West Islip, NY – Good Samaritan Hospital was recently approved by New York State, and chosen as one of seven community hospitals in the state without on-site cardiac surgery and one of two in Suffolk County, to offer primary angioplasty on an elective basis; giving patients who are not in immediate medical need of this procedure to schedule it at a further date.

Primary angioplasty is a technique for unblocking arteries carrying blood to the heart muscle. A small balloon at the tip of a catheter tube is inserted via an artery in the groin or arm and guided to the blocked heart artery. It is then inflated and removed, leaving in place a 'stent'; a rigid support that squashes the fatty deposit blocking the artery, allowing blood to flow more easily.

In 2001, Good Samaritan was chosen by the New York State Department of Health to be one of the few hospitals in the community to perform primary angioplasty. Primary angioplasty is the emergent placement of stents into freshly blocked coronary arteries of patients who have an acute myocardial infarction; or a “heart attack”.

Since 2001, the hospital’s cardiologists have performed more than 6,000 cardiac catheterization procedures and about 550 coronary angioplasties on heart attack patients. “Good Samaritan exemplifies the concept that experience matters,” stated Larry Altschul, M.D., Chairman of the Division of Cardiology. “Good Samaritan is now ranked among the highest in volume at a community hospital, and more important consistently ranks among the lowest in mortality rates for primary angioplasty in New York State. This extraordinary level of excellence is in no doubt due to the highly trained staff of the Division of Cardiology. We are all very excited about the impending expansion into the area of elective angioplasty and look forward to providing full service interventional cardiology within our community.”

For more information on Good Samaritan and its Cardiology Services, please call (631) 376-4444.

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is a 537-bed (including 100 nursing home beds), voluntary, not-for-profit hospital located in West Islip. The Medical Center, which has 4,000 employees and more than 700 physicians on staff, had 29,000 patient admissions and more than 85,800 emergency room visits in 2006. Good Samaritan is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. Visit our website at www.good-samaritan-hospital.org.

Good Samaritan provides approximately $20 million in community service and charity care each year. The Medical Center supplies residents with the tools necessary to maintain good health. This includes community lectures, screenings, health fairs and other community programs and services.

Pictured; Renato Giorgini, DPM, Robert Stabile, DPM, (Dr. Paul Mandala Special Achievement Award 2008) and Catherine Caronia, MD

West Islip NY - Every June, Good Samaritan bids an emotional farewell to its graduating residents at its annual graduation dinner. Without missing a beat, the Graduate Medical Education Department then celebrates the exciting arrival of the newest class of residents and interns.

The 2008 Resident Graduation Dinner was held on June 18th at the Venetian Yacht Club in Babylon. Catherine G. Caronia, MD, Chairperson, Graduate Medical Education, welcomed the class of 2008. This year’s keynote speaker was David Broder, D.O., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.O.I., President, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine Education Consortium.  The Good Samaritan Resident Graduation Class of 2008 included obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, podiatry, emergency medicine and family practice. The Traditional Rotating Internship participants were also honored. Special acknowledgements included, Robert Stabile, D.P.M., recipient of the Paul S. Mandela Special Achievement Award. This honoree is chosen by his / her peers and mentors as a trainee who surpasses the dedication and advancement of medicine during the post-graduate training period. The 2008 honorees for the Attending of the Year Award were Frank Sun, M.D. (Pediatrics), Renato Giorgini, D.P.M. (Podiatry), David Teng, M.D. (EM) and Larry Altschul, M.D. (Medicine). These awards are chosen by the house-staff in recognition of their dedication and commitment to post graduate education. 

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center’s Graduate Medical Education Department was founded in July 1993. As of June 2008 there were 202 rotating internships and 130 resident graduates. Today, the total number of graduates on voluntary staff is 52, representing well over 50% of the graduates. “We are thrilled each year when the young physicians who we have actively been involved in training stay on as our colleagues and become members of our medical staff providing care to our community.  This is a tribute to the quality of medical care and teamwork found at Good Samaritan,” said Dr. Caronia.

West Islip, NY – The Mother/Baby Unit at Good Samaritan Hospital gratefully accepted baby blankets, which were donated by last year’s seventh grade class, from The Long Island School for the Gifted. Each blanket was designed and sewn by the students as part of their community service project, “Project Sweet Dreams”. The students hoped the babies and new mothers would like to have something special that would provide comfort during their hospital stay and could be taken home. Each blanket is unique and is fire and flame retardant. According to Arlyne J. Cohen, Development Director at the school, “Our students learned so much from their participation in this program. They have given of themselves so that others will benefit.”

 “The blankets will be given to new mothers who otherwise might not have a beautiful new blanket to bring their baby home,” said, Joanne Schroeder, Nurse Manager, Mother/Baby, Maternity Unit, which is part of the BirthPlace program at Good Samaritan.

 Each year in Good Samaritan’s BirthPlace, more than 3,200 infants are welcomed into the world. A talented group of physicians, nurses and support staff are responsible for the mother and newborn’s well being. Accommodations are modern, family-centered and attractively decorated. The over-sized room is the setting for the labor, delivery and recovery of the birthing experience. For information, please call 631-376-4444.

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 Pictured: Students from The Long Island School for The Gifted, stitching the baby blankets for “Project Sweet Dreams”.

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 Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is a 537-bed (including 100 nursing home beds), voluntary, not-for-profit hospital located in West Islip. The Medical Center, which has 4,000 employees and more than 700 physicians on staff, had 29,000 patient admissions and more than 90,000 emergency room visits in 2007. Good Samaritan is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. Visit our website at www.good-samaritan-hospital.org. For further information, call the Physician and Health Referral Line at (631) 376-4444.

Good Samaritan provides approximately $30 million in community service and charity care each year. The Medical Center supplies residents with the tools necessary to maintain good health. This includes community lectures, screenings, health fairs and other community programs and services.

Pictured: Army Specialist Juan Leon, Nicholas Francisco and Lorraine-Leon

West Islip, NY - Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center was where the happy reunion took place between mom, Lorraine, new baby, Nicholas and dad, Army Specialist Juan Leon of East Massapequa.  Lorraine Leon of Amityville, who had experienced a difficult and life threatening pregnancy, delivered the 4 pound, 5 ounce, Nicholas, six weeks early on August 14, 2008, at Good Samaritan. Unfortunately, Army Spec. Leon was still serving at his post in Kabul when the baby was born. Leon, a member of the Bay Shore–based Fighting 69th Infantry Battalion of New York’s National Guard was originally not allowed to take emergency leave to be with his wife. That all changed with help from the nursing staff at Good Samaritan, The Red Cross, Congressman, Peter King and Congressman, Steve Israel.

Pat Cordes, Lorraine’s care manager at Good Samaritan, continued to call the Red Cross and to report both Lorraine’s and baby Nicholas’ condition. “I believe it was the call that Pat made, that made that brought Juan home” said Lorraine on Friday. According to Cordes, “This was indeed a very serious situation, when Lorraine was admitted in the delivery room with low amniotic fluid, she needed steroids to mature the baby’s lungs and she also had other medical complications. When a baby is delivered at 34 weeks, and admitted to the Neonatal Intensive care Unit, (NICU), we know from experience, that having the father present can help ease the fear that a new mother is faced with.”  “I am grateful to all of the people who helped bring my husband home, included Rep. Peter King, the nurses Good Samaritan and my family,” said Lorraine, as she held baby Nicholas in her arms yesterday. According to Kelly Leon, RN, one of the nurses caring for Nicholas in the NICU, he is doing great and we hope he will be home with his family soon.. –That is great news for Army Specialist, Juan Leon, who will heading back to Afghanistan after his two week leave.

“I’m happy I was able to see him.” Leon said. “I got to hold him and feed him. I have something to take back with me.”