NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi‘s chief executive officer, Christopher Mastromano, announced on Dec. 23 that the facility was named a “surgical quality partner” by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). According to hospital officials, the designation means Jacobi met the highest standards of surgical care by minimizing complications, improving outcomes, and saving lives.

 

“Jacobi is widely known in The Bronx as the Level 1 Trauma Center for our region,” said Mastromano, “What this ACS designation means is that Jacobi is providing the highest possible level of surgical care.” Mastromano congratulated the Jacobi surgical department, led by Dr. John McNelis, for their hard work in achieving the distinction.

 

Reacting to news that the facility had been named a “surgical quality partner” by ACS, McNelis said it was a huge honor for the Morris Park-based hospital, which last year, as reported was itself, the site of a shooting in its own ER. “This certification identifies Jacobi as one of 25 hospitals internationally and one of only three in New York State that can meet these requirements,” McNelis added. 

 

ACS measures facilities in how they credential and train their medical staff, measure quality improvements and collect data. Jacobi received special commendations for their surgical and OB-GYN departments. Officials from NYC Health + Hospitals, the City’s public hospital system, said that for more than 100 years, ACS Quality programs have enhanced the care of surgical patients. They said participation in these programs shows that a hospital is committed to surgical quality and has met rigorous external standards confirmed by an outside verification process.

 

As previously reported, Bronx elected officials, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), State Sen. Chuck Schumer and former District 13 City Councilman Mark Gjonaj, joined staff members of Jacobi Hospital during a press conference to mark Gun Violence Awareness Month on Thursday, June 3, 2021 and, together with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), called on Congress to increase federal funding at the time for the hospital’s “Stand Up to Violence” (SUV) program. The funding was later secured and approved by Congress in August that year.

 

Funding of $393,839 was requested for Jacobi, located at 1400 Pelham Pkwy S, The Bronx, NY 10461. The hospital requested the funding to add mental health services under the umbrella of its SUV program. Modeled after the Chicago-based “Cure Violence” program, SUV addresses youth violence in The Bronx by deploying outreach workers to respond to shootings, to prevent retaliation and to assist family members of those who have been injured or killed.

 

Earlier the same month of that year, then-assemblywoman for A.D. 80, now State senator for S.D. 34, Nathalia Fernandez had announced increased State funding which was also targeted for the hospital’s cure violence program amid sustained shootings and gun injuries incurred across The Bronx.

Meanwhile, Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, ACS executive director and chief executive officer said ACS quality programs are grounded in a century of experience and are an important measure of a hospital’s surgical quality. “As an ACS surgical quality partner, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi has shown a commitment to three things,” Turner said. “We provide the best possible patient care, rigorously evaluating that care, and dedicating themselves to continual self-improvement,” she added.

 

Meanwhile, Clifford Y. Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, FASCRS, director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care, said, “Being an ACS surgical quality partner means a