NASSAU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NORTH SHORE-LIJ HEALTH SYSTEM TO INTEGRATE AND REGIONALIZE CARDIOLOGY SERVICES AND PROVIDE CLINICAL EXPERTISE TO HELP TRANSFORM NUMC’S CARDIOLOGY SERVICES PROGRAM
July 1st, 2009
Contact: Shelley Lotenberg
(516) 572-6055
Shelley@numc.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NASSAU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NORTH SHORE-LIJ HEALTH SYSTEM TO INTEGRATE AND REGIONALIZE CARDIOLOGY SERVICES AND PROVIDE CLINICAL EXPERTISE TO HELP TRANSFORM NUMC’S CARDIOLOGY SERVICES PROGRAM
East Meadow, NY……Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, announced the partnering, integration and regionalization of the Nassau University Medical Center’s cardiology services with its clinical partner, the North Shore-LIJ Health System, a world class health network, to provide the clinical expertise, quality program to assure the success of the NUMC cardiology services and help to further its mission.
“Cardiology services have become a highly specialized, technical and clinically demanding specialty, requiring the ability to deliver services ranging from office-based patient interactions, to cutting edge 21st Century techniques,” stated Gianelli. “In order for the NUMC to achieve the transformation of its cardiology services line, we need to partner with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, a world class cardiology services system, to provide us with the clinical expertise, as well as a robust quality program to assure the success of NUMC’s cardiology services.”
Steven J. Walerstein, MD, FACP, senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer at the Nassau Health Care Corporation, added: “I am excited about the integration of our cardiology services with the North Shore-LIJ Health System. The communities that we serve suffer from a disproportionate share of heart related diseases such as hypertension, heart failure and coronary artery disease and by creating this partnership, it is our hope to address this challenge. We will be combining NUMC’s historic commitment to community care with the clinical excellence provided by the North Shore-LIJ Health System.”
Dr. Walerstein added: “This transformation requires new leadership and expertise and we are very pleased that Sanjay Doddamani, MD, will be joining the NUMC as our full time chief of cardiology. Dr. Doddamani is currently a leader in the North Shore-LIJ Health System, with particular expertise in heart failure and non-invasive cardiology. He will be joined by other cardiologists from the North Shore-LIJ Health System, who along with members of NUMC’s current cardiology team, will be able to greatly expand our clinical cardiology services.”
Hospital officials emphasized the near term goals for the integrated cardiology program at NUMC:
to establish a cardiology presence in the NHCC’s community health centers
to initiate a program in heart failure diagnosis and management
to begin a program in electrophysiology and defibrillator therapy and
to enhance the cardiac catherization program.
“We are excited about the establishment of this partnership, which allows NUMC patients to receive a wider array of comprehensive cardiovascular care through the combined resources of NUMC and the North Shore-LIJ Health System, while also receiving the highest quality of care,” said Stanley Katz, MD, senior vice president of cardiovascular services at the North Shore-LIJ health System.
“As a leader in quality improvement, Dr. Doddamani, will integrate the cardiology quality improvement program at NUMC with that of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, assuring our commitment to high quality care,” said Dr. Walerstein. “The target date for implementation of the integration of NUMC’s cardiology services with the North Shore-LIJ Health System into a reinvigorated division, is July 1st, 2009, with plans for the establishment of electrophysiology and defibrillator therapy taking place by fall 2009, and the expansion of procedural volume in the catherization laboratory also beginning in the fall of 2009,” concluded Dr. Walerstein.
The Nassau Health Care Corporation is a public benefit corporation under the state of New York, comprised of Nassau University Medical Center, a 530 bed level I trauma center and teaching hospital, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility, a 589 bed skilled nursing home and five community health centers located throughout Nassau County, providing ambulatory care. Serving a large uninsured and underinsured population, Nassau University Medical Center is the only hospital in Nassau County with a burn center and a multi-place hyperbaric chamber, providing essential services such as trauma, burn care, neonatal and behavioral health care to an at-risk population, including the elderly, Medicaid families, some of the region’s newest arrivals and patients with chronic illnesses. For additional information, please go to www.numc.edu.
About North Shore-LIJ Health System
The nation’s third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system, the North Shore-LIJ Health System cares for people of all ages throughout Long Island, Queens and Staten Island – a service area encompassing more than five million people. The health system consists of 14 hospitals, 18 long-term care facilities, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, three trauma centers, five home health agencies, a hospice network and dozens of outpatient centers. In addition, North Shore-LIJ is partnering with Hofstra University to develop a new medical school. North Shore-LIJ’s owned facilities house about 5,000 beds, employ about 10,000 nurses and have affiliations with more than 7,000 physicians. Its workforce of about 38,000 is the largest on Long Island and the ninth largest in New York City. For more information, go to www.northshorelij.com.