Theresa A. Soriano, MD, MPH, Receives Hastings Center Award for Excellence in End-of-Life Care



New York, NY (PRWEB) January 17, 2012

Theresa A. Soriano, MD, MPH, Director of the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program, and Associate Professor of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has been honored with the prestigious Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award for improving the care of patients near the end of life.

Dr. Soriano is one of only three early-career physicians in the country recognized for her commitment to the field and contribution through practical research and clinical work. She will receive the award in a ceremony at Mount Sinai.

Under Dr. Soriano?s leadership, the Visiting Doctors Program at Mount Sinai?one of the nation?s largest academic home-based primary and palliative care program?has created a safety net for more than 1,200 homebound patients and a comfortable in-home palliative care environment.

“The success of the Visiting Doctors Program in providing end-of-life and primary care in a challenging health care environment is the result of Dr. Soriano?s advocacy, her passion for caring for the underserved, and her deep understanding of the importance of the person within the patient,? said David Muller, MD, Chair of the Department of Medical Education, Dean for Medical Education, and Associate Professor of Medicine. ?Whether it is for the patient at the bedside, the trainee struggling to make sense of caring for someone at the end of life, or lobbying in the state legislature, Dr. Soriano brings to bear her intellect, passion for justice, and keen interpersonal skills to get the job done.?

Since 1995, the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program has provided compassionate health care to elderly or ailing adults who are unable to leave their homes. The award-winning program grew out of the collaborative efforts of the Samuel L. Bronfman Department of Medicine and the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. Throughout Manhattan, the Visiting Doctors team of physicians, nurses, social workers and administrative staff delivers comprehensive primary and palliative care to an underserved segment of the population?homebound adults, consisting of geriatric patients, as well as those with psychiatric, neurological, complex, and terminal illnesses. The team also reaches out to families and caregivers to offer emotional support and counseling.

?It has been so rewarding to see so many patients benefit from the primary and palliative care services that Visiting Doctors provides, and to expose students and housestaff to this work,? said Dr. Soriano. ?I am honored to be recognized by the Hastings Center and the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation for the difference we are making in the lives of these patients and families.?

The Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award is provided by the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the doctor-patient relationship near the end of life, in partnership with The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute that has done groundbreaking work on end-of-life decision-making. The nomination and selection process was administered by The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life. The Cunniff-Dixon Foundation was founded in 2005 by Matthew A. Baxter in memory of his wife, Carley Cunniff, who died of breast cancer, and in recognition of her attending physician, Dr. Peter S. Dixon, who enabled her to die a peaceful death at home with her family and loved ones.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of few medical schools embedded in a hospital in the United States. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 15 institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institute of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report. The school received the 2009 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks The Mount Sinai Hospital among the nation’s best hospitals based on reputation, patient safety, and other patient-care factors. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 530,000 outpatient visits took place.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.

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