Albany Medical Center

Vo lu m e 8 N u m b er 6 | J U N E 2013

Albany Med

Today

Playing Important Roles in Medicine /pg. 2

known for our expertise. chosen for our care.

Hypertension Battle Waged on All Fronts The Albany Med Faculty Physicians group is embarking on a Quality Improvement Project to combat a “silent killer” that impacts more than one in three Americans and is a leading cause of strokes, heart attacks and other serious illnesses. The project to improve the treatment of high blood pressure is designed to reach every patient seen by Albany Med physicians — and every Albany Med employee. The goal is to enhance collaboration between Albany Med specialists and primary care doctors in the treatment of hypertension. An important part of the project will be encouraging employees to “know their numbers.” “Even though you can’t feel it, high blood pressure can truly cut people’s lives short,” said cardiologist Ferdinand Venditti, MD, vice dean for clinical affairs and head of the nearly 400-member Faculty Physicians practice. Dr. Venditti said that in 2012 the practice saw more than 22,000 patients with a diagnosis of hypertension and roughly 40 percent of them, including many people under age 40, had high blood pressure readings despite treatment.

“Sometimes higher readings can be due to nerves or the ‘white coat syndrome,’ but every reading above the norm of 120 over 80 is of concern and needs to be followed up on,” he said.

chief of Nephrology and Hypertension, good medications are available, and blood pressure can be controlled with lifestyle changes.

As part of the project, doctors and their staff will be working to ensure prompt notification of primary care physicians when inadequately controlled hypertension is found. The plan is to work with primary care physicians on a coordinated treatment plan. Dr. Venditti said bringing the numbers down by even five or 10 points can make a dramatic difference in an individual’s risk of stroke or heart attack. According to Arif Asif, MD,

“Control your weight, exercise, eat sensibly, including cutting down on salt — which is hidden in high doses in prepared foods — limit alcohol and don’t smoke,” Dr. Asif said. The project is being led by the Practice Quality Committee, made up of more than 20 physicians, nurses and staff from many parts of the practice. “We want our community to know that when they visit us here at Albany Medical Center, we are paying attention to this important preventable and treatable condition,” Dr. Venditti said.

Albany Med by the numbers

Know Your Numbers Albany Med’s Worksite Health Planning Group is encouraging employees, students, patients and visitors to be informed on key indicators of health — in short, Know Your Numbers Make it a point to discuss these numbers and ways to adopt a healthier lifestyle with your primary care physician.

130/80

117 mg/dL

For more information, go to www.amc.edu/ workplacewellness.

15%

Key indicators of your health include: Blood pressure Total cholesterol Blood sugar Body Mass Index (BMI) Body fat percentage

240 mg/dL

Getting Around Number of patient vehicles parked by valets, 2012: 126,527

Outpatient visits, 2012: 549,546

Patient transports within the hospital, 2012: 108,181 Patient admissions, 2012: 34,623

Maximum number of helicopters on rooftop helipad at any given time: 2

Patient Safety and Clinical Competency Center (PSCCC)

Playing Important Roles in Medicine

The standardized patients of the Patient Safety and Clinical Competency Center look at their role — and roles — in different ways. Here they are, photographed in character, explaining why they enjoy their work. Lisa Taub, Retired fifth grade teacher, Delmar Dr. Mara McErlean shows how standardized patient encounters are monitored in the PSCCC’s sophisticated control room.

New Patient Safety Director:

Training Behind the Quality Care When Mara McErlean, MD, a former chair of emergency medicine at Albany Med, became director of the Patient Safety and Clinical Competency Center (PSCCC) this spring, she discovered that one of the most important elements of the Center’s approach was not just the extraordinary technology used to train doctors.

She was also impressed by the people who portray patients as part of teaching medical students and others. Her goal is to ensure that these “standardized patients” play a critical role in improving the quality of care for people throughout the region. The work of the standardized patients is to provide feedback and reactions that mannequins cannot give, which Dr. McErlean called an absolutely critical element of training all health care providers. “They create a plausibility that helps to elevate the realism and excitement of the situation,” Dr. McErlean explained. In addition to working with students, residents, nurse anesthetists, physician assistants and other allied health workers, the PSCCC uses model patients to train local emergency medical services providers, law enforcement personnel and emergency responders. Dr. McErlean hopes to expand simulation and standardized patient training into even more disciplines throughout the hospital and in the community. Recently, cases have been developed in which standardized patients work with simulation mannequins to play the role of a family member of an accident victim, or a loved one receiving a cancer diagnosis. “Through the Patient Safety Center, Albany Med is in the unique position to improve quality and patient safety and ensure medical competence throughout this entire region, and that is our goal,” Dr. McErlean said.

