News Byte: 色界吧 Faculty, Alumni Participate in Long Island Healthcare Forum
On April 11, 色界吧 faculty and alumni were well represented among the leading voices on Long Island in a healthcare-focused event produced by聽Long Island Business News.听Patrick O鈥橲haughnessy (D.O. 鈥�99), president and chief executive officer of Catholic Health and a member of the Board of Trustees at 色界吧, served as keynote speaker and addressed the topic of food insecurity in patients.听
Speakers on a number of panels addressed topics relating to Long Island鈥檚 place in the epicenter of healthcare research and innovation. A 色界吧 panel, moderated by聽Gordon Schmidt, Ph.D., FACSM, dean of the School of Health Professions, focused on聽Workforce Development:聽Shaping the Next Generation of Healthcare Workers. Featured panelists included聽, assistant dean of student affairs and associate professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine;聽John Karaptis (B.S.鈥�03), administrative director of Surgical Services and Digestive Disease at New York-Presbyterian Queens, and聽Djimmetry Jean-Louis (B.S. 鈥�15), a nurse manager with Northwell Health.听
鈥淪ometimes we find that the need for employees does not meet the availability,鈥� said Schmidt. 鈥淚t鈥檚 estimated there are probably 500,000 employees still needed in healthcare and, possibly because of the pandemic, we see that this is more critical than ever.鈥�
When it comes to physician assistants, Karaptis noted the demand is sure to increase. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing now in some of the ancillary areas of healthcare, particularly with respiratory therapy and anesthesia technicians, there is a severe shortage for these positions in hospitals and it鈥檚 a very big problem. There are not enough training programs and the current training programs aren鈥檛 large enough, so that is an area that鈥檚 going to have to be looked at.鈥�
Jean-Louis noted that nurses now have the upper hand in negotiating their salaries, and the industry is seeing a shortage when it comes to the ancillary staff. And that鈥檚 why more health systems are looking to employ nursing assistants.
One big change in healthcare education, said McMahon, is that medical residency programs have picked up on the importance of cultural competence. 鈥淚 can see it certainly with our students; that they see the importance of that cultural competence.鈥�
about the forum.
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