HGAR grants wish
The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors Make-A-Wish Committee presented a check for $12,600 to Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley at the Wish House in Tarrytown. The donation represents the proceeds from a recent fundraising cocktail party held at the Clubhouse at Patriot Hills in Stony Point. In addition to this summer”™s HGAR Garage Sales held by 25 offices in the four-county area, HGAR raised a total of more than $23,000 for the organization this year.
Health system appoints vice president of financial planningÂ
Jill Embler has been appointed vice president of financial planning by The Greater Hudson Valley Health System (GHVHS) in Middletown. Her scope of responsibility includes direct oversight of long-range financial planning and forecasting, along with the planning and implementation of business intelligence and reporting. Embler will also facilitate the formation of data governance and informatics efforts.
Prior to joining GHVHS, Embler served as vice president of financial planning and decision support at Mount Sinai Health System (formerly Continuum Health Partners Inc.) in New York City. At Mount Sinai, she was responsible for strategic business planning, business intelligence and analytics for hospital and physician segments as well as strategic market and population health analysis.
Embler earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Pace University and her Master of Science degree in public administration from New York University. She has more than 20 years of experience in financial planning and analytics.
New board members at Iona
Iona College has announced that two new members will join its board of trustees in January.
Eric L. Robinson is an associate professor in the educational psychology department and director of the Baylor University Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD). Prior to being named head of the BCDD, Robinson was the director for the school psychology program at Baylor for 13 years where he guided the program to national recognition from the National Association of School Psychologists. Previously he was the senior policy advisor and chief of staff to the president at Iona.
Margaret C. Timoney is the managing director of Heineken Ireland and has been with the company since 1998. While a student at Iona she was a member of the women”™s basketball team and still holds the all-time leading scorer record.
Boys & Girls Club appoints Ozer to post
Chappaqua resident Alyzza Ozer has been appointed chief development officer by the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester. Ozer, an attorney who specializes in innovative nonprofit fundraising and marketing, brings nearly 30 years of essential experience in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors.
“I am elated and honored to be part of an organization that has such powerful impact on our community by improving the futures of our kids,” Ozer said. “For six consecutive years, 100 percent of our at-risk high school seniors have graduated on time with their peers, gone to college and received many scholarships. This is one of many examples of the club”™s unparalleled returns on investment, making it a vital part of this community.”
In her new role, Ozer will help foster a culture of philanthropy within the club and surrounding communities, lead staff and volunteers to expand fund development, and spearhead the implementation of strategies to develop donors as well as financial, volunteering and mentoring contributions to support the Club.
Previously, Ozer served as senior vice president of resource development and community engagement at United Way of Westchester and Putnam, leading unique fundraising and programming projects for human health services. She additionally held the position of regional vice president of the Manhattan office of the American Cancer Society, where she led initiatives involving advocacy, family patient services, and fundraising.
Ozer has had a career in commercial real estate and law for more than 20 years, completing $5 billion in deal value, concentrating on the needs of Fortune 500 corporations and property owners. She held senior positions, including managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle.
HVHC cited as a ”˜top performer”™
The Joint Commission, the accreditor of health care organizations in the United States, has recognized Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor as a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures in its 2014 annual report “America”™s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety.” The recognition is for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance for care related to heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.
HVHC is one of 1,224 hospitals in the U. S. to achieve the 2013 Top Performer distinction.
“Delivering the right treatment in the right way at the right time is a cornerstone of high-quality health care. I commend the efforts of Hudson Valley Hospital Center for its excellent performance on the use of evidence-based interventions,” said Mark R. Chassin, president and CEO, The Joint Commission.
John C. Federspiel, president of HVHC, said the hospital was able to achieve this distinction due to the hard work and dedication of its clinical staff. “We are among the leading hospitals in the region when it comes to safety and quality care. Hudson Valley Hospital Center is proud to be named a Top Performer as it recognizes the teamwork and dedication of our entire hospital staff.”
Medical group adds bilingual family doctor
Jennifer K. Vazquez-Bryan, a bilingual family medicine physician, has joined Middletown-based Orange Regional Medical Group Department of Primary Care and will play an important role in further establishing the practice. Vazquez-Bryan, who is fluent in Spanish, will be an asset to serving the growing Spanish-speaking community, according to a statement from the group. Prior to joining the medical group, Vazquez-Bryan was at Columbia Valley Community Health in Wenatchee, Wash.
A graduate of Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she earned her medical degree and multiple awards, including Distinction in Service to the Community and Excellence in Family Medicine, Vazquez-Bryan also holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and completed her internship and residency at Swedish Family Medicine in Seattle.
