New York Hospital Queens Partners with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to Improve Heath Care in Greece

FLUSHING, N.Y., Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York Hospital Queens has been awarded a $500,000 grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.  Funds will support the Hellenic American Emergency Medicine Exchange (HAEME) Fellowship for the next five years through 2015.  Each year, NYHQ will train four physicians from Greece on critical aspects of emergency medicine.  This will allow them to provide a higher quality of care to their patients when they return to Greece.

As a community teaching hospital, NYHQ has a long and successful history of training physicians from all over the world.  Queens is one of the most diverse communities in the U.S. and is home to a large number of people of Greek descent, which includes many NYHQ medical staff members and patients.  Our graduate medical education program includes a fully accredited emergency medicine residency-training program.  NYHQ is a designated Level I Trauma Center that is fully equipped and staffed to manage life-threatening injuries.  Last year, 115,000 people were treated through the emergency department.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has always supported long range collaborative efforts in health care and medicine, which allow partnering institutions to accomplish significant results by sharing each other's science, research, treatment, and medical strengths.  The Foundation's Board of Directors said, "We are proud to have been offered the opportunity to support this important initiative, which will allow Greek physicians to take advantage of NYHQ's strengths and expertise in emergency medicine, and consequently, to respond directly and effectively to the health needs of individuals and communities throughout Greece."

Michael Radeos, M.D., MPH, research director, Department of Emergency Medicine, developed the program and will serve as the HAEME Fellowship Director.  "Greece does not yet have a specialty in emergency medical care," said Dr. Radeos.  "As a first-generation Greek-American, and a board-certified residency-trained emergency physician, I wanted to help develop an in-country safety net for patients who require immediate treatment for life- and limb-threatening injuries."

"For over 50 years, we have worked diligently to ensure that people have access to high quality care where they live, work and play," said Stephen S. Mills, president and chief executive officer.  "This generous award allows us to share our expertise with and develop emergency trained physicians in Greece, who not only provide critical emergency medical care but also serve as a source of new knowledge and skills for other physicians."  

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (www.SNF.org), an international philanthropic organization, makes grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and medicine, and social welfare. While prominent in its support of initiatives that focus on Greece, the Foundation's activities are worldwide in scope. The Foundation funds institutions and projects that exhibit strong leadership and sound management, and that have the potential to achieve a broad and lasting impact. We encourage grantees to collaborate, and we work closely with them to monitor their progress.  In addition, the Foundation actively seeks to support projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as effective means for serving public welfare.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation was founded by Stavros S. Niarchos to support and promote his vision and interests in education, social welfare, health and medicine, and arts and culture. Since 1996, the Foundation has provided total grant commitments of Euro 895,000,000 ($1,200,000,000) through more than 1,900 grants to nonprofit organizations in 90 nations around the world.  

New York Hospital Queens is a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and is affiliated with Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

SOURCE New York Hospital Queens