News from the University Hospital at Downstate | January 2022

A Message from David H. Berger, MD, MHCM, FACS
CEO of University Hospital at Downstate

Last month we took a major step in our transformation that began with the unveiling of Downstate’s new brand, new logo, and website. The Downstate Rebranding Initiative was developed with the intention of honoring and accurately memorializing Downstate’s history and legacy.

We combined our rebranding efforts into the one word we feel captures the spirit of Downstate and that is “Ingenuity.” It is ingenuity that captures our inventive resourcefulness, our ability to take on challenges and make major contributions to medicine. One of the most dramatic and visible components of our rebrand is the launch of our new website. The new design and layout is a modern design created to accommodate user-friendly navigation. 

In addition to the new institutional logo, we have also launched a sub-brand for the hospital and our numerous clinical sites. All our clinical offerings will be streamlined under one cohesive name – Downstate Health. This coincides with our vision to streamline our clinical offerings under one cohesive sub-brand. As we continue our journey with We Care, the initiative towards becoming a High-Reliability Organization (HRO), the new brand will highlight our hospital’s Vision to be the Best Place to Get Care and the Best Place to Give Care. 

Below you will see some examples of our new naming convention for the clinical arm of our institution:

University Hospital of Brooklyn – University Hospital at Downstate

Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn – Downstate Children’s Pavilion

SUNY Downstate Bay Ridge – Downstate Hospital – Bay Ridge

UHB Family Health Services Lefferts – Downstate Family Health Center

Center for Health Services – Midwood – Downstate Ophthalmology Center

SUNY Parkside Dialysis Center – Downstate Dialysis Center

University Physicians of Brooklyn – Downstate University Physicians

It will take us some time to fully implement the new brand and create this transformative milestone. This will empower us to educate, discover, heal, and empower as the leaders of diverse, culturally competent clinical care and serve as a model for health equity.  

Celebrating Our Radiographic Technologists at Downstate

National Radiologic Technology Week was recently celebrated from November 7^th through the 13^th. During this week, we commemorate the discovery of the X-Ray by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen on November 8, 1895. This year, we honored our Radiographic Technologists and recognized their essential work with a special luncheon held on November 10.

Downstate would like to thank our Radiographic Technologists for their outstanding work over the course of the year and look forward to seeing more amazing accomplishments in 2022. Below are some pictures from our National Radiologic Technology Week event.

Honoring our Pastoral Care Staff

At Downstate, we wish to recognize our Pastoral Care Staff and the importance of faith-based care as well as the spiritual advisors who provide it through professional chaplaincy and pastoral counseling. Our trained professionals minister to the needs of persons of all faiths or none. They practice in our hospital and as we continue to battle through this pandemic, their efforts are more important than ever.

Our spiritual advisors have overcome challenges in order to continue maintaining a personal connection with patients during these most challenging times. They quickly altered their services, to facilitate prayers, scripture readings, and spiritual counseling, so that they may continue serving as vessels of hope amid devastating grief, for patients, colleagues, and families.

The comfort, healing, and strength each of you extend to our patients, their families, healthcare providers, and all of us who seek your council is invaluable and appreciated beyond measure. We want to thank our Pastoral Care Team sincerely for being there in a time that we need them most.

Accolades from the NYCDOH Maternity Hospitals Quality Improvement Network

We are ecstatic to announce that the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has been recognized by the NYCDOH Maternity Hospitals Quality Improvement Network. The Department was awarded in Participation and Community Engagement. This honor goes to them for their continued efforts to incorporate the voices of those impacted the most by poor maternal health outcomes. They have done a tremendous amount of work in engaging Brooklyn residents to improve their overall and reproductive health, and address chronic disease management and prevention for birthing persons in NYC.

In addition, one of our physicians, Dr. Christina Pardo, has also been rewarded as a “Birth Justice Champion”. This award goes to individuals who encouraged change at their institution for just, respectful, and dignified care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, and stood at the forefront for these efforts. Congratulations to the whole team at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for their efforts in quality improvement. We anticipate many wonderful accomplishments from them in 2022.

Employee of the Month for December – Sherila Walls

Ms. Sherila Walls, who works in the Department of Health Information Management, provides exemplary service to our internal and external customers. Her consistent positive attitude has made a huge difference when collaborating with Billing.

Her expertise about the Microsoft System and other systems has provided us with valuable insight, which helped grow and push our team’s objectives forward. When asked to fill out the scope of her role, she always goes above and beyond the call of duty. Ms. Walls can always be counted on to support fellow staff at Downstate. Three cheers for Ms. Walls on becoming our current Employee of the Month.