Our Initiatives
Our Quality Care Program
The NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Emergency Department has a robust patient safety and quality improvement program. Physician leaders are dedicated to overseeing these efforts at all of NewYork-Presbyterian’s Emergency Departments. They are part of a collaborative multidisciplinary team, which includes hospital leadership, nursing and physician assistant leaders, resident physician leadership, and patient services. Together, they work on initiatives and programs to keep our patients, loved ones, and employees safe.
Vulnerable Elder Protection Team
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell has launched the Vulnerable Elder Protection Team, a first-of-its-kind multidisciplinary team based in the Emergency Department. The team operates similar to child protection teams. It is available 24 hours a day/seven days a week to assess, treat, and ensure the safety of victims of elder abuse and neglect while collecting evidence and working closely with the authorities.
The Vulnerable Elder Protection Team increases the identification and reporting of cases. When abuse or neglect is detected, the team is activated by a single call. The team has a close partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS). EMS workers, can identify potential elder abuse or neglect victims in the field and transport victims to our ED for additional evaluation.
The Vulnerable Elder Protection Team has also developed partnerships with Adult Protective Services and other community agencies to perform medical assessments in the ED for their clients who have medical or safety emergencies.
For more information on this program, visit the Elder Abuse website.
DiversifiED
The Department of Emergency Medicine is proud to be the home of the diversity and inclusion committee DiversifiED. The committee was formed in late 2019 as a learning platform where our staff can discuss diverse perspectives and support one another. The committee touches on complex social issues including social determinants of health and disparities that affect our communities and staff members. As we strive to deliver high quality and competent care to all of our patients, DiversifiED provides the educational foundation for diversity and inclusion in our ED.
Global Health Initiatives
Global Health Partnership
Dr. Radhika Sundararajan is a medical anthropologist and an emergency physician in the Center for Global Health and the Division of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. He works in sub-Saharan Africa to design and implement culturally appropriate and effective interventions to improve health outcomes among the world's most vulnerable communities.
Through partnerships with Mbarara University of Science and Technology of Uganda and the National Institute of Medical Research of Tanzania, Dr. Sundararajan is working with 'traditional healers' to expand HIV testing. In these regions, traditional healer services are used in place of or with Western medicine. Since implementing the program, Dr. Sundararajan's team of trained traditional healers has tested 350 patients with 5 percent being newly diagnosed as HIV-positive, and 90 percent of those patients successfully linked to HIV care within 90 days.
In Tanzania, Dr. Sundararajan is also working in collaboration Weill-Bugando Medical Center to improve emergency care through research and education. Weill-Bugando is a major regional hospital serving a catchment area of 18 million people, or one-third of Tanzania's total population. However, the country only has one Emergency Medicine training program and only 32 specialty-trained physicians.
In cooperation with Weill Cornell faculty, Dr. Sundararajan initiated a collaborative program to expand emergency medicine training at Weill-Bugando for all clinical staff through teleconferencing, exchanges programs, and direct bedside teaching. In 2020, Weill-Bugando will prepare to launch the second Emergency Medicine residency program in Tanzania.
Lebanon Needs
Dr. Josyann Abisaab is a founding member of Lebanon Needs, a humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Lebanon that assists impoverished populations affected by the deepening economic and financial crisis in the country. The non-profit organization provides free prescription drugs based on digital databases developed for lower-cost generics and subsidizes emergency lab tests and imaging. They also assist patients through an extensive mapping of healthcare services and referral networks and by conducting medical missions in underserved areas. To learn more, please visit the Lebanon Needs website.