'A Day in the Life' Of Beth Israel
During the five weeks last fall that photographer Nick Barberio spent shadowing patients, doctors, and other staff at Beth Israel Medical Center, he captured the hopeful, scary, and mundane moments that make up hospital life. He said some of the most memorable included: taking a portrait of a man and his family in the hospital's hospice unit, witnessing the reactions of patients to a dog brought in to entertain them, and photographing a deaf woman learning to walk in a rehabilitation unit.
Mr. Barberio, who was named the hospital's first artist-in-residence in September, is set to present a photographic essay of his work, "A Day in the Life," on Thursday at the hospital.
During the project, Mr. Barberio, who resides in Princeton, N.J., and New York City, was given wide access to patients, who signed consent forms before being photographed. "I really appreciate the things that people might consider ordinary or take for granted," he said.
In a statement, Beth Israel's chairman of orthopedic surgery, Dr. Peter McCann, said the hospital agreed to the project because so many of its patients are artists. The Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing also has an artist-in-residence program. It recently featured the work of photographer Annabel Clark, who photographed her mother, the actress Lynn Redgrave, during her battle with breast cancer.
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HATZOLAH TO BREAK GROUND ON BORO PARK FACILITY
The volunteer ambulance service Hatzolah is set to break ground tomorrow on a $5 million facility in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn.
The new 15,000-square-foot facility, to be situated on 14th Avenue, will house eight ambulances and a mobile emergency command center. The three-story structure will also feature a training facility.
The volunteer ambulance service is staffed by 150 emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and doctors. It responds to 1,200 emergency calls each month, and services neighborhoods including Boro Park, Seagate, Bensonhurst, Kensington, and parts of Sunset Park.
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NEWYORK-PRESBYTERIAN OFFERS EMPLOYEES 'CONCIERGE SERVICE'
Car washing, dry cleaning, and food shopping are among the services NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is now offering to its 18,000 employees as part of a hotel-style "concierge service" under a $900,000 partnership with a Chicago company, Errand Solutions. A hospital spokesman said the service would allow employees to maximize their personal time. Chores available through the service also include photo processing, postal services, car washing and repairs, online research, shoe repair, and gift wrapping.
The spokesman said the hospital plans to offer the service to patients in the coming months.
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VICTORY MEMORIAL AVERTS IMMINENT CLOSURE
Victory Memorial Hospital, which nearly closed this month because it could not make payroll, will receive $1.2 million from the state Dormitory Authority to stay afloat.
The hospital, slated for closure by the Berger Commission, has received Dormitory Authority financing in recent months as it moves to shut down by June. Last month, hospital administrators said the agency refused to release a $1.2 million loan. In a statement, a spokesman for the Dormitory Authority said the hospital did not assure the agency that its bonds would be paid off "at or before closing on the sale" of its facilities. "We have averted a public health crisis," Rep. Vito Fossella, who appealed to the Dormitory Authority on behalf of the hospital, said in a statement.
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AWARDS FOR WORK IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Herbert Pardes, and the dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, Dr. Antonio Gotto, were awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class.
The award recognizes their efforts to enhance medicine and train doctors in developing countries such as Tanzania, Haiti, and Qatar.
Separately, Dr. Gotto was inducted last week into the Nashville Public Schools Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to research on heart disease prevention. Dr. Gotto graduated from Donelson High School in 1953.
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CONTINUUM NAMES SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
Continuum Health Partners has named Marvin Russell as its senior vice president and chief human resource officer.
In the position, he will head a department representing more than 15,500 employees.
Continuum is the parent company for Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, Long Island College Hospital, and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Mr. Russell previously served as senior vice president for human resources for a Missouri company, Ascension Health, a health care system that includes 70 hospitals in 28 states.
He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of the undefeated 1973 football team.
He earned a master's degree in public administration from Indiana University.
esolomont@nysun.com