“I came to it looking at it as a teacher; that was my world before. I view it as helping the students achieve their dreams.” Favorite Portrayal:

Mother of dysfunctional teen Peter Sparano, retired state Public Service Commission administrator, Guilderland

“It’s interesting because of the variety of activities and cases. It’s worthwhile because you are taking brand-new medical students and getting them on their way.” Favorite Portrayal:

Recent widower Pat Cumiskey, retired Capital District Psychiatric Center administrative assistant, Latham

“The scenario is typical of an experience they will have in their first year of residency. They can experiment. It’s much better if they say something inappropriate to me. This is a safe and supportive environment.” Favorite Portrayal:

Wife of fatal accident victim Nancy Cury, retired elementary school teacher, Clifton Park

“(Doctors) need to be able to approach a patient in a good, compassionate way. They need to be responsive listeners. They need to take cues from patients. By practicing they learn to ask the right questions to get the right answers.” Favorite Portrayal:

Depressed woman Tim Barr, retired state Labor Department manager, Rotterdam

“Retirement should be about something totally different. I have always been energized in an educational environment. This allows me an opportunity to channel that energy and have an impact in the medical field.” Favorite Portrayal:

Migraine headache sufferer Alexandra Taffany, actress/student, Clifton Park “I graduated from NYU. I was a drama major, struggling in New York City. It started here as an acting job. Then I got jealous of the medical students: ‘I want to do that!’ I’m going to attend Buffalo Medical School in the fall. This job literally changed my life.” Favorite Portrayal:

Teen in distress 2 | Al ban y M e d T o day | j une 2 0 1 3

Albany Med’s Strength Comes From Its Pillars Six Albany Medical Center nurses were honored in May for excellence in patient care and leadership with the annual Pillars of Nursing Award — the highest nursing award bestowed by the Center. Mary Ellen Plass, RN, MS, CENP, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, noted the symbolism of naming the award after the distinctive pillars at the main entrance of Albany Med. “They are strong, and they hold up to any challenge,” she said. “This is what each and every nurse strives for daily.” The Pillars of Nursing Award recipients are (from left): Dan Dermott, RN, Cardio Pulmonary Surgery (CPS); Scott Wies, RN, Emergency Department; Kathy Purcell, RN, Department of HIV Medicine; Charles O’Donnell, CNS, Psychiatry; Angela Zambella, RN, BSN, Coronary Care Unit, and Susan Dillon, Nurse Manager, CPS/Vascular Intensive Care Unit.

Albany Med Receives Respiratory Award Albany Medical Center’s Cardiorespiratory Services and Pulmonary Function Labs is in rarified air, as it’s one of the select units in the nation to receive the Quality Respiratory Care Recognition Award for excellence in quality care.

Association for Respiratory Care indicates that Albany Medical Center’s respiratory therapists provide high-quality 24-hour service to treat severely ill and injured patients requiring respiratory care.

Albany Med is one of 19 hospitals in New York State to receive this national award — and among only 15 percent nationwide that gets honored.

“Recognition from your professional organization at the national level validates what the Albany Medical Center respiratory therapy staff brings to the table each and every day,” said Tim Carey, MS, RRT, manager of Cardiorespiratory Services and

The Department’s recognition as a Quality Respiratory Care Institution by the American

Pulmonary Function Labs. “Comparing Albany Medical Center against facilities across the United States speaks volumes about our staff and the quality of our interventions.” As the regional referral center for the Northeast, Albany Med offers a range of respiratory services. More than 95 percent of Albany Med’s respiratory therapists are “registered” (advanced practice), and most are both ACLS and PALS certified.

A Matter of Degrees at SPAC Did You know?

Albany Medical College commencement at SPAC.

