NETFLIX SERIES HIGHTLIGHTS TRANSPLANT PROGRAMS
With care so compelling that it has been featured in the Netflix series Emergency: NYC, Northwell and NSUH have had the distinct opportunity to showcase their services, following everything from transplants and pediatric trauma units to emergency services and more.
Following the success of Netflix’s Lenox Hill in 2020, which largely profiled the neurosurgeons at Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital, Emergency: NYC premiered on Netflix in 2023. This docuseries follows New York’s healthcare professionals as they strive to achieve a balance between their professional and personal lives, immersing viewers in the dynamic world of emergency medicine, including NSUH.
“Emergency: NYC illustrates emergency care at NSUH, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and Lenox Hill Hospital, as well as the unique ground and helicopter emergency medical services (EMS) provided by Northwell – an extremely robust, organized, and can-do emergency transport system so excellent that New York’s EMS and voluntary ambulance services frequently ask and rely on Northwell for coverage,” explains Dr. Hartman.
SkyHealth, a state-of-the-art emergency helicopter service that is a joint venture between Northwell and Yale New Haven Health, significantly reduces the time a critically ill or injured patient spends outside of the acute care environment. SkyHealth helicopters have the ability to fly over traffic at 135 miles an hour, saving precious minutes and, therefore, patients’ lives. As Northwell notes: sometimes, timing truly is everything.
Emergency: NYC features a Long Island teenager whose father donated his kidney to him in a successful transplant surgery performed by Elliot Grodstein, MD. After a full recovery by both, the boy eventually realized his dream by playing high school baseball, but his story is just one among countless patients who have relied on NSUH transplant surgeons to provide a second chance. NSUH has performed more than 900 adult kidney transplants since its inception.
Zachary Kon, MD, Northwell’s Surgical Director Of Advanced Heart Failure And Cardiac Transplantation, As Well As Advanced Lung Failure And Lung Transplantation, led a team that performed Long Island’s first heart and lung transplant in 2022.
NSUH remains the only heart, lung, and liver transplant center for Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has driven up the need for transplants, especially lungs and livers. While wait times for transplants have generally been halved, thanks in part to new rules opening up access, the number of patients in need of a transplant has increased. NSUH is positioned to deliver and can travel several hundred miles to procure an organ in need.
“Lung transplants are the latest life-changing specialty we’re proud to offer to the communities we serve, and like everything we do at NSUH, it will be performed with sophistication and best-in-class care,” said Sendach.
In 2023, NSUH completed its 150th liver transplant since the program’s inception in 2019. Nabil N. Dagher, MD, Vice President and Director of Northwell’s Transplant Center, forged ahead with expansion by opening a transplant office in New Jersey.
“Northwell is filling an urgent need for more transplant services in the region and the pandemic has only exacerbated the demand for expert liver disease care,” says Dr. Dagher.
PETROCELLI SURGICAL PAVILION OPENS
An exciting new endeavor that NSUH is embarking on after more than a decade of planning is the construction of the Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion (PSP).
“The Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion represents the future of health care for Long Island and Queens residents,” says Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell. “This impressive facility is the realization of a lot of planning and work that goes back more than a decade. It will serve to magnify all of the great things already happening at North Shore University Hospital.”
The PSP, a $560 million project opening for patient care in February of 2024, will feature 18 operating rooms, including three hybrid rooms with advanced imaging, and 132 intensive care rooms. Hybrid operating rooms are unique because they combine a traditional operating room with an image-guided interventional suite, allowing for highly complex, advanced surgical procedures. This project is upgrading and expanding the critical care capabilities of the campus to ensure the facility is a tool helping our team members deliver exceptional care.
“In addition, it will be the home of SABHH, which will have a concierge entrance for cardiac patients and their families to ensure they are really being cared for at the top level,” says Dr. Kuvin.
“The PSP is going to catapult NSUH into a premier institution,” explains Dr. Kuvin.
“We are already a top heart hospital, but the PSP is going to take us to new heights. It will provide the campus with all new intensive care units, which will allow us to monitor, care for, and provide bedside technologies for patients that we otherwise might not have been able to,” he continues.
The 288,000 square foot (sqft) pavilion will accommodate the future healthcare needs of the local, national, and international community, bolstering the local public healthcare infrastructure. Once complete, the PSP will significantly expand the high-quality capabilities of NSUH and create opportunities for advancements in technology and medicine.
“NSUH and this new pavilion really serve as the premier quaternary care hospital for the largest healthcare system in the region,” comments Dr. Kuvin.
Further advancing the mission and values that NSUH is so proud to consistently uphold, the PSP is a further example of the innovation and passion that are at the forefront of every decision made and step taken by the hospital, who always places the community and the patient first.
NSUH MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
Committed to teaching the doctors of tomorrow, Northwell provides education to residents and fellows, ultimately training and educating more than 1,800 students each year across 180 programs and 15 hospitals.
Dedicated to enriching the healthcare professionals of today while developing the doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel of tomorrow, NSUH is shaping the future of healthcare, one professional at a time.
In order to enhance the training experience, NSUH offers a variety of educational, research, and community service opportunities to those looking to begin their journey in healthcare, educating trainees in a highly efficient, patient-centric environment and allowing the advancement of one of the main goals of the US health system: to provide skilled, compassionate, and individualized care to every patient.
These exceptional programs show participants how to practice award-winning medicine and ultimately challenge them to become the most innovative, compassionate caregivers possible.
NSUH researchers work on groundbreaking studies through the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, which ranks within the top sixth percentile of all independent research institutes receiving funds from the National Institutes of Health. It offers opportunities for residents and fellows to participate in research studies in laboratories or at the bedside.
The Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine is an individually tailored three-year PhD program designed to train exceptional physicians in research. This graduate school is one of only two in the country that specifically trains recent medical school graduates to use state-of-the-art methods to identify critically unanswered questions relating to human disease, shed light on fundamental biological processes underlying disease, and invent new diagnostics and therapeutics. The goal of this program is to create a cadre of highly-trained physician-scientists who will establish careers in academic medicine and conduct exceptional basic and translational research directly related to human disease.
The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, a partnership between Northwell and Hofstra University, was the first new allopathic medical school in New York in 45 years when it opened in 2008. The medical school enhances the academic offerings and reputation of Northwell and increases the opportunities for residents and fellows to gain the highest level of knowledge and experience during their time within the health system.
The Office of Community Health and Investment, which focuses on improving the health of the communities served (approximately eight million in the areas of Long Island, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island), provides health education and prevention courses for the community, helps members gain access to healthcare, and trains medical professionals on cultural competency, language, and communication access. Trainees have the opportunity to participate in the courses to gain a better understanding of diversity and inclusion and their importance in the healthcare industry.
Not only do these many programs ensure the continual growth and advancement of healthcare professionals, but they also allow Northwell and NSUH to train and gather the most talented and dedicated staff within their respective fields.
“Our goal is to continue to recruit top-notch professionals for our care team because these are the folks who provide bedside care, allow our patients to thrive, and ultimately continue to progress our tripartite mission of taking care of patients, doing research, and teaching at all levels,” notes Dr. Kuvin.
The opportunities that Northwell and NSUH provide make a significant contribution to the growth and development of the healthcare system. Not only is NSUH committed to preparing the next generation of physicians for the demands of the ever-changing healthcare landscape, but it is also providing them with the tools to advance the field itself.
