and Queens’ Ridgewood, has survived. Not that it hasn’t been a bumpy road. But it appears a “knight in shining armor” has arrived to save the hospital for the growing, bustling, gentrified communities it serves. This year, Wyckoff Heights reported a $3.7 million surplus — unheard of in these troubling times. It is a turnaround of tremendous importance to the people it serves. I had the pleasure recently of meeting the hospital’s new CEO, Ramon Rodriguez. Given his passion, knowledge and compassion, I feel he will make Wyckoff the pride of community hospitals. He is a man perfectly positioned to make that happen. Ironically, Rodriguez had been part of the decision to merge Wyckoff with Interfaith and Brooklyn Hospitals. After he was hired by the board, he voted against the merger. After less than two years, Rodriguez is beginning to turn the hospital around, and there is now a surplus! It is a most remarkable achievement in these challenging times. But I wasn’t surprised. He “took the bull by the horns” and reconfigured medical staff, ended physicians’ perks and reorganized the board of trustees. A new tone was being set and Rodriguez charged ahead with changes he saw necessary for Wyckoff’s survival and growth. The board obviously has recognized its new CEO’s acumen. As an attorney he worked with the Mario Cuomo administration, heading up the Parole Board. He was brought back to government by our present governor after years of running health care and health insurance agencies. I was touched by the fact he has a child diagnosed on the autism spectrum and has lived through the challenges I did, too, fighting constantly for services for our children. Nothing sensitizes anyone like living it, a quality that will help him navigate the choppy waters of today’s health care. As a role model who knows both worlds, I see how Michael Dowling has built a mega hospital system for North Shore- LIJ Hospitals. Hopefully Rodriguez will be as successful in the most western part of our borough, becoming Wyckoff’s “knight in shining armor.” After all, 1,800 employees, 300 medical staff and a community of hundreds of thousands are counting on him. He seems to have the “right stuff,” and is partnering with community doctors on the way toward success. BY SHARI ROMAR June in a botanical garden is similar to an ice cream parlor. So many colors and fragrances make it hard to settle upon just one to award the title Plant of the Month. But as I tend the botanical charges in my community garden plot, one scent reigns supreme and is matched by beauty: the Lavender. There’s something about Lavender that is Audrey Hepburn-esque -- not a vavavoom plant, but delicate, sophisticated and sweet, packing a visual and olfactory punch that can rival even the most bodacious of flowers. Related to mint, there are 39 species within the genus Lavendula. Leaf shape varies between species but all share the familiar grayish to bluish green hue. Small flowers emerge on stems growing above the foliage usually in light purple shades though some may sport darker purple, pink and white. In our region, Lavender tends to be somewhat diminutive but in locations with a more Mediterranean climate, certain species can reach heights between 3 to 5 feet. Lavender must have full sun and well-drained soil, but tolerates conditions that are more sandy or gravelly than other plants can handle. Little fertilization is needed and given our region’s higher humidity, avoid placing mulch around plant and don’t overwater. A must-have in an herb garden, Lavender is also perfect in rock gardens. But landless apartment dwellers need not despair for this little beauty is also a great container plant, allowing one to still have a kitchen garden on the windowsill. Besides the lovely aesthetic they bring to the garden, Lavender has been an ingredient in a variety of medicinal and culinary concoctions for thousands of years. While Ancient Roman currency converters equated a bundle of flowers to 50 trims from the local barber, today we use Lavender in teas, salves, a variety of foods, potpourri,and dried flower arrangements just to name a few. Little can compare with those expansive landscape photos featuring acres of Lavender in southern France. But if, like me, you lack such an escape beyond an image on your computer’s screen saver, take a mini break to local landscapes like Queens Botanical Garden with spots that include these beauties like the Herb Garden or Kaltman Fragrance Walk. Shari Romar is the New Media Manager at Queens Botanical Garden. She is active at her community garden and maintains two websites BirdsBugsBuds. com and NYCNatureNews.com. Plant of
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