FEBRUARY 7 -13 , 2011

N E W S A N D I N F O R M A T I O N F O R E M P L O Y E E S O F C O N T I N U U M H E A LT H P A R T N E R S

Robert R. Goodman, MD, PhD, NamedChair of Neurosurgery at SLR and BI Internationally renowned neurosurgeon and researcherRobert R. Goodman, MD, PhD, a leading authority onthe surgical treatment of epilepsy andmovement disorders, has beenappointed Chairman of the Depart-ments of Neurosurgery at St. Luke’sand Roosevelt Hospitals and BethIsrael Medical Center.

“We are very fortunate to welcomeDr. Goodman to the Continuumclinical faculty to fill these incrediblyimportant leadership positions,” saysStanley Brezenoff, President andChief Executive Officer of Continuum.“His clinical work and research in thesurgical treatment of neurological disorders has led to signif-icant clinical advancements. He will add tremendous depth toan already outstanding team of neuroscience experts practicingat the Continuum hospitals.”

Dr. Goodman centers his clinical work on the surgicalmanagement of epilepsy, movement disorders (includingParkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia), braintumors, trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm and hydro-cephalus, while his research focuses on developing noveltreatments and surgical techniques that improve patientoutcomes. These include using Gamma Knife radiosurgeryto treat temporal lobe epilepsy and implantable brain stimu-lation devices for treating medically refractory epilepsy andmovement disorders.

“Continuum’s excellent reputation in neurosurgery,endovascular surgery and neurology all contribute to amultidisciplinary team approach necessary to provide thehighest quality neurosurgical outcomes,” says Dr. Goodman.“I look forward to collaborating with my many colleagueswho, like me, focus on the care of individuals with epilepsyand movement disorders.”

Prior to his appointment at Continuum, Dr. Goodmanserved as senior attending physician on the neurosurgicalfaculty at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia UniversityMedical Center. He also is an Associate Professor of ClinicalNeurological Surgery at Columbia University College ofPhysicians and Surgeons.

NYEEI Thanks Blood Drive Donors The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary recently partneredwith the New York Blood Center for a winter blood drive.In spite of the cold, inclement weather, 45 warm-heartedemployees and volunteers participated. As a token of appre-ciation, all donors received two tickets to see the Mets atCitifield.

NYEEI thanks everyone who contributed to this life-saving effort.

Continuum’s New Purchasing/SupplyChain Agreement Takes Effect Continuum’s new contracts with GNYHA Services and itsnational partner, Premier Healthcare Alliance, for grouppurchasing of medical/surgical/pharmaceutical and othersupplies, and its new contract with Nexera, Inc., for compre-hensive outsource management of Continuum’s supplychain, officially took effect on February 1. Both GNYHAServices and Nexera are companies of GNYHA Ventures,the for-profit subsidiary of the Greater New York HospitalAssociation.

“We are confident that this new six-year agreement willproduce significant cost savings for Continuum and itshospitals participating in group purchasing,” says Gail F. Donovan, Executive Vice President and ChiefOperating Officer. “The contract includes GNYHA Ven-tures’ oversight of $300 million in annual supply chainpurchases and the management of more than 30 employeesengaged in supply chain activities for Continuum.”

“The products and services offered by GNYHAServices/Nexera and Premier provide us the greatest oppor-tunity to address ever-changing economic and operationaldemands,” adds Karyn Gattermann, Corporate VicePresident for Supply Chain. “Equally important, they offera business model that is most in step with our corporatephilosophy. Under this new agreement, we will achieveeven greater cost savings that will, in turn, allow us tocontinue to provide the highest quality, most economicallyefficient patient care.”

Continuum’s policies and procedures for orderingsupplies and obtaining equipment through Oracle remainunchanged. Oracle catalog and item numbers will remainthe same, though employees will notice some lower pricesimmediately.

Here are contacts for the GNYHA Ventures and Premierteam and the specific areas for which they are responsible: � Carlos Maceda, Vice President, (212) 256-2512 orcmaceda@chpnet.org� Diane Mongiello, Procurement Manager, (212) 256-2524or dmongiello@chpnet.org� Sandee Schoby, Director of Sourcing, GPO and Continuum-specific contracts, (212) 256-2525 orsschoby@chpnet.org.

SLR Hosts SGNA CourseThe New York Metropolitan Society of GastroenterologyNurses and Associates (SGNA), Region 40, will hold acourse and election of officers on Saturday, February 26from 7 to 11:30 am at St. Luke’s Hospital, MuhlenbergAuditorium, 114th St. and Amsterdam Ave. The coursetopics include malignant biliary diseases, esophageal cancer,and cannulating with Fusion devices. It has been approvedfor three GI-specific CEU credits. It is free for SGNARegion 40 members and $20 for nonmembers. Brunch willbe served. Nurses interested in attending must register by Saturday, February 19 by e-mailing mcorpuz@montefiore.org or aeyorke@chpnet.org.

