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Dear Colleagues,I’m pleased to announce that Dignity Health - Northridge Hospital Medical Center has received national recognition in numerous specialties from Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. Notably, Northridge Hospital was honored as One of America’s Best Hospitals for Prostate Surgeries™ in , and received the Stroke Care Excellence Award™, the Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for the sixth consecutive year, and the Critical Care Excellence Award™ for the thirteenth consecutive year. We also received nine ve-star ratings in the areas of cardiac care, neurosciences, pulmonary care, vascular care, gastrointestinal care and critical care.Here is a complete list of Northridge Hospital’s achievements.•One of Healthgrades America’s Best Hospitals for Prostate Surgeries™ in •Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure for Years in a Row -•Five-Star Recipient for Pacemaker Procedures in •Recipient of the Healthgrades Stroke Care Excellence Award™•Named Among the Top in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke in •Named Among the Top in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke in DIGNITY HEALTH – NORTHRIDGE HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTERKEEPING PHYSICIANS ABREAST OF THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATIONNOVEMBER DECEMBER Medical DialogueHealthgrades Recognizes Northridge Hospital in Numerous Specialtiescontinued on page 2Medical Dialogue.Jeremy Grosser,MD Medical Staff PresidentNHMC Receives “A’ Safety Grade from LeapfrogWe’re pleased to share that once again, Northridge Hospital received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade for fall from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprot upholding the standard of patient safety. This national distinction celebrates Northridge Hospital’s achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting patients from preventable harm and errors. Thank you to all of our physicians for prioritizing patient safety. Your diligence helped make this award a reality!
2 Northridge Hospital Medical Dialogue.•Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Stroke in •Recipient of the Healthgrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for Years in a Row -•Named Among the Top in the Nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for Years in a Row -•Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for Years in a Row -•Five-Star Recipient for Carotid Procedures in •Five-Star Recipient for Colorectal Surgeries for Years in a Row -•Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Bowel Obstruction for Years in a Row -•Recipient of the Healthgrades Critical Care Excellence Award™ for Years in a Row -•Named Among the Top in the Nation for Critical Care for Years in a Row -•Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Sepsis for Years in a Row -•Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia for Years in a Row -To identify top-performing hospitals, Healthgrades evaluated patient mortality and complication rates for of the most common conditions and procedures at nearly hospitals across the country. Thank you to all of our physicians for your commitment to providing the exceptional care that made these awards possible. Stay tuned for another outstanding top honor to be announced soon!Healthgrades continued from page CLABSI MilestoneRecently, during Infection Prevention Week, NHMC celebrated a record consecutive days without a single case of Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection CLABSI! This tremendous accomplishment was due to unsurpassed collaboration by the NHMC Medical Sta with Nursing, Laboratory, and Infection Prevention. When this work was presented at the National Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology APIC Annual Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Florida, envious infection preventionists and nurses from around the United States asked about our secret to success. “It’s our doctors and the people who make this possible,” Silva Ohanian Director Infection Prevention and Tiany Pessy, RN Director ICU, told their peers. Specically, the NHMC Medical Sta is always eager to adopt leading, evidence-based practices like a structured diagnostic stewardship program. This includes avoiding both the femoral insertion site and continuation of lines when placed quickly in the Emergency Department. Because central lines and CLABSIs are most frequently encountered in the ICU, special recognition is earned by Dr. Hamid Nasseri and Dr. Ali Atabaki for coordinating both their critical care group and the multidisciplinary rounds held daily in the ICU. Finally, as Chair of our Infection Control Committee, Dr. John Li ensures the alignment of our eorts with the guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America IDSA and has been instrumental to our success. “These daily, behind-the-scenes heroes are a big reason NHMC has become a Leapfrog Grade A, CMS Star hospital,” said Mark Dumais, MD, CMO. “Minimizing hospital acquired infections is hugely impactful for our patients, who all want to be kept safe in the hospital. Accordingly, it also plays a signicant role in our hospital’s publicly reported measures.”Our clinical team celebrates 448 days with zero CLABSIs