Albany Medical College awarded more than 200 degrees at its May commencement ceremony at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Included were medical degrees, Master of Science degrees in Physician Assistant Studies, Nurse Anesthesiology and Bioethics, and doctoral degrees in Biomedical Science. Bruce Beutler, MD, a Nobel laureate credited with developing groundbreaking

methods to block the immune system’s inflammatory reaction, delivered the keynote address. Dr. Beutler was also a recipient of the 2009 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. For more photos, go to Albany Med’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ AlbanyMedicalCenter.

Did you know … James Salisbury, an 1850 graduate of Albany Medical College and a Civil War doctor, made a name for himself promoting a food dish he thought would thwart dysentery and other ailments that he attributed to poor diet? The entrée’s name: The Salisbury steak.

A l ban y M e d T o day | j un e 2013 | 3

ALTER EGO From Counting Rooms to Playing a Big One

Getrude Josiah is visited in Albany Med room by her friends from SICU: (from left) Assistant Nurse Manager Terri Marsh, RN, Nurse Manager Kathy Prairie, MS, FNP, and Mary Mtaskell-Amirault, ACNP.

Deirdre Michael (above) is Albany Medical Center’s coordinator of space management. Part of her job is calculating the square footage of each room in the Medical Center. There are a lot of big rooms.

“It’s definitely a completely different animal than what we are used to,” said Michael, of Delmar. “It’s not a stretch for us, but it’s a different realm. We are a regional chorus, and he is an international guy.”

But on June 13, she’s slated to play the biggest room in town — Times Union Center.

Michael, who has been at Albany Med for 14 years, has sung with Albany Pro Musica since 1996. She calls this upcoming performance “a pinnacle.”

Michael is a soprano in Albany Pro Musica. The noted regional choral group has been selected to sing background for wildly popular Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli when he plays the downtown arena.

“It’s just exciting,” Michael said. “It will be a wonderful opportunity to be in the presence of someone like him and sing.”

Fire Department Answers the Call Kidney patient Michele Geissler knows how tedious going through dialysis can be for adults and wanted to do something to help kids at Albany Med get through the process.

“When I came to the hospital for my yearly visit last January, they told me how much the kids were enjoying the games,” Michele Geissler said. “So I put a shout-out on Facebook to see if my friends had any used games we could add.” Immediately, she heard from several members of the Schenectady Fire Department from which she had retired. The firefighters collected nearly 40 Xbox games and a brand new Xbox gaming system to donate, helping children pass time during dialysis treatment. The system will also be shared within the Children’s Hospital. “We’re really happy to share these with you and hope they make your time here a little bit easier,” Capt. Don Mareno said during a recent visit to the dialysis unit to present the gifts and meet the children.

Lt. George Burns of the Schenectady Fire Department presents Nicholas, a pediatric dialysis patient, with a gift bag full of Xbox games.

She didn’t know that most of the help would come from a group of Schenectady firefighters. In 2011, Geissler and her teenage son Stephen decided to give kids in the Albany Med pediatric dialysis unit a new Xbox gaming system to help them pass the time. It turned out to be a hit. 4 | Al ban y M e d T o day | j une 2 0 1 3

“I should have known with these guys,” Geissler said of the firefighters. “You ask them for anything and they run with it.”

Co-worker Thanks Albany Med ‘Family’ She Barely Knows As the sole wage-earner in her family, Getrude Josiah feared the worst when she got sick last November and later diagnosed with leukemia. That is, until her Albany Medical Center co-workers stepped in. “I had lost hope. I was scared. But people cared,” said the 38-year-old mother of three who started working at Albany Med in March 2012. The people who cared were the staff of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) where Josiah worked for environmental services. The staff on D-3 North — nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners and others across the spectrum of job titles — donated money and vacation time, food, and even paid the rent for Josiah, a Liberian immigrant. Meanwhile, nurses and other staffers on D-4 East “adopted” the Josiah family for Christmas. “We love Getrude. She is family,” said SICU Nurse Manager Kathy Prairie, MS, FNP. “The staff wanted to help Getrude in any way possible during this difficult time.” At first Josiah didn’t understand when her boss told her she had checks waiting for her. She had only been on the job a short period of time — certainly not long enough to bank that much time off. She was overwhelmed when she realized what the nursing staff and others had done. Others are equally moved. “It represents the true spirit of Albany Med,” said Richard Sepulveda, director of environmental services. “When thinking about Albany Med, we talk about the excellent care that is provided to the patients. But what we often don’t hear is the phenomenal job we do of taking care of our own staff, too.” Josiah, still undergoing treatment, wells up at the thought of her co-workers’ generosity. “They stood by my side, and I don’t even really know them,” Josiah said. “They were so good to me that every time I think of it, I want to shed tears.”

