Doctors of Distinction honors Westchester’s medical best

Six county doctors were honored for their work and “dedication, expertise, accomplishments and compassionate care” in the medical field during the annual Westchester County Doctors of Distinction at The Bristal in Armonk on Oct. 29.

Westfair Communications Inc., the publisher of the Westchester County Business Journal, accounting firm Citrin Cooperman and the Westchester County Medical Society co-sponsored the event, which honors the county”™s top doctors in five categories: Lifetime Achievement; Excellence in Medical Research; Community Service; Humanitarian; and Leadership in Medical Advocacy.

Other sponsors included Simone Healthcare Development, CareConnect, Danziger & Markhoff LLP and Pepe Infiniti.

Alan G. Badey, managing partner of Citrin Cooperman and co-leader of the firm”™s health care industry practice, said the organization was proud to sponsor the event. The firm also sponsors Westfair Communications”™ Fairfield County Doctors of Distinction.

“We were thrilled to again be a part of the Westchester Doctors of Distinction awards to celebrate physicians whose work has made significant contributions to the medical community,” Badey said. “It was a joyous evening and we were all captivated by the inspiring stories of the winners. Congratulations to all on this well-deserved recognition.”

Scott D. Hayworth, president and CEO of the Mount Kisco Medical Group, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hayworth, who joined the Mount Kisco Medical Group PC in 1988, said the 3,200 employees that care for the more than 400,000 patients across the Hudson Valley have been instrumental in helping the organization expand its reach and become a mainstay in the region. Hayworth also serves as an associate dean and clinical assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and is on the national advisory boards for Aetna, Anthem and MedPro.

“I get to stand up here and look good, but I couldn”™t do it without all those people,” Hayworth said.

Andrew Kleinman, the immediate past president of the Medical Society of the State of New York and former president of the Westchester County Medical Society, and L. Mark Russakoff, director of psychiatry at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, were both presented the Leadership in Medical Advocacy award.

Kleinman, a plastic surgeon who operates Kleinman Plastic Surgery ”” a private practice in Rye Brook ”” and serves on the staff of Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital, encouraged younger physicians to become involved in the field in any way they can. He attributed his success to the time he spent working alongside other physicians.

“We went into this to take care of patients, advocacy is all about patients. It really is a team effort,” he said. “When I take a look at my accomplishments, they”™re really not my accomplishments. They”™re the accomplishments of a bunch of physicians working together.”

Russakoff spent much of his time discussing the funding that has been lost in the psychiatric field, adding his guiding principle is, “If it works for the patients, it will work for the physicians as well.”

“A disproportionate amount of money has been taken out of the mental care field,” Russakoff said. “It”™s here that advocacy is most needed. It”™s a constant struggle to maintain services to our patients that they truly need.”

The Community Service Award was presented to Michael Lahn, an emergency physician at New York Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville for the past 13 years. Lahn”™s work in the community includes being director of the Eastchester Volunteer Ambulance Corps for the past four years, where he has led the integration of the intranasal drug Naloxone and continuous positive airway pressure, and, most recently, the role of medical director of the Pelham Fire Department.

Lahn said he has treated patients with ailments ranging from the “very minor” to the “very extreme” and enjoys making patients and their families feel better. He recently led a trip to the Dominican Republic with his family to build a youth center and said he continues to thoroughly enjoy his work with Eastchester Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Craig H. Zalvan, a laryngologist who helped create the Institute for Voice and Swallowing Disorders at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, was given the Humanitarian Award for the numerous techniques and procedures he was introduced in his more than 15 years of experience in the field.

Zalvan thanked Phelps for the support for his international endeavors over the years, which have included numerous trips to South America to spread techniques regularly practiced in the U.S. In April, he led a team to Peru to teach laryngology techniques so local doctors there can better care for residents.

“It really sparked tremendous interest in local doctors there in these techniques,” Zalvan said of the mission. “They didn”™t have that ability at the time.”

Robert Gary Josephberg, an ophthalmologist who has served as the chief of retina and vitreous for Westchester Medical Center for 20 years and operates a private practice in Yonkers, accepted the award for Excellence in Medical Research. Josephberg spoke of his Yonkers upbringing and his time at Roosevelt High School before attending the University of Wisconsin.

“It was a humbling experience when I got that letter,” Josephberg said.