Fourth Chance at Life - Winthrop University Hospital

Winter/Spring • 2011Winthrop Honors Tireless Commitmentof its Volunteers and AuxiliansDay after day, Winthrop receives accoladespraising the wonderful works of itsdedicated auxilians and senior volunteers.These remarkable individuals share theirprecious time and special talents for thebenefit of others, and their compassionateand giving spirits resonate with themission of Winthrop.Recently, the Hospital hosted a SeniorVolunteer Awards Luncheon along withthe 86th Annual Meeting of the WinthropAuxiliary to pay honor to this dynamicgroup of individuals. In addition toacknowledging over 150 volunteers fortheir impressive service milestones, specialrecognition was offered to Winthrop’sAuxilian and Volunteers of the Year.20 CornerstoneWinthrop Auxilianof the YearAngela WilliamsUsing her special talents as a florist in theWilliston Park area as just one of the waysin which she is able to give back, AngelaWilliams, one of the founding members ofWings of Winthrop – a branch of theHospital’s Auxiliary, which also includes theTwigs of Winthrop – graciously volunteersher time and resources each year to conducta Holiday Centerpiece Workshop. TheWorkshop enables participants to learn newways to make holiday floral arrangements,while raising funds for the Hospital.“It gives me great joy to be able to giveback to the community,” said Ms. Williams.“We are pleased to recognize AngelaWilliams as the Auxilian of the Year inrecog nition of her dedication to Winthrop,her countless hours of selfless volunteerservice, and her extraordinary dedication tothose in the community who need hospitalcare,” said Veronica Renken, President ofthe Auxiliary and member of the Hospital’sBoard of Directors.Winthrop Volunteersof the YearRobert & Patricia GordonFor Robert and Patricia Gordon, themotivation behind donating their timeand energies to the Hospital’s Child LifeProgram is two-fold. The couple, who firstbegan volunteering in 2005, not onlyenjoys being involved with a program thatis dedicated to helping children take theirminds off of being in the hospital, butholds dear the opportunity to honor thelegacy of their daughter, who they tragic -ally lost to cancer at the age of 23.“Our daughter had a passion for workingwith children, and we are carrying on forher,” said Mr. Gordon, who holds a PhD inElectrical Engineering and teaches mathematicsthrough the University of Phoenix.“It’s truly rewarding for us to be withthe children and to see the smiles on theirfaces,” added Mrs. Gordon, an accomplishedwriter and author of Transitionsand Memories.Each week, the couple, who recentlycelebrated 50 years of marriage, spendstime visiting with patients and distributingtoys in the Child Life Activity Center inthe Hospital’s Hagedorn Pediatric InpatientCenter. The couple also visits patients whoare unable to leave their rooms to ensuretheir requests for toys or games are met.“The Gordons are truly an asset toour department and we appreciate allthey’ve done to help make our patients’time in the hospital just a little bit easier,”said Nicole Almeida, MS, CCLS, Directorof the Child Life Program at Winthrop.For additional information about theWinthrop Auxiliary or Senior Volunteeropportunities (ages 18 and older) at theHospital, please call1-866-WINTHROP. ■Winthrop’s Top DoctorsWinthrop-University Hospital takes great pride in the vast talent of its dynamicmedical team and was pleased to recognize more than 80 physicians who were named“Top Doctors” in the last edition of Cornerstone. However, due to incomplete informationprovided by an outside source, the following six physicians were inadvertentlyleft out of the article:Kaveh Alizadeh, MDPlastic SurgeryVincent DiGregorio, MDAlex Keller, MDPlastic SurgeryJohn Pile-Spellman, MDWilliam Reed, MDSurgeryScott Wells, MDPlastic SurgeryNeuro RadiologyPlastic SurgeryCongratulations to these physicians, who were among the 88 Winthrop physiciansnamed to Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors: New York Metro Area’s 13th edition, and thankyou all for your commitment to excellence in academic medicine and research andsuperior patient care.