Did You HEAR? Condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Howard S. Smith, MD, a longtime Albany Med anesthesiologist who died in May.

Nabeel Ali, right, shows Nick Zanello, CT/MRI manager, imaging software he developed that has the potential to aid in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Med Student’s Career Off to Fast Start He may only be ending his first year of medical school, but Nabeel Ali already has a prestigious research grant, a national award, a published article and two medical technology inventions on his resume. Working as a research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School while attending Albany Medical College, Ali has combined his passion for medicine with his undergraduate training in biomedical engineering to invent two types of cardiac imaging software with the potential to aid in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The first, designed to recognize high-risk plaques, earned Ali one of only 25 Medical Student Research Grants for 2013 awarded nationally by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Ali says the technology is significant because coronary artery disease, caused by the build-up of plaque in the arteries,

is the number one killer worldwide. “Radiologists can identify plaque while reviewing cardiac CT scans, but it takes a carefully trained eye,” he said. “I’ve developed an image analysis algorithm that can immediately and automatically identify the high-risk plaque that may otherwise be asymptomatic. It has the potential to be better than the human eye.” His other project gives values on how much blood a specific region of the heart is getting, an improvement over current imaging software that can detect whether or not the muscle has blood but not how much. This technology earned Ali the First Place Trainee Award from the Association of University Radiologists (AUR), and was selected over the work of residents and fellows throughout the country. In addition, Ali recently learned his work has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Academic Radiology.

Albany Prize Winners Honored

Barry Kogan, MD, chief of the Division of Urology, was recently elected presidentelect of the Society of University Urologists, and the Society for Pediatric Urology. He will serve one-year terms for those groups beginning in 2014. Douglas Cohn, DVM, director of Animal Resources, was selected to participate in an official National Institute of Health site visit, assisting in reviewing grants for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Guangchun Bai, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Center for Immunology & Microbial Disease, was invited to present a research poster at the 113th General Meeting of American Society for Microbiology, held in Denver. Lorraine Thibodeau, MD, director of undergraduate medical education and associate professor of emergency medicine, has been appointed president of the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine, the national organization representing medical student educators within the specialty of emergency and acute care medicine. Albany Med took part in the first NY CAP Research Alliance symposium. The alliance is designed to foster greater collaborations among Albany Med, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University at Albany to commercialize the results of scientific research.

Epilepsy Program:

Top Designation For the sixth consecutive year, Albany Medical Center’s Epilepsy and Human Brain Mapping Program has received a Level 4 designation, the highest designation offered by the prestigious National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC).

Janet D. Rowley, MD, and Brian J. Druker, MD, at a luncheon Candlelight Ceremony, part of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research celebration. Along with Peter C. Nowell, MD, the physicians were honored for their landmark research that helped transform the treatment of cancer.

“This achievement is a testament to the comprehensive, multi-disciplinary team approach we use to treat epilepsy patients here at Albany Medical Center,” said Anthony Ritaccio, MD, J. Spencer Standish professor of neurology and neurosurgery and director of the epilepsy and human brain mapping program. A l ban y M e d T o day | j un e 2013 | 5

Teen Working Hard on New Start A high school athlete, Lewie Perkinson is used to competing. So you wouldn’t think he’d be most proud of beating his doctor in a foot race down a hallway. But after surviving a cancerous brain tumor, spending five weeks in a coma and being confined to a wheelchair, the 18-year-old from Albany and all around him were overjoyed he’s moving again, even if it’s with a walker.

“We thought it was a just sinus infection,” said mom Chris Perkinson.

For a long time after being stricken “I felt like I was locked up. I couldn’t move,” Perkinson said after his Melodies Center hallway race with his oncologist, Joanne Porter, MD. “It feels good to be out doing what I used to do.”

The prognosis appeared dire. Chris Perkinson knew differently. “I could see it in his eyes. I knew there was something there.”

The 6-foot-2 Perkinson, who appeared on the recent Cares for Kids Radiothon, was a basketball and football player at Colonie High School. It was just before Christmas in 2011 that he first experienced a severe headache.

Radiothon Record

Weighing just 1 pound, 7 ounces at birth, JP Woodley (pictured) is now a happy and healthy 1-year-old. He and mom Michelle Woodley participated in the 2013 Cares for Kids Radiothon to benefit the Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center. The two-day event surpassed the $600,000 mark for the first time, raising $626,172 — an increase of more than 10 percent from 2012. The 15th annual Radiothon aired May 2-3 on News Talk 810 and 103.1 WGY and 99.5 The River.

Twelve hours after seeing the doctor for a “sinus infection,” Lewie Perkinson met David Semenoff, MD, for emergency brain surgery. Twelve hours later, he was in a coma and developed a pulmonary embolism.

And she was right. Slowly, he bounced back, thanks to the expert care of his physicians and nurses and his own hard work and refusal to quit. Now, through physical and speech therapy, a return to class at Colonie High School and help from a tutor, he is determined to work his body back in sync with his mind.

Lewie Perkinson, left, shown here racing Dr. Joanne Porter down the hospital hall, is in the competition of his life.

“I don’t give up,” Lewie Perkinson added. “I can do a lot of things now.” “The staff has been amazing — all of them.” Chris Perkinson said. “No one wants to be at a hospital, but if you have to be, Albany Med is the one.”

Three Albany Med PA Students Promoted as Role Models in advertisement by Holy Names

The Destination is Albany Med Here’s some math for you: The Center for Physician Assistant Studies at Albany Medical Center accepts only one out of every 23.5 applicants. That’s 895 applicants, 42 acceptances. And among those select few who were accepted, three — one out of 14 — went to the same high school: Academy of the Holy Names in Albany. Marin Riley, Taylor Pettit, and Stephanie Dufort, three Albany Med Class of 2015 PA students, are featured in a Holy Names

campaign titled “Where She Goes, Depends on Where She Starts.”

“It’s definitely exciting. It’s a very cool opportunity to give back to my high school,” said Riley, an Albany native who graduated from Holy Names in 2006, two years ahead of Pettit and Dufort.

“It’s also a great opportunity to promote Albany Med’s program and what PAs do.”

Donation/Transplant Center Honors The Center for Donation and Transplant recognized two individuals from Albany Med for their commitment to organ and tissue donation recently at its annual Education Day and Award Dinner. Michael Gruenthal, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurology, was named Health Care Practitioner of the Year. Amy Cooper, RN, assistant nurse manager in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, was named the Lyn LaBarre Nurse of the Year, bestowed in honor of the late Albany Med patient care service director and donation advocate who lost her life in an automobile accident in 2011. Dr. Michael Gruenthal and Amy Cooper.

6 | Al ban y M e d T o day | j une 2 0 1 3

One nominator called Dr. Gruenthal the “single most important physician leader for donation at Albany Med,” and Cooper was noted as a “champion nurse advocate whose leadership, compassion and care moves beyond the patient room to everyone who comes in contact with her.”

Vol. 8, No. 6 • June 2013 Albany Med Today is published monthly by the Department of Policy, Planning and Communications at Albany Medical Center. Comments and story suggestions can be directed to Mark McGuire, Manager of Publications, at (518) 262-3421 or [email protected].

Patient Pavilion Opening One Step Closer to Reality

ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER OFFICERS James J. Barba, JD President and Chief Executive Officer Steven M. Frisch, MD Executive Vice President of IDS and Hospital Systems General Director

Kim Fine Senior Vice President for Policy, Planning and Communications

William C. Hasselbarth Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Catherine Halakan Senior Vice President for Human Resources

George T. Hickman Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Gary J. Kochem Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Vincent Verdile, MD Dean and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Terri Cerveny Senior Vice President for Development Kenneth Colloton Senior Vice President, Center for Innovation John DePaola Executive Associate Dean and Chief Operating Officer, Albany Medical College Louis Filhour, RN Senior Vice President for Clinical Quality

Lee R. Hessberg Senior Vice President and General Counsel Noel Hogan Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer Dennis P. McKenna, MD Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Medical Director Bernadette Pedlow Senior VP for Hospital Business Services and Hospital Chief Operating Officer Mary Ellen Plass, RN Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Henry Pohl, MD Vice Dean for Academic Administration Ferdinand Venditti, MD Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs

In the last week of May Albany Medical Center’s 325,000-square-foot Patient Pavilion project achieved a major milestone. In construction vernacular it’s called “substantial completion.” In layman’s terms, it means the project now belongs to Albany Med — and is significantly closer to becoming the Center’s newest asset in providing expert and compassionate health care services to the region. “As related to the overall construction, the contractor has completed a majority of the work needed for Albany Med to take ownership of the building,”

said Don Stichter, Albany Med vice president of facility operations. The designation allows Albany Med’s engineering team to move forward with a precise plan for equipment installation, furniture delivery and cleaning beginning in the project’s basement, and completion of the fourth-floor neonatal intensive care unit. When completed the Patient Pavilion will meet the increasing medical needs of the region, providing 20 new operating rooms and more than 80 new private patient rooms.

On the Web Edward Philbin, MD,

chief of Cardiology, and Edward Bennett, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, are featured in a new video on Albany Med’s website: www.amc.edu/heart.

ALBANY MED

It’s spring @AlbanyMed. — via Twitter

To the wonderful nurses on D4 blood cancer unit. Always professional and compassionate not only to my son but his family also. You made a hard time easier and I will always be grateful.

OR nurses at AMC rock! You all are awesome. Thanks so much for all you do.

Join the conversation: www.facebook.com/AlbanyMedicalCenter, @AlbanyMed, and youtube.com/ albanymedicalcenter

Here is a sampling of responses on the Albany Med Facebook page commenting on National Nurses Day/Week: My 3 NICU babies (one was there 6 mos.) are 11 and Healthy. Thank you AMC NICU! Can’t wait to see the new digs!

I would like to recognize and honor ER nurse Patrick Pulver who cared for my father ... with the utmost level of dignity, sensitivity, and professionalism.

To every nurse in the ER, PACU, and PICU who cared for my son last February! Every single one of you gave him top notch care and made a very scary experience easier on all of us. You all really went above and beyond and I wish I remembered your names. After being sent there from a smaller hospital I could really see the difference in the level of care available at Albany Med and will definitely make the drive if one of my children is ever seriously ill again.

A l ban y M e d T o day | j un e 2013 | 7

Albany Medical Center Foundation 43 New Scotland Avenue (Mail Code 119) Albany, New York 12208 (518) 262-3322 Fax (518) 262-4769 Email: [email protected] www.amc.edu Change Service Requested

Albany Med Team Shows Some Heart and Soles

At the heart of Albany Med’s recordbreaking participation in the American Heart Association’s Annual Heart Walk in May was cardiologist Sulagna Mookherjee, MD, (center, kneeling in Yankees cap), leading her team “Mook’s Heart and Soles.” Along with Mary Carey, RN, Shirley Myers, RN, and Bonnie Peterson, Dr. Mookherjee

spearheaded Team Albany Med’s most successful Heart Walk campaign ever — raising a record $28,147, nearly three times more than last year. The team signed up 155 walkers, about five times more than last year and more than any organization or institution participating in the event. Albany Med also topped the list of organizational

support, outpacing the nearest challenger by almost three times. Dr. Mookherjee even enlisted John Nigro, a member of Albany Med’s board of directors, chairman of the Lifeline campaign and 2013 Heart Walk chair, to walk the three-mile course at The Crossings in Colonie with “Mook’s Heart and Soles.”

Mary T. Wilkes a Grateful All-Star Albany Medical Center named Mary T. Wilkes, a practice administrator in the Department of Emergency Medicine, as an Albany Med All-Star for her selfless attention to customer service and co-workers. Here is Wilkes, in her own words, on what makes Albany Med a great place to work:

time we had endless support from our colleagues, from PL time donated and food delivered to providers literally spending the night at my house so that I could sleep. And then when I went to pay for the funeral services I was told that everything was already paid for by a few individuals at Albany Med.

I work with such smart, compassionate and caring individuals who have supported me and my family in so many ways. This is not just as a co-worker but as a person. Most people who know me know that my husband Brian (who works in PBS) and I had a daughter who passed away in 2008. During that

I can’t tell you how difficult this time was for us, but there was not a single thing that our Albany Med community was not willing to do to help to make the situation a little better. This compassion and thoughtfulness can also be seen daily in how they care for and treat their patients.