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RONALD A. TOMO, MPA, CCP, CNA, NUHEALTH’S VICE PRESIDENT & CIO, RECIPIENT OF THE 2010 ARRL INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2011

PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055

RONALD A. TOMO, MPA, CCP, CNA,  NUHEALTH’S  VICE PRESIDENT & CIO, RECIPIENT OF THE 2010 ARRL INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD

East Meadow, NY…Arthur A. Gianelli, NuHealth’s President/CEO proudly announces that Ronald A. Tomo, MPA, CCP, CNA, NuHealth’s Vice President & Chief Information Officer, is the recipient of the 2010 American Radio Relay League (ARRL) International Humanitarian Award. This award is one of three distinguished honors voted and accepted by the ARRL board at their 2011 annual meeting.

 The ARRL International Humanitarian Award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international understanding through amateur radio. The ARRL established the annual prize to recognize amateur radio operators who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to others in times of crisis or disaster.

“This outstanding honor is a testament to Ronald Tomo and his selfless acts to help those in need. I am delighted to congratulate Mr. Tomo on this prestigious award and I am proud to have him as a member of the NuHealth staff,” said Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System. “Tomo’s life exemplifies public service through amateur radio, from providing phone patches during the Vietnam War, and providing communications support during 9/11 with MARS and the United States Service Command, as well as serving in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary as a communications officer where he played a pivotal role during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

ARRL New York City/Long Island section manager Mike Lisenco, NY2BB stated “At his own expense, about $10,000, Ron purchased more than 15 new radios and added others from his massive collection which he used to set up a tactical network in a tent hospital. This network proved to be a lifesaving setup where Ron was personally credited by the doctors in his tent hospital for saving at least eight lives and helping hundreds more due to his ability to find hospitals to handle the patients who had been triaged and stabilized. Ron gave out his radios to several people and hospitals, thereby giving his hospital both incoming and outgoing communications to expedite the transport and intake of new patients.”

“It is a great honor to receive such recognition, which all started out as a kid playing with a radio (age 12) and ended in a field hospital in a disaster torn country, establishing a life ring of radios to save lives.  I was truly moved by the League for bestowing this award on me and I hope that others will follow to help not just the poor Haitian population, but the disaster victims all over the world,” said Tomo.

Tomo received his bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s degree in public administration, specializing in hospital administration from Long Island University.  His systems training was obtained from a full certification program at New York University.  He is a certified paralegal and has studied managed care systems and integrated delivery systems at the Harvard School of Public Health. He launched his amateur radio hobby in 1967, and runs his own television station, having worked and communicated with the space shuttles and the MIR Space Station. He is a certified level I, II, & III emergency communications specialist, through the American Radio Relay League and holds an FCC Commercial third class radio telegraph certificate. Mr. Tomo has worked both in the hospital applications area (designing/building software and acquiring packaged software) and in the high technology arena (ATM WAN; video conferencing; LANs, etc.). Tomo has also published articles on patient education systems, medical office management systems, and physician billing systems. Mr. Tomo is was an  adjunct professor at Long Island University for 10 years, teaching health care information systems and microcomputer application in health care. In the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Tomo has been a communications officer and served to build up several radio facilities in his division. He also is in the US ARMY MARS program as an Emergency Communications Specialist and runs a 24×7 digital COMMS center which he also established in Haiti.

ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.