Our little heroes inspire us to think big and fight smart 2017 Annual Report Meet Joseph: A tenacious two-year-old on a mission. Joseph came to Cohen Children’s Medical Center when his parents noticed that he had stopped moving his legs. We saw a four-month-old boy with the world at his fi ngertips. At the time, he couldn’t speak, but our team read his symptoms loud and clear. We immediately surrounded him with specialists, who diagnosed a spinal tumor, and within 24 hours, we had him on the road to recovery. Almost two years later, he’s more than a happy, healthy toddler; he’s one of our biggest sources of inspiration. of the hospital, thanks to innovative and eff ective treatment. These stories, like the stories of so many of our patients, inspire the team at Cohen Children’s to do more. Whether it’s by adopting new treatments through research or delivering an extra dose of compassion that shows how much we understand and how much we care, our strengths make us stand out among the best children’s hospitals nationwide. It’s why we rank in nine pediatric specialties as listed in U.S. News & World Report — and our team continually strives to do better. Great care comes alive at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, and we couldn’t make it happen without the bravery of our patients and their families. As New York State’s largest provider of pediatric healthcare services, we look to our patients as the beacons of strength that is contagious, and these little faces inspire the work keep us grounded in our mission: to provide the best we do every day. Dear friends, care we possibly can to our little heroes. Take Joseph, for example, who touched our hearts Healthcare professionals at Cohen Children’s Medical with his winning smile and can-do attitude. Our team Center all share a common goal: to aid those in need. of specialists discovered a tumor on Joseph’s spinal Sincerely, Demanding workdays and long hours come with cord. Immediately, our diagnostic team took action, the territory, but this drive to serve — to heal — is implementing a treatment plan that got him back to sustained by our connection with our patients. It being a healthy kid again. takes a strong will and a warm heart to provide compassionate care to children, but the real heroes are Or Elly — who at seven years old was taken to Cohen the children, who bravely face the uncertainty of their Children’s with a sudden illness. When her organs shut Michael J. Dowling health care every day, embracing the unknown and down, our team provided the advanced care needed President and CEO approaching every situation with hope. Their optimism to keep her alive. Today, Elly is happy, healthy and out Northwell Health Northwell Health | Cohen Children’s Medical Center 3 Our superheroes True heroism is often a thankless act, but here at successfully performed seven kidney transplants, and cancer and how MIBG plays a role, we are able to Cohen Children’s Medical Center, we work hard to our leadership and staff hope to expand transplant pursue new possibilities. acknowledge all forms of heroism, perseverance services to children with other types of transplant It’s how our scientists were able to rethink our and commitment — from our staff who strive to needs, including heart, lung and liver. approaches to managing premature birth and do their very best every day to our patients and It’s how we became accredited by the National develop an innovative biomedical device called their families who face and overcome a host of Committee for Quality Assurance, a nonprofit the NeuroGuard, a belt worn by moms-to-be that obstacles and challenges. committed to improving healthcare quality, as a transmits electrical signals to the uterus with the goal Patients and their families wouldn’t continue Level 3 patient-centered medical home for children of interfering with nerve cell communication that to return to Cohen Children’s if we didn’t have a and their families. This means that all of a child’s triggers preterm birth. reputation for excellence, which is reflected in the medical and support service needs are coordinated by We like to think of our scientists, our surgeons, our latest U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s teams of nurses and specialists who work together to nurses, our doctors, our technicians, our music Hospitals national rankings. ensure that no test is missed, that results therapists — everyone who works at Cohen Cohen Children’s ranked in nine are explained clearly, that follow-up care Children’s — as our heroes, because their selflessness pediatric specialties, and it was the happens and that potential problems are and stalwart dedication have helped make us the 11th consecutive year that New York addressed before they become problems. renowned institution we are today. State’s largest provider of pediatric It’s how we worked with partners in the healthcare services was ranked Moreover, we especially think of our patients as our community, including the Nassau County among America’s top 50 leading superheroes, whose courage, smiles and gratitude Police Department and the Village children’s hospitals. make everything we do, 24 hours a day, seven days of Lake Success, to bring a temporary a week, worthwhile. Our patients and their families Getting to that point, to this level helipad right across the street from our sometimes face difficult choices or challenging of national recognition, requires main campus. The goal of this helipad is circumstances, but they know we are here to guide everyone on our staff, from our to nearly eliminate time children spend in and support them. Heroism is about being bold when surgeons to our nurses to our an ambulance during an emergency. possibly feeling scared or overwhelmed, but heroism specialists to our technicians, to deliver his or her It’s how we continue to cultivate scientific rigor can also be about being bold together. Because at very best the moment a patient walks through and examination into complex diseases that affect Cohen Children’s, no one has to go it alone. our doors. Tireless perseverance and commitment children, which in turn advance our understanding have led to some amazing things in 2017. of these diseases and create opportunities for It’s how we launched our new Pediatric Kidney treatment. Such is the case with our very first Transplant Program, to provide a much-needed metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) program, designed service for children with kidney disease waiting to provide a unique treatment for children with a very and hoping for that second chance at a better rare and aggressive form of neuroblastoma. Thanks to quality of life. To date, Cohen Children’s has ongoing basic and clinical investigations into pediatric 4 Northwell Health | 2017 Annual Report Northwell Health | Cohen Children’s Medical Center 5 6 Northwell Health | 2017 Annual Report While Shawna comes to patients’ bedsides to offer fun On a high note and a reprieve, she also learns from them. “I remember this teenage boy with sickle cell anemia,” The President’s Award spotlights a less conventional, Shawna said. “and I approached him and said, ‘Okay, let’s do a song where we focus on your illness and but vital part of patient care. how that makes you feel,’ because as music therapists, we’re taught to offer that as a coping mechanism. This summer, right around the time she marks teenagers. She works primarily on the medical-surgical Turns out, he didn’t want to sing about sickle cell five years as a music therapist at Cohen and pediatric intensive care units, and she provides anemia or about being in the hospital or anything Children’s, Shawna Vernisie will be luxuriating in end-of-life care to grieving families, which can be a related to his illness. He wanted to sing about his an 11-day, all-expenses-paid cruise around the challenging part of her job. girlfriend and about being a teenager. Being with him Mediterranean with her sister. “Sometimes, we’ll record a patient’s heartbeat while was a reminder to me that we treat the whole person. The cruise, along with a check for $10,000, is a he or she receives palliative care and use the heartbeat Yes, this kid has a condition, but he wanted to focus on generous thank you and part of the prestigious as a rhythm to create a song,” Shawna said. “This is other areas of his life.” President’s Award given to exceptional Northwell a beautiful legacy for the patient’s family to have. Or Bringing passion to the job comes easily to Shawna. Health staff every year. Shawna was one of sometimes we’ll record a patient’s voice. It’s a tribute What overwhelmed her was being called “a shining three Northwell Health staff members to receive everyone can hold on to and lets everyone in the star” by senior leadership during the awards ceremony. the President’s Award; she was recognized for Exceptional Patient/Customer Experience. The other two categories are Innovation and Teamwork. “ As a music therapist, I like to say we bring a “When I truly think about this award, I get very emotional about it,” said Shawna. “It’s so different kind of instrument to the hospital that’s wonderful to have a large organization that understands and recognizes the work being done important to treating the whole patient.” by music therapists. You don’t think of music therapy in a hospital. You think of doctors and physician assistants and nurses.