Robert R. Goodman,MD, PhD

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Roosevelt Hospital SurgeonsPerform a Thoracic ‘First’On Thursday, January 27, surgeons at Roosevelt Hospitalused SLR’s new da Vinci Si robot for the first time, per-forming brachytherapy seed implantation on a patient withlung cancer. “Robotic brachytherapy seed implantation wassuccessfully developed by SLR surgeons and radiationoncologists,” says Cliff Connery, MD, Chief of ThoracicSurgery and Director of the Comprehensive ThoracicOncology Program at Continuum Cancer Centers of NewYork (CCCNY). “This particular operation marks the com-pletion of a collaborative effort between SLR’s robotics pro-gram and CCCNY’s comprehensive thoracic oncologyteam.”

The surgical team for this case included Dr. Connery,Scott Belsley, MD, Director, Robotic Surgery, Faiz Bhora,MD, Director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Labora-tory, and radiation oncologist Andrew Evans, MD.

The $2.2 million da Vinci Si robot, which incorporatesthe latest in surgical and robotics technologies, will enhancerobotic surgery efforts at SLR. A gynecologic team led byFarr Nezhat, MD, Director of Minimally Invasive Gyne-cologic and Robotic Surgery and Fellowship, and urologistsled by Craig Nobert, MD, Director of Urologic Laparo-scopic and Robotic Surgery, plan to increase the utilizationand flexibility of robotics in their respective divisions withthe new device.

“The surgeons at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt have a strong tra-dition of pioneering new robotic surgical procedures andare looking forward to expanding the use of robotic tech-nology with this more capable state-of-the-art device,” saysDr. Belsley. “Thanks to the work of administration andnursing staff, we’ve launched this new technology ahead ofschedule.”

SLR Surgeon DiscussesVascular Disease OnlineDonna Mendes, MD, Senior Vascular Surgeon at St. Luke’sand Roosevelt Hospitals and Associate Clinical Professor ofSurgery, Columbia University College of Physicians andSurgeons, will answer questions about vascular disease duringthe Vascular Disease Foundation’s (VDF) “Ask the Expert”live online chat on Tuesday, February 8, 4 pm. Dr. Mendesserves on VDF’s Scientific Advisory Board as a medical advisor.

For log-in information, visit www.vdf.org/interactive/ask.php or call (888) 833-4463. If you are unable tojoin the live chat, you can e-mail questions up to 30 minutesbeforehand at info@vdf.org. For more information, contactChrista Saracco, VDF Communications Manager, at (303) 989-0500 or christa.saracco@vdf.org.

BI Staff ‘Caught Being Great’Beth Israel staff continue to be cited by the “Caught BeingGreat” Program for demonstrating extra measures of careand compassion toward patients andcolleagues. Because so manyemployees have been “CaughtBeing Great,” Connections willpublish their names over thenext several issues.

Recent winners are 3Karpas Staff; 7 Silver Team;Dr. Lipellis; Larry Brown, RN;Ellen Dean-Ferguson, RN; JoyCorpin, RN; Titi Odunbaru, PCA;Samuel Torres; Yolanda Vasquez; Melissa Grant, RN;Susan Brindisi, RN; Pat Tarantino, RN; Mimi Sheny,RN; Diana Germosen, PCA; Bashanie Dawes, PCA;Lashae Caines, PCA; Heng Ngo; Angela Williamson,USA; Helen Okocha, RN; Marjorie Hamilton, PCA;Hilda Gutierrez, RN; Sandra Michacele, PCA; GbengaAjibaye, PCA; Jodi Smith, RN; Verna Coleman, PCA;Karlene Bryan, PCA; Tomas Soriano, PCA; Ann MarieDarling, RN; Linda Morrissey, PCA; Jesse Depestre,RN; Marie Sakowski, RN; Marie McCleod, PCA; LakishaSpratt, PCA; Charmayne Brittle-Bank, RN; RichardJackson, MD; Carmen Shum, RN; Nina Aronov, RN;Kyu Jung, RN; Dr. Casden; Spine Surgery Pas; Mary JaneDeAsis, RN; Jeanne Reagan Gordon, RN; Michael Cross,RN; Minnies Hewitt, PCA; Tanisha Hargrave, PCA;Millie Gonzalez-Mosco, RN; Adline Busoe, RN; andDr. Kuritzky.

Improve Your Sex Life Join Robin Kerner, PhD, Director, Quality Initiativesand Outcomes at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospital’sDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, in dis-covering how to reenergize your sex life. The discussionexplores sexual functioning and its role in your life. This freeevent takes place on Thursday, February 24, 7 pm, at theJewish Community Center, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.

Pre-registration is recommended. Call (212) 523-7342.

LICH Adds Ambulances to HelpBrooklyn Cope with SnowLong Island College Hospital’s Emergency Medical Servicesresponded to the needs of its community during recentsnowstorms by adding one Advanced Life Support and twoBasic Life Support ambulances to its tours of duty, for atotal of three additional eight-hour shifts.

Captain Stacey Scanlon of the New York Fire Depart-ment thanked Don Cardone, EMT-P, CIC, Director ofEmergency Services and Logistics at LICH, for the hospital’sadditional support during the most recent snow events.

One Phone Number for ContinuumCancer Centers of New YorkA single phone number has been created to provide accessto Continuum Cancer Centers of New York’s physicians,facilities and services. Call (212) 844-6027 from 8 am to5 pm, Monday through Friday, and knowledgeable staffwill answer questions and assist you. Messages left afterhours will be returned the next business day.

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Surgeons at Roosevelt Hospital use the new da Vinci Si robot to perform brachytherapy seed implantation on a patient with lung cancer.

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