Group adds three doctors
Three physicians have joined Phelps Medical Associates, the multispecialty group of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center. They are internist Andres Espinoza, rheumatologist Farrah Gutwein and neurologist Douglas D. Sankar.
Espinoza attended medical school at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico. He completed a pre-internship at New York Medical College and his internal medicine residency at Danbury Hospital. A resident of Mohegan Lake, his office is in Sleepy Hollow.
Gutwein, who specializes in the treatment of arthritis, lupus and osteoporosis, is board-certified in internal medicine. A resident of White Plains, Gutwein attended medical school at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her three-year internal medicine residency at Westchester Medical Center, followed by a two-year rheumatology fellowship, also at WMC. After her fellowship, she was in private practice in New Rochelle and served as assistant director of the rheumatology clinic at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital and as physician educator at the hospital. Gutwein is seeing patients at offices in Sleepy Hollow and Croton-on-Hudson.
Sankar is board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology. He earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed an internship in internal medicine, a residency in neurology and a fellowship in neurophysiology, all at New York University Medical Center. He is a clinical assistant professor at New York Medical College. Prior to joining Phelps Medical Associates, Sankar was in private practice in Cortlandt Manor. His practice is now on the Phelps campus in Sleepy Hollow.
Gift of Life names new board
Gift of Life, a Rotary-sponsored charity, has elected Valhalla resident and White Plains Rotarian Bill Currie to be its chairman of the board for a two-year term and has appointed three additional members to the board: Janet DiBenedetto, past governor of the Rotary Club District and a Rotarian for 25 years; John Felicetti of the Rotary Club of Pelham; and Richard Sherman, new president of the Bronx Rotary Club and a Rotarian since 2010. Leon Horwitz, who has held numerous Rotary board positions, has been promoted to vice chairman of the board. These Rotarians will help direct the operations of Gift of Life in its life-saving heart surgery operations for children from several foreign countries.
Currie has served on the Gift of Life board since 1998. He became involved with the International Gift of Life program shortly after it was founded in 2002, eventually serving as vice chairman from 2007 to 2009 and as chairman/president from 2009 to 2013. He serves as secretary and uses his financial background to assist the organization. He has helped raise money and awareness of the Gift of Life by addressing Rotary conferences on four continents and has spoken to groups of medical professionals about the life-saving work of Gift of Life.
DiBenedetto has been a winner of the Rotary”™s highest honor, the Service Above Self Award. Only 500 individuals of the approximately 2 million members in Rotary International have received the award.
DiBenedetto, a member of the Pleasantville Rotary Club, has been a member of the Gift of Life for 20 years. A grant writer and teacher of grant writing, she is serving on the board to share her grant writing expertise.
Felicetti, a 20-year resident of Pelham, has spent his professional career in information technology and management consulting and has been an active member of the Rotary Club of the Pelhams”™ annual Tastings fundraiser for children with cardiac needs since its inception in 2005. During that time, he and his family have hosted several children from abroad while they received life-saving heart surgery.
Angeles elected to Friends of Karen board
North Salem-based Friends of Karen, an organization supporting critically ill children and their families, recently elected Anne Angeles to its board of directors. Angeles is a marketing executive, holding previous positions at major firms, including Prudential Financial, American Express, McCann-Erickson and American International Group. She also actively helps not-for-profits as a pro-bono marketing consultant with Taproot Foundation of New York.
Somers Realtor receives award
The New York State Association of Realtors recognized Linda Crispinelli for her work with the Stephanie Crispinelli Humanitarian Fund by naming her one of its first-ever Community Service Award honorees during the association”™s fall business meeting in Verona.
The service award is intended to honor Realtors”™ involvement supporting initiatives aimed at a community”™s youths, improving the quality of education, quality of life for older Americans, homelessness prevention, as well as efforts following natural disasters.
Crispinelli created the Stephanie Crispinelli Humanitarian Fund, also known as Stephanie”™s Mission, following the death of her daughter during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The nonprofit organization was created with the hope of continuing Stephanie”™s mission of helping children who are less fortunate all over the world.
Through Stephanie”™s Mission, Crispinelli creates approximately 200 Steph”™s Comfort Kits annually, which are donated to the Westchester Chapter of the American Red Cross. They include a blanket, small pillow, teddy bear and books for children displaced from their homes.
In addition, the fund has built five pre-elementary schools in poverty-stricken areas of Jamaica in Stephanie”™s honor. Its goal is to build a school every year. Scholarships have also been set up for high school and college students to go on humanitarian trips similar to those in which Stephanie participated.
Along with an inscribed award, a monetary grant of $500 was also made in Crispinelli”™s name to the Stephanie Crispinelli Humanitarian Fund.
Westmed names two vice presidents
Westmed Medical Group has announced two promotions to vice president: Steven Meixler of White Plains, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist, who is associate medical director for medical specialties, and Richard Morel of Pelham, an internist, who is associate medical director for internal medicine.
Both doctors will oversee services offered by Westmed, the orientation of physicians at all its locations and the credentialing and privileging process of doctors. Meixler and Morel are also involved in ongoing development and achievement of quality initiatives as an accountable care organization.
Meixler received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed his residency training through Manhattan VA/New York University Medical Center, where he served as chief resident. He completed a fellowship in pulmonary/critical care medicine at New York University Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital Center. Meixler was in private practice in White Plains before joining Westmed in September 2005. He is also director of the Department of Internal Medicine at White Plains Hospital and has served as chief of pulmonary/critical care medicine.
Morel is board-certified in internal medicine. He was awarded his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed his postgraduate training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. In addition, he has recently completed a master”™s of medical management degree at Carnegie Mellon University. Before joining WMG in July 2008, he was in a private practice affiliated with Columbia-Presbyterian Riverdale for 12 years.
Langsam an award recipient
Janet Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester, was honored by the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services for her leadership in advocating and maintaining arts programs for seniors. She received the Humanitarian Award at the organization”™s Golden Harvest Awards Breakfast Oct. 2.
The Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services develops resources to provide services that help seniors age with independence and dignity in their home community.
“It was a superb decision to honor Janet Langsam with the Golden Harvest Humanitarian Award,” said Mae Carpenter, commissioner of Westchester County”™s Department of Senior Programs and Services. “Her programs for seniors have enriched their lives and broadened their horizons. Her outreach has been outstanding.”
ArtsWestchester, the county”™s oldest and most influential nonprofit for artists and cultural organizations, has been providing free services at low income, county-subsidized senior residencies for more than 30 years, using the arts to reinforce cognitive and social skills.
“With social isolation, as well as transportation and mobility barriers limiting seniors, we provide hands-on artist residencies that foster socialization by bringing people together for a shared, art-making experience,” Langsam said.
New branch and manager
Justin Maneen has been appointed by The Westchester Bank as vice president, branch manager of the bank”™s newest full-service branch at 51 S. Moger Ave. in Mount Kisco. Maneen is a Westchester County resident and an active member of the Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce and the Westchester County Association”™s Young Professionals Group.
Prior to joining The Westchester Bank, Maneen was branch manager for KeyBank in Mount Kisco where he was promoted from positions in commercial lending, portfolio analysis, sales and customer relations. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta with a Bachelor of Science degree in business economics and focus on finance.
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