NYMC Faculty Honored as 2021 Healthcare Heroes by Westchester Magazine
The Annual Recognition Highlights Local Efforts and Community Outreach
Four New York Medical College (NYMC) faculty members were among 16 Healthcare Heroes selected by Westchester Magazine for 2021: from left, Traci Furbert Gardner, M.D. '98; Renee Garrick, M.D.; Sheila Nolan, M.D.; and Ammir R. Rabadi, M.D. On May 13, a virtual ceremony honored those in the health care industry who succeeded in the pandemic response or excelled despite the pandemic and its crippling effects on daily life.
“Congratulations to Drs. Gardner, Garrick, Nolan and Rabadi, on being named Healthcare Heroes,” said Jerry L. Nadler, M.D., MACP, FAHA, FACE, dean of the School of Medicine and professor of medicine and pharmacology. “We are exceedingly proud of these faculty members who, especially during this very difficult year, continue to distinguish themselves as clinicians, researchers and educators.”
Here’s a glimpse at the 2021 Healthcare Heroes of NYMC:
In addition to her duties as clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and director of community engagement at NYMC, Traci Furbert Gardner, M.D. '98, was lauded for her work as medical director and chief medical officer of The Children’s Village, a child welfare agency that houses children in Dobbs Ferry, New York—a role she took charge of in 2019. During the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Gardner mitigated COVID-19 exposures by separating children into groups, getting children tested and educating staff on vaccinations.
Renee Garrick, M.D., vice dean for Westchester Medical Center (WMC) and professor of clinical medicine, was praised for her work as executive vice president and chief medical officer for WMC. Boasting a 35-year career, Dr. Garrick worked with the New York State Department of Health State Hospital Review and Planning Council Planning Committee, where she fought for equitable access to dialysis for patients in New York. She was the driving force behind the creation of new clinical care teams and the development of procedures to care for patients with COVID-19.
In addition to her responsibilities as an assistant professor of pediatrics, Sheila Nolan, M.D., shined in her role as chief of pediatric infectious diseases and pediatric hospital epidemiologist at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital (MFCH) where she led the efforts to diagnose the growing number of cases of children with COVID-19 and severe inflammation of multiple organ systems. The findings at MFCH helped lead to the formal diagnosis of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), eventually being published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Ammir R. Rabadi, M.D., instructor of family and community medicine, also serves as chief physician of the Yonkers Public Schools system and led the effort to safely reopen the schools after the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close. Dr. Rabadi implemented several changes in the school system including videos and internet tutorials on social distancing that he created, an online symptom questionnaire for parents to complete for their children and kiosks to scan the temperatures of students and staff. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Rabadi, the school system was able to have its 27,000 students return to in-person class with a COVID-19 positivity rate of less than one percent.
