SNCH Carnation Ball a success

More than 630 guests honored four leaders and raised almost $700,000 at the South Nassau Communities Hospital annual Carnation Ball.

The event was co-chaired by members of SNCH’s Board of Directors, Anthony Cancellieri, of Park Strategies and Wayne Lipton of Concierge Choice Physicians.

Four distinguished people were honored; Paul Black, chief executive officer of Allscripts, Dr. Luke LiCalzi, past director of vascular surgery at SNCH, Helena Williams, chief development officer at RATP, Dev America, the recipient of the 2016 Mary Pearson Award and Margaret Puya, trauma program manager at SNCH, winner of the 2016 Cupola award.

President and CEO of SNCH Richard Murphy thanks Allscripts for making the transition to an all computerized and accessible system easier for hospital staff.

Dr. LiCalzi was introduced by Dr. Rajiv Datta, surgery department chair. Datta talked about the first time he saw LiCalzi at work, how quiet he kept his operating room and how meticulous his work was.

Williams is a member of the hospital’s advisory board, was a former Nassau County Deputy County Executive and the first female president of the Long Island Rail Road, president of Long Island Bus (currently the NICE bus system), and deputy county executive for former Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi.

Puya, who was not present, was honored for her work in obtaining Trauma Center verification from the American College of Surgeons, which included upgrading the hospital’s trauma care capabilities to meet a more rigorous on-site review and standard.

Butch Yamali, owner of Coral House and his mother, Dorothy, were featured in a patient video in which Dorothy talked about the excellent care she received after being attacked by a dog that required multiple surgeries and a 10 day hospital stay.

The money collected at the ball will go toward the hospital’s Emergency Department Expansion Project, a five-year, and $60 million initiative that will nearly double the size of the Oceanside emergency department to ensure state-of-the-art emergency care to the residents of the South Shore. The campaign’s goal is to cover $10 million of the overall cost of the project.