Two distinguished leaders in the healthcare community will be honored by Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester (VNSW) at its 17th Annual Spring Benefit Gala on May 12 at the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison.
A long-standing and celebrated tradition on the Westchester County springtime social calendar, the benefit will recognize the generous spirit of healthcare innovator and visionary Frank A. Corvino, chairman of the Greenwich Hospital Foundation; and Dr. Sumir Sahgal, a champion of leveraging healthcare information technologies to enhance care for chronically-ill homebound patients.
The festive evening will also showcase the important work of VNSW and inspire giving to support its high-quality home health and community healthcare services.
Michael Gargiulo, news anchor at NBC4 New York, will serve as emcee. In addition to the awards ceremony, the event will feature a spectacular silent auction, gourmet dinner, and decadent desserts.
“This year’s honorees exemplify the collaboration across the spectrum of healthcare organizations that is necessary to improve healthcare for all in our region,” said Timothy P. Leddy, interim president and chief executive officer, VNSW. “Both Frank Corvino and Dr. Sumir Sahgal, and their respective organizations, are valued partners of VNSW. It is our privilege to express our heartfelt thanks to them for helping us fulfill our mission of providing the highest level of care to patients, their families, and caregivers in the comfort of their own homes.”
Proceeds from VNSW’s Gala will support a wide range of programs for residents of Westchester, the Bronx, Dutchess, Putnam and Rockland counties. These include free health screenings, health education programs focusing on preventative care and chronic disease management, and home care services for uninsured and under-insured patients. Community funding is critical, says Leddy, as these services are not reimbursed by government or other funding sources.
“Healthcare today is vastly different than it was 15 or 20 years ago,” said Leddy. “With fewer and shorter hospital stays for many patients, we are experiencing a greater need for home healthcare throughout our entire service area. We invite residents of Westchester and adjacent communities to join us on May 12 to recognize the contributions of our honorees and to celebrate our 100+ years of service to the region.”
The gala is co-chaired by Mahopac resident Debra Swee, communications consultant and VNSW board member, and Michael Wilson, co-owner, Wilson & Son Jewelers of Scarsdale and Mt. Kisco, and resident of Stamford, CT. Tickets for the event, which takes place on May 12 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison, may be purchased for $300 each at www.vns.org. For information on Sponsorship Opportunities, Journal Ads or contributions to the Silent Auction, please contact Joyce Infante, Director of Development, at [email protected] or (914) 682-1480, ext. 649.
About the Honorees
Frank A. Corvino, recipient of the VNSW Distinguished Service Award, is chairman of the Greenwich Hospital Foundation and recently retired president and chief executive officer of Greenwich Hospital.
Mr. Corvino joined the hospital in 1988 as senior vice president and chief operating officer. During his 25-year leadership, the hospital experienced unprecedented growth, including the opening of two major buildings that completely replaced the main Greenwich Hospital campus. Mr. Corvino is known as a healthcare innovator in areas including patient safety, wellness programs, care for the aging and the greening of hospitals.
A staunch patient advocate, Mr. Corvino instituted a culture of service excellence at Greenwich that garnered the hospital five consecutive Press Ganey Summit Awards, the nation’s leader in healthcare satisfaction measurement. Mr. Corvino is a healthcare reform advocate and has presented his views on talk shows on CNBC and Fox Business, among others, and published articles in national papers and digital outlets, including the Hearst newspapers and Executive Insight. Prior to his start at Greenwich Hospital, Mr. Corvino was executive vice president at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center in Bronx, NY. He received his undergraduate degree in Pharmacy at Fordham University and completed his graduate training at St. John’s University. Mr. Corvino is the recipient of numerous local and national awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, the Grassroots Champion Award from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the 2013 Outstanding Business Leader award from the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce.Sumir Sahgal, MD, recipient of the VNSW Community Leadership Award, is a board-certified internist and serves as chief medical officer of Essen Medical Associates, P.C., a comprehensive multi-specialty medical group with seven offices in Bronx, NY; and EssenMED House Calls, a physician-based house call service caring for chronically-ill homebound patients living in New York City and Westchester. Celebrated for his leadership in health IT, he was inducted in 2013 into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inaugural class of Health Information Technology Fellows, and was honored with the New York Health IT Practice Champion award by the New York eHealth Collaborative in October 2012. Leveraging the use of HIT by arming providers with electronic health records, Dr. Sahgal launched EssenMed House Calls in 2005 to extend primary care services beyond office walls and into patient homes. EssenMed House Calls is now the largest private practice-based medical house call program in the state of New York, and a critical component of reducing avoidable hospitalization and visits to emergency rooms. The organization also partners with VNSW and local hospitals to provide interim care services necessary for patients who have been discharged from the hospital. A graduate of Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India, Dr. Sahgal completed his Internal Medicine Residency training program at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, and earned a master’s degree in health policy and management from New York University. Dr. Sahgal currently serves as the chief medical officer of Balance Accountable Care Organization and is a leader and member of several medical societies and organizations.
Founded in 1901, VNS Westchester is the largest independent not-for-profit, Medicare-certified home healthcare agency in Westchester, also serving residents of the Bronx, Dutchess, Putnam and Rockland counties. The agency provides skilled nursing with case management, rehabilitation therapies, medical social work and home health aide services to people of all ages, and offers a wide range of specialty care programs, and free community health education for the public and healthcare professionals. VNS Westchester’s services consistently meet the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) National Standards of Excellence for Homecare, and it is recognized for having one of the lowest preventable hospital readmission rates in the region. The agency works closely with other healthcare providers, with its Home Health Care Liaisons on-site at over 85 healthcare facilities to aid with discharge planning and safe patient transitions to the home care setting. The agency is based in White Plains, with a branch office in Brewster in Putnam County. For more information, call 914-682-1480 or visit www.vns.or