Northridge Hospital Medical Dialogue 3.Public Service Loan Forgiveness Physicians have an opportunity to take part in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness PSLF program, which forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans. To be eligible, you must have made qualifying payments on your Direct Loans while working at least hours per week at a non-prot health care facility, including Northridge Hospital.This PSLF opportunity is retroactive to . You can le annually or after payments have been made. If you don’t have the right type of loans, you must consolidate your loans by December , into Direct Consolidation Loans to be eligible.Get More Info on PSLFYou can nd more information on the California Medical Associate website at www.cmadocs.org, where webinar recordings and slides are available. CMA members can log on to view webinar slides by scanning the QR code.“Helping Hands Holiday Jam” Event for ChildrenThe Northridge Hospital Foundation and Northridge Hospital Medical Center are excited to host the rd Annual “Helping Hands Holiday Jam” for nearly underserved children. Thank you to the volunteers from NHMC and the community who donate time, money and products to make this event a success.“Helping Hands Holiday Jam”December 8, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.Northridge Hospital Medical Center(in the parking lot behind the Pavilion Plaza, adjacent to Cantara St.)Team Building on the Soccer FieldThanks to all of our physicians who joined us for the most recent soccer game this past September. The Wellness and Activities Committee organizes two soccer games annually, usually in March and September, for physicians and sta to have fun, promote wellness and do some team building.Physician players in our recent game included Juan M. Alcantar, MD, Ali Atabaki, MD, Jeremy Grosser, MD, Armen Hagopjanian, DPM, Michael Jaso, DO, James F. Kayvanfar, MD, Mahdi Paridari, MD, and Hamid Sadeghi, MD. Thanks to the Wellness and Activities Committee for coordinating these games to build physician and sta camaraderie and provide an opportunity for social time outside of our workplace.
4 Northridge Hospital Medical Dialogue.18300 Roscoe Boulevard, Northridge, CA 91325CALL FOR ARTICLES: We encourage members of the Northridge Hospital Medical Staff to submit information or articles for publication in the Medical Dialogue. Please contact Tracie Gipson, Editor, at (818) 522-4574 or Tracie.Cheesemangipson@CommonSpirit.org.MEDICAL STAFF OFFICERSJeremy Grosser, MDMedical Staff PresidentUthaiah Kokkalera, MDPresident-ElectLeo Kassabian, MDSecretaryMichael Damavandi, DOTreasurerEDITORIAL TEAMMark Dumais, MD, MBA, FACPChief Medical OfficerNina HirschDirector, Medical Staff ServicesChristina ZicklinMedical Dialogue Executive EditorTracie GipsonMedical Dialogue EditorDesiree GarciaMarket Development RepresentativePriscilla BourbonnaisMarket Development RepresentativeWelcome New Physicians to the Northridge Hospital FamilyAnesthesiologyCarlos Miranda, MDCardiovascular DiseaseJay Patel, MDEmergency MedicineTianci Liu, MDJaee Tamhane, DOFrank Tarn, DOBrandon Wang, MDFamily MedicineJoni Zapata, MDNephrologyJerey Chow, DONeurology (Remote Intraoperative Monitoring)Thomas Hirschauer, MDOB/GYNChristine Averill, MDOphthalmologySangeeta Logani, MDOrthopedic SurgeryTheodore Shybut, MDOrthopedic Surgery (SCOI Fellow)Francis Bustos, MDConnor Delman, MDBrandon Grooms, MDBrandon Nudelman, MDPediatricsKristofer-Myles Lopez, MDPodiatric MedicineJoseph Abdelmalak, DPMDaniel Bingham, DPMAnthony Samaan, DPMAlexandria Stern, DPMRadiologyDanylo Kihiczak, MDSarah Raza, DOJohn Stewart, MDMichael Swikehardt, MDThoracic SurgeryGreg Haro, MDHappy HolidaysWishing you and your loved ones a festive and joyous holiday season sprinkled with humankindness and love.Physicians in the NewsThank you to our physicians who were recently featured in local media stories.Diana Lev, MD, Family Medicine, was featured in the Valley News Group publications in a story about COVID-, inuenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which are on the rise.Rishma Chand, MD, Pediatrics, was featured on 102.7 KIIS FM iHeartRadio where she encouraged parents to stay-up-to-date on their children’s wellness visits.