2019 President’s Award Finalists: Physician of the Year

Each year, Northwell’s President’s Awards recognize team members who not only surpass our expectations and standards of excellence, but also those who drive innovative business outcomes.

The Physician of the Year award recognizes a physician who is made for going the extra mile for his or her patients, families and colleagues. Exemplifying our Northwell values and behaviors, this individual delivers high-quality clinical care and a compassionate patient experience. Meet this year’s finalists.

Santhosh Paulus, MD
Hospitalist, Director, Family Medicine Residency, Huntington Hospital

Dr. Santhosh Paulus turned a personal crusade against the abuses of human trafficking into an innovative program at Northwell. He began his Northwell career at the Glen Cove Family Medicine Residency program and is now site director for Huntington. In that role, he strives to meet three challenges: to teach the art and science of family medicine, to advocate for the best interest of his learners, and to be the quintessential role model of diligent attention to patient care, humanistic practice and lifelong learning.

In 2014, Dr. Paulus’ passion for caring for those in need grew. He saw a presentation on human trafficking and realized that his four daughters were of the same age as many victims in the presentation about forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation and sexual slavery in the US today. He joined a team and biked across the country to raise funds and awareness about human trafficking. Then he created “Cycling for Change,” an organization which has raised more than $55,000 to increase awareness about human trafficking and help survivors. Still, he wanted to do more. After talking with senior leadership at Huntington Hospital, he assembled a team to create the first Northwell Health Human Trafficking Response Program to identify and assist human trafficking victims and care for survivors. To date, the Task Force has trained more than 2,700 caregivers with 13 potential victims identified.

Yili Huang, DO
Medical Director, Pain Management Center, Phelps Hospital,
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Dr. Yili Huang has drawn on his empathy for the suffering of others to become a leader in treating pain on the individual and community level. In his pain management center, Dr. Huang meets with individual patients and finds creative ways to address their suffering. He delivers education to his team of physicians, nurses, and medical assistants, which has led to an improvement of pain scores at Phelps Hospital. He successfully performed an ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca nerve block recently to relieve intense pain in a patient with a hip fracture and a high tolerance for pain medications, controlling her suffering in preparation for surgery.
Dr. Huang’s commitment to his patients doesn’t stop there.

He is in the forefront of tackling a significant national problem: opioid addiction. He shares his knowledge with other physicians to reduce the use of opioid prescriptions by substituting other interventional modalities for long term relief, producing an immediate effect as many of these practices saw a dramatic decline in opioid prescriptions by their physicians. Dr. Huang also co-chairs the practice guidelines workgroup within the Northwell Opioid Task Force. He created practice guidelines, controlled substance agreements, and other tools to facilitate best practice opioid use. Those tools are being used across all the communities that Northwell serves to systematically confront the opioid epidemic and helps Northwell Health lead the nation in combating the epidemic in a compassionate and thoughtful way.

Carmen Rodriguez, MD, FACOG
Voluntary Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center

An excellent bedside manner and the care she provides to her patients distinguishes the work of Dr. Carmen Rodriguez and moves many people to say, “She’s the best.” Regarded as reliable, dependable and talented, she is also humble and unpretentious. Dr. Rodriguez leads by example for all clinicians and team members. And her contributions go beyond kindness and compassion. She is known to take on some of the most difficult gynecological challenges via laparotomy, laparoscopic and robotic modalities. Dr. Rodriguez will always fight to defend the reproductive rights of her patients.

Dr. Rodriguez also plays an active role in the affairs and governance of the hospital. She is the associate chair of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center – Performance Improvement
Coordinating Group (LIJMC PICG). She is also a member of the OBGYN department PICG. Dr. Rodriguez finds the time to participate in performance improvement initiatives because she believes that everyone benefits when better care is rendered, mainly for the patient and the community at large, but also for the clinical and administrative team member. She is the president-elect of the LIJ Medical Team member Society, making her the first woman to hold this distinguished position in the history of LIJMC.

Andre Reyes, MD
Hospitalist, North Shore University Hospital

Dr. Andre Reyes has repeatedly impressed patients and team members with his deep commitment to providing personal and compassionate care and setting high standards for others. He has spent countless hours with his patients, making them feel comfortable and at ease regarding their care and the time they will spend in the hospital. Dr. Reyes is known for having dropped to a knee to console the weeping wife of a patient who had taken a turn for the worse, giving her time to compose herself. His commitment to patients contributes to the success of the Care Model Program, which engages all clinical partners in improving patient experiences in the unit. Beyond the emotional value of his compassion, statistics support his approach.

Under his leadership, ratings on clinical quality scorecards, and communication, have risen significantly. Dr. Reyes is also devoted to fostering our medical student education and Internal Medicine Residency program. He is involved in creating and standardizing expectations for residents with regards to their daily rounds and documentation, and sets a personal example by visiting his patients multiple times a day.

Dr. Reyes also took part in the hospital preparation for Magnet certification. He took the initiative to inform himself further on Magnet accreditation standards and met with Magnet evaluators.

Tara Liberman, DO
Associate Chief, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Long Island Jewish Medical Center

While she has worked in almost every area of health care – post acute, outpatient practice and inpatient care — Dr. Tara Liberman has driven change in geriatric services. She is a proven leader at Northwell, spearheading several initiatives across the heath system to ensure that high-quality, patient-centered care is standard operating procedure. Dr. Liberman’s commitment to patient care began with her Northwell internship year in 2001.

She completed her internal medicine residency and Geriatric Medicine fellowship at North Shore University Hospital. When Palliative Medicine was established as a medicine subspecialty in 2010, Dr. Liberman became board certified in Palliative Medicine as well. In 2010, she received the academic title of assistant professor.

Dr. Liberman has piloted two programs to improve the care and medical literacy of the rapidly growing geriatric population. In response to the “Silver Tsunami,” she began the Geriatric ED program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC), which caters to older adults who arrive in the ED by aiming to prevent unneeded hospital admissions. The ED at LIJMC now has a geriatric-specific social worker to help these patients and their families connect with Northwell resources in the community to ensure appropriate levels of care that are in line with the goals of the patients and families. Dr. Liberman has continued this work to provide specialized care to this vulnerable population in all Northwell EDs by working towards a Geriatric Emergency Department certificate accredited by the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Brian McGinley, MD
Voluntary Physician, Orthopedic Surgery, Mather Hospital

Dr. Brian McGinley takes his orthopedic skills beyond his practice, into an underserved community on Long Island and beyond.

He is part of the medical mission team for Blanca’s House, a local nonprofit organization that brings much-needed, quality medical care to countries and communities throughout Latin
America. During several missions to Ecuador, Dr. McGinley performed more than 75 knee replacement surgeries. In addition to his pro bono medical services, he raises funds for Blanca’s
House by assisting in generating thousands of dollars in philanthropic support to these trips.

On Long Island, he helps at an orthopedic clinic, treating patients who can’t afford care. In his free time, Dr. McGinley volunteers for the local Three Village community sports leagues and has served as a coach and team doctor. He serves president of the Port Jefferson Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), a consortium of 19 area physicians and Mather Hospital, and was named PGA physician for the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2004.

In 2016, Dr. McGinley was the first surgeon worldwide to perform robotic-assisted total knee replacement with the NavioTM Surgical System, which allows for smaller incisions, less or no cutting of muscles, and no preoperative CT scan. His contributions are limited only by the number of hours in the day.