LookA community and wellness publication North from Lenox Hill Hospital Parents honor Lenox Hill Hospital’s NICU “guardian angels” PAGE 4 Volume 1, 2020 Ready, willing and extraordinary Covid-19: Northwell answers the call PAGE 5 Work in workouts Here are ways to fit activity into your busy day We all know that working out is important. Health experts, including the Surgeon General, recommend getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week. But responsibilities can make it tough to give yourself a solid half hour or more on an average day. It may be more manageable to fit in micro exercise sessions of 5 to 15 minutes a couple of times (or more) during your day. Here are some effective ways to get moving: 1. Take 10 Grab 10 minutes three times a day to do something physical. The American Council on Exercise recommends this routine: Morning: Start your day with bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, lunges and squats. Afternoon: Enjoy a brisk walk during your break. Evening: Gently stretch for 10 minutes. Include 2. intervals Alternating between moderate- and high-intensity interval workouts can boost cardiovascular health. During a 15-minute walk, speed up for two to three minutes to raise your heart rate, then return to a moderate tempo. Make time for two 15-minute walks every day. Reconsider your 3. commute Can you safely walk or bike to destinations like work, school or the grocery store? If not, snag the spot in the farthest corner of the parking lot, skip the elevator and take the stairs, or walk the shopping cart back to the store after you load your car instead of using the cart corral. Office 4. max Stand, stretch, lunge or pace while you’re on the phone. When possible, schedule walking meetings. Stroll over to your colleague for a conversation rather than sending an email. Caring for minor injuries Stay “in the game” by tending to cramps, strains and blisters Sprains Muscle cramps Blisters RICE (rest, ice, compression and Gently massage tight muscles or Cleanse the area with soap and elevation) is your friend, along lightly stretch them. At home, water, then apply petroleum jelly with an over-the-counter pain apply heat or take a hot bath or antibiotic ointment. Cover the reliever. See your doctor if pain or shower. blister loosely with a bandage. persists after two days or you experience swelling. LENOX HILL HOSPITAL her to hold Jenna. “I don’t remember seeing Jenna for the first time,” Jodi said. “I just remember being scared.” Jodi went home after 10 days, but Jenna spent 77 days at Lenox Hill. Jodi and David shared skin-to-skin or “kangaroo” care duties, holding a diaper-clad Jenna against their own bare chests for hours at a time. Kangaroo care is known to stabilize babies’ heart and respiratory rates and regulate their body temperature. Jodi came each morning and David each afternoon to hold Jenna close. “All the doctors and nurses in the NICU were, and still are, our guardian angels,” Jodi said. “They’re a different Parents honor breed of human being. They truly love those kids.” To honor the NICU care team, Jodi and Lenox Hill Hospital’s David, along with her parents, Linda and Jules Toch, are giving back to support NICU “guardian angels” the purchase of a monitoring system like the one Jenna wore in the NICU. “Your baby’s on the smaller side,” the Jodi was rushed into surgery. She “We know what those machines mean,” sonographer told Jodi Klaristenfeld at was experiencing HELLP syndrome, a David said. “As a parent you dread the her 28-week appointment. “We’ll have condition where the mother develops beeping and the alarms going off, but you back in two weeks.” high blood pressure and her liver, you know they are protecting your child. It gives you a sense of security.” Two days later Jenna was born, kidneys and blood cells can be injured. weighing 2 lbs, 2 oz. The condition can be life threatening “We are always inspired to see babies and severely restrict the baby’s growth. like Jenna thriving,” said Marty Jodi had been feeling a little off. Her Often the only treatment is delivery of Ellington, MD, MPH, chair of Pediatrics husband David was traveling for the baby. Later, Jodi’s obstetrician would at Lenox Hill Hospital. “And we’re business, and her mother, Linda Toch, tell Linda, “If we didn’t deliver the baby grateful the Klaristenfelds and Tochs had arrived from Florida to do some then, there would have been no Jodi are generously ensuring vulnerable baby shopping with her. Instead, after and no baby.” newborns continue receiving high-level Jodi developed a bloody nose, then care in their first ‘home,’ the Lenox double vision, Linda rushed her to David was in a dinner meeting in Paris Hill NICU.” the obstetrician. when he saw missed calls from Linda. “I excused myself to call her back,” he Jenna, now an active one-year-old, After his exam, Jodi’s doctor, Adam said. “Our baby had already been born.” celebrated her birthday with two babies Romoff, MD, turned to her and said, David flew back home and went directly who shared her NICU experience. “We’re going to the hospital to have from the airport to Lenox Hill Hospital’s “You’re part of a unique club in the this baby.” Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at NICU,” said Jodi. “It feels like there is a “Suddenly we were at Lenox Hill the Crown Family Pediatric Center. “I connection that will always last.” Hospital,” Jodi said, “and Dr. [Alok] actually saw Jenna before Jodi did.” Ezhuthachan was talking about “The next thing I knew,” Jodi said, Lenox Hill Hospital premature births.” “David was back, and our daughter was is ranked among the in an isolette in the NICU. nation’s top hospitals I was not comprehending for 2019-20 in diabetes and endocrinology, Watch a video about the what had just happened. My head was spinning.” ear, nose and throat, Klaristenfelds’ journey in urology, nephrology, cardiology and heart As Jodi gained strength and the Lenox Hill NICU. surgery and geriatrics by US News & World awareness over the next Report. Lenox Hill was also named one of the few days, David encouraged top five hospitals in New York State. 4 Look North | Volume 1, 2020 LENOX HILL HOSPITAL Ready, willing and extraordinary Northwell answers the call with ingenuity and compassion When the US first heard about the novel At the forefront of New York State’s pandemic coronavirus, it was a world away. Few could see the response, Northwell Health has risen to the enormity of the health crisis that was coming. occasion — leading on the front lines and behind But Northwell Health was getting ready with the the scenes. We transformed areas in each of our necessary tools and talent to meet the challenge, hospitals to admit and care for Covid-19 patients, marshalling resources from across our service reimagining ways to deliver treatment while area. The health system’s emergency management safeguarding those who step up to care for patients. team quickly enacted guidelines and procedures to And we’re conducting research and clinical trials in identify and treat potential patients, and to protect search of new treatments. staff members. At our core, we are healers and look for hope among our heroes. Northwell.edu 5 LENOX HILL HOSPITAL Hope Huddles connect front-line nurses amid Covid-19 crisis A new program initiated by Emily Fawcett, RN, the daily meeting among emergency department nurses has provided closure and optimism after they treat coronavirus patients Emily Fawcett, RN, is a float nurse meeting of departing and arriving who also works on a Covid-19 unit. “I working on one of Lenox Hill Hospital’s nurses. Called a huddle, nurse leaders extubated a young man who, by the coronavirus (Covid-19) units. But she review cases and the events of the end of the day, was asking me out — so started a recent shift in the emergency prior shift to ensure smooth transition he’s doing OK.” department to help launch an initiative of patient care. But before digging Pinched between drawn curtains and that promises to provide positivity into the details, nurse manager Silvia a bustling nurse’s station, Ms. Fawcett to her fellow front-line health care Cota turned it over to Ms. Fawcett watched as her idea — spurred by workers — something she calls and another nurse working on a recent late-night group texts with her Hope Huddles. Covid-19 unit. friends in the emergency department — Shift changes in an emergency “We’ve had five extubations in the last took shape. department (ED) are marked by a quick few days,” said Catherine Chaplin, RN, See how the medical staff use Hope Huddles to share good news about their patients. 6 Look North | Volume 1, 2020 LENOX HILL HOSPITAL “We just want to say thank you,” said recovering — a side of the story want to be connected to the front-line Ms. Chaplan, closing out her portion of most nurses often don’t see or hear workers, and obviously they can’t be. So, the Hope Huddle. “You guys are doing about. And this dose of positivity they are finding ways to give us hope, an amazing job. We couldn’t do this and optimism is exactly what nurses, and give us strength. So I am hopeful. without one another, so stay safe, stay doctors and the entire staff need right All I can be right now is hopeful.” sane and thank you all.” now, Ms.