Schneps Media hosted the Healthcare Heroes, Presented by One Brooklyn Health & Bethpage Federal Credit Union, honoring extraordinary individuals on Thursday, May 18 at Terrace on the Park.
Over 400 people gathered to recognize the achievements and contributions of individuals in the healthcare community from New York to Montauk. The evening was an opportunity to celebrate and benefit from the “Ultimate Networking Event.”
Karen Carey, Senior Vice President for Compliance and Quality at One Brooklyn Health-Interfaith Campus, was one of many employees of her hospital system to be honored. She took a moment to thank her CEO, LaRay Brown, who really cares about helping Central Brooklyn, Carey said.
“We are really trying to better that community. That’s why I feel like I’m the one being honored, but they’re being honored,” Carey said.
For her part, Brown said she was honored to be part of something that recognized individuals from around the medical industry working together and making differences in people’s lives.
“What’s the best thing about this kind of event is that you are bringing all kinds of families together because healthcare is not about competitors, but about people working together,” Brown said.
Their colleague, Dr. Abedayo Esan, a Critical Care Physician at One Brooklyn Health-Brookdale Hospital, said that he knows his work is making a difference when patients come back to thank him for saving them from traumatic injuries.
“That’s why we do what we do — just for the opportunity to make a difference, for the value of the patients as well as their families,” Esan said.
Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which provides services for dozens of hospitals around the state, sponsored the event as a way of showing their appreciation for excellence in healthcare.
“What we do is bring our team to the workplace in 26 hospitals. So we’re taking care of heroes on the front lines,” said Chris Croken, a senior manager at Bethpage Federal Credit Union.
Business people, community leaders, healthcare leaders, local politicians, educators and more were included in the 2023 Healthcare Heroes for their contributions.
“Honestly it’s an honoring, humbling experience. I’ve never received any recognition in the past and I’ve been a nurse for 30 years. It’s very touching and it’s very appreciated,” said Susana Duran, director of nursing education at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
Healthcare Heroes continues to recognize the top healthcare professionals.
“To be honored as a Health Care Hero means that you and your 130-person team gets recognized. On their behalf it means a lot,” said Svetlana Lipanskaya, CEO at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health. “I’d love to thank my family. They’ve always been so helpful and supportive,” she added.
Dr. Inez Hernandez accepted the award on behalf of her husband Ramon Tallaj, MD, chairman of the board at SOMOS Community Care.
“He feels truly honored this award, and he doesn’t consider himself a hero, he just considers himself God’s servant and tries to do the best as a human for the community,” Hernandez said.
Each honoree made his or her way down the red carpet to receive their award, take pictures with their friends, family and colleagues and receive citations from elected officials. In addition to recognizing the honorees the event also included a raffle, with one hundred percent of the proceeds going to support a local cause.
Many of the honorees expressed their gratitude to be included within such a talented group of recipients.
“It means a great deal to be associated with these other honorees,” said Edward R. Matthews, ADAPT Community Network. “These are people who have accomplished, most of the time, far more than I did. I’ve never considered myself a hero. I consider myself a member of an incredibly talented team at ADAPT.”
Others took the stage to promote their organizations’ mission.
“We’re about people first. So that’s really our motto. Each and every one of us lives it,” said Brindha Sridhar, Vice President of Customer Experience Strategy at MetroPlusHealth. “We’re all passionate about working in this space, and we’re all really excited that we get to represent the excellent work we do.”
“The residents of Queens face many health inequities, one being the lack of comprehensive cancer care services. Jamaica Hospital is proud to finally provide our community with a high quality cancer program through our partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and we are grateful to have Dr Rosa Nouvini and our cancer care team honored as one of this year’s Health Care Heroes by Schneps Media,” said Michael Hinck, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
“It was an honor for FirstNet, Built with AT&T, to support this incredible event to acknowledge, thank and celebrate these true Healthcare Heroes for keeping our communities safe and healthy,” said Timothy Tapia, director, AT&T External Affairs. “As America’s public safety communications partner working with thousands of healthcare agencies, we know not all superheroes wear capes, many wear scrubs, white coats, paramedic uniforms and stethoscopes, and New York City is extremely fortunate to have so many remarkable healthcare professionals preforming extraordinary lifesaving work every day.”
By the end of the night, the honorees each got an opportunity to network, signal boost their excellent work and further their healthcare-related mission.
The event included a special raffle in which 100% of proceeds were donated to Life’s WORC, whose mission is to provide services and support that facilitate an independent and fulfilling life experience for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The 2023 Healthcare Heroes are as follows:
Josephine Brusca, Executive Assistant at At Home Solutions
Karen Carey, Senior Vice President for Compliance and Quality for One Brooklyn Health-Interfaith Hospital
Onika Davis, Co-Founder of Maternal Infant International Project
Michael Dowling, President & CEO of Northwell Health
Susana Duran, DNP, RN, Director of Nursing Education at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
Dr. Abedayo Esan, Critical Care Physician at One Brooklyn Health-Brookdale Hospital
Dr. Anesha Fuller, Ed.D., Professor, Serial Entrepreneur, Author, Dr. Fullers Corner
Jill Goldstein, Deputy Chief Nurse Officer & Vice President of Nursing at Mount Sinai Queens
Doug Golub, President of MediSked
Dona A. Green, SVP, Strategic Planning & Major Capital Programs at One Brooklyn Health System
Dr. Stephen T. Greenberg, Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon at Greenberg Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology
Gary Hilliard, Senior Morgue Attendant at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
John Kaliabakos, Director of Pharmacy Services at Village Apothecary
Avneet Kaur-Anand, BS, BSN, CPN, Director of Nursing at One Brooklyn Health-Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Rutland Nursing Home
Rev. Edward L. Lai, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare
Todd Latz, Chief Executive Officer of GoHealth Urgent Care
Dr. Gwendolyn Lewis, Vice President, Ambulatory Care at One Brooklyn Health-Interfaith Medical Center
Svetlana Lipyanskaya, MPA, Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health
Daniel J. Lowy, Founder & CEO of EMU Health
Dr. Parul Dua Makkar, Owner/Dentist of PDM Family Dental
Irene Manolias, Owner & CEO of Serene Home Nursing Agency
Dr. Sheela Maru, Physician, Director of the NYC Partnership at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst & Queens
Edward R. Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of ADAPT Community Network
Irien Moawad, President of Pharmacy Services & Compliance at Community Care RX
Charity Munson, RN, MSN, Adminstrator/Director, Homecare and Hospice at Parker Jewish Institute for Healthcare & Rehabilitation
Alan J. Murray, President of Empire BlueCross BlueShield
Julie Myers, MD, MPH, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of MetroPlusHealth
Leslie Pariag, MBA, Administrative Director of One Brooklyn Health- Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
Veronica C. Pasha, EMPA, Quality and Patient Safety Specialist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Cynthia Quainoo, MD, Gastroenterologist at Gastroenterology Associates of Brooklyn
Anneesia Reece-Fraser, Patient Care Manager at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
Carmen Saliard, Director Patient Access at One Brooklyn Health-Brookdale Hospital
Orlando Santandreu, MD, FACOG, Chairman of OB-GYN at LIJ Forest Hills Hospital
Brindha Sridhar, Vice President of Customer Experience Strategy of MetroPlusHealth
Ann Marie T. Sullivan, MD, Commissioner of the State Office of Mental Health
Ramon Tallaj, MD, Founder, Chairman of the Board at SOMOS Community Care
Henry Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc.
Sheila Thorne, President & CEO of Multicultural Healthcare Marketing Group
Miriam Y. Vega, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center
Ineka Wedderburn, Chief Operating Officer, CEO of ACT Care Group, LLC & KTW Consultants
Kimberly A. Williams, President & CEO of Vibrant Emotional Health
Doug Wirth, President & CEO of Amida Care
Dr. Rosa Nouvini and the Cancer Care Team at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
For more information about Schneps Media’s upcoming events please visit SchnepsEvents.com or reach out to Demetra Mattone, Director of Corporate Events at DMattone@SchnepsMedia.com or at 718-260-4512.
