40 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • MAY 3, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
Honoring organ donors at Jamaica Hospital
Jamaica Hospital, Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz and Live On New
York recently honored the donor family
of Anthony Ruben Vega. Anthony
became an angel in 2009 and gave the gift
of life by donating his organs. Th e honors
were part of a special fl ag-raising ceremony
on April 20 marking National Donate
Life Month, a collaborative eff ort to raise
awareness about the need for organ, tissue
and eye donations in New York.
According to Jamaica Hospital, there are
more than 10,000 New Yorkers on a waiting
list for a life-saving organ and every
two and a half hours a name is added
to that list. With the lives of so many
at stake, Jamaica Hospital, LiveOnNY
and Katz are raising awareness of the
importance of organ donation and urging
Queens residents to register as donors.
New Mount Sinai pavilion aims to off er Astoria better care
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/@jen_bagcal
Residents in Astoria and other Queens
neighborhoods will get an increased level
of hospital care at the new Mount Sinai
Queens Pavilion at 30-12 30th Ave., which
formally opened with an April 26 ceremony.
Th e new six-story, 140,000-squarefoot
Pavilion and enhanced services are
a departure from the hospital branch’s
humble roots as the Astoria General
Hospital, which was built by a group of
physicians in 1949.
Th e Queens branch of Mount Sinai celebrated
the grand opening of the Pavilion
and Kaufman Astoria Studios entrance
with speeches from hospital staff and
elected offi cials and a ceremonial ribbon
cutting.
“Today marks the culmination of a plan
that, if you can believe it, began almost 20
years ago. A plan that sought to ensure
that the residents of this neighborhood,
this community and this borough could
get high-quality care close to where they
live and work,” said Caryn A. Schwab, the
executive director of Mount Sinai Queens
in her opening remarks.
“Over the last 18 months to two years,
we’ve recruited over 40 new physicians,
talented folks who are providing both primary
and preventive care on the outpatient
side, but importantly, more complex
care including bariatric surgery, oncologic
surgery and robotic surgery. All of this
wouldn’t be possible without this new
space,” Schwab said.
Th e new Pavilion features an enlarged
surgical suite with six new operating
rooms, expanded outpatient medical
imaging for tests like MRI, CT scan,
X-ray and ultrasound, and pre-surgical
testing services.
In addition to unveiling the new facilities,
the hospital dedicated the Pavilion’s
entrance in honor of the Kaufman Astoria
Studios’ namesake George Kaufman, who
was a fi xture in the world of real estate
until his death in February of this year.
Th e KAS made a donation to the $180
million project to help fund the Pavilion.
Everything went according to plan, up
to a point. As Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer made his speech, the banner covering
the entrance’s name fell. But no harm,
no foul; the incident added an element of
levity to an already joyous occasion.
Other speakers at the grand opening
included David L. Reich, MD, president
and chief operating offi cer at the hospital,
state Senator Michael Gianaris,
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas,
Councilman Costa Constantinides and
Hal G. Rosenbluth, president and CEO of
Kaufman Astoria Studios.
A recurring theme throughout the
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
speeches was that residents in Astoria and
Queens at large no longer have to travel
out of their borough to receive worldclass
hospital services.
“It’s great to know that you have someone
you trust right in the neighborhood,
which has not always been the case,”
Gianaris said. “Th ere are hospitals closing
all over the city and all over Queens,
and we are the lucky ones to have a place
that’s expanding and growing and giving
us so many opportunities to provide the
healthcare that we need so that we don’t
have to cross the river any time someone
gets sick.”
Ribbon cutting and grand opening of the Mount Sinai Queens Pavilion
Photo via Twitter/@JamaicaHospital
/@jen_bagcal