A member of the American Academy of Family Medicine, one of the largest national medical associations of family doctors, Vazquez-Bryan has been widely published and recognized for altruistic work promoting health care in impoverished areas. She is widely traveled and has spent extensive time with native groups in Guatemala, Mexico, Kenya and Alaska developing programs that benefit those communities.
Danziger & Markhoff expands to Long Island
Danziger & Markhoff LLP, a law and actuarial firm, has been joined by Pension Design Services Inc. (PDS) owned by Steven I. Alin.
Danziger & Markhoff has been in White Plains since 1960 and will now open its second office in PDS”™ Melville office.
Drawing on Alin”™s 40 years of business experience, PDS has always been on the leading edge of retirement plan design concepts that best suit the needs of any size business. PDS”™ staff along with Alin, an enrolled actuary, will continue to operate out of Danziger & Markhoff”™s Melville office.
Marsh to retire from Westchester Community Foundation
Catherine Marsh, who has overseen the growth of the Westchester Community Foundation as it became one of the largest funders of nonprofits in the county, will retire as executive director in June 2015.
Under Marsh”™s leadership for the past 15 years, the foundation has distributed more than $45 million to Westchester nonprofits. Permanent charitable funds have expanded to include those for health and human services, community development, the environment and the arts. In addition, the foundation now has endowed funds for programs to benefit two communities: Ossining and Tarrytown.
“Catherine Marsh has left an indelible mark on the community,” said Theresa Kilman, chairperson of the foundation board. “We”™ll miss Catherine”™s passion for helping everyone in Westchester and her role as the ”˜go-to”™ person on many issues.”
The foundation is a division of The New York Community Trust, which has earned a reputation as the home of charitable New Yorkers who share a passion for the city and its suburbs. The trust supports an array of effective nonprofits that help make the City, Westchester and Long Island vital and secure places to live and work, while building permanent resources for the future.
The trust formed the Westchester Community Foundation in 1975 to encourage local philanthropy. Westchester residents ”“ from teachers to entrepreneurs ”“ make the foundation”™s work possible, by setting up donor-advised funds or by establishing permanent funds to help local nonprofits. During Marsh”™s time, the Foundation has given out more than 1,100 grants to Westchester nonprofits through a competitive grants process.
Marsh, a resident of Peekskill, began her career in Westchester, working in several county departments before becoming director of employment and training for Putnam County. Her 30 years of experience in the nonprofit field includes executive positions at Federated Employment and Guidance Services in New York City and as mid-Hudson Director for Volunteers of America. Before joining the foundation, she served as a managing director at the Gay Men”™s Health Crisis in New York City. While at the Westchester Community Foundation, she taught nonprofit management as an adjunct professor at Manhattanville College.
The foundation has formed a committee to seek a replacement for Marsh.
ORMC opens neonatal unit
In honor of National Prematurity Awareness Month and World Prematurity Day, Hailey”™s Hope Foundation (HHF) recently dedicated its first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Family Resource Room at Orange Regional Medical Center”™s Rowley Family Birthing Center. A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at which Orange Regional honored HHF for its support in helping its NICU families and babies. Over the past two years, the foundation has provided more than $40,000 in funding, including the renovation and design of the new Family Resource Room now used by parents with babies hospitalized within Orange Regional”™s NICU. Hailey”™s Hope Foundation is a local nonprofit organization that supports families with premature and critically ill babies who are hospitalized in New York-area NICUs.
“Life in the NICU is stressful and takes a huge toll on families. As a former NICU mom of four premature babies, I know how important it is to have a quiet, special place to unwind, recharge and regroup,” said Donna Zion, vice president of HHF.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Hailey”™s Hope Foundation support our NICU services and families of NICU patients. The new NICU Family Resource Room will benefit parents who are in need of privacy and comfort during their newborn”™s stay with us,” said Orange Regional President and CEO Scott Batulis.
WPH cites doctors for excellence
White Plains Hospital recently recognized 13 of its physicians and surgeons for excellence in patient satisfaction. They include surgeons Paul Fragner, Mark Gordon, Seth Neubardt, Robert Reiffel, Jack Stern, Carl Weber, Kaare Weber, Philip Weber and Mia Wright. Gastroenterologists recognized include Robert Fath, Steven Fink, Seth Gendler and Bryan Green.
According to the Press Ganey Co., the largest vendor in the country that measures patient satisfaction, these doctors all ranked in the top 10 percent in the nation for ambulatory surgery patients. This is not the first recognition for White Plains Hospital”™s excellence in patient satisfaction. Earlier this year, Healthgrades recognized the hospital for performing in the top 5 percent nationally in patient experience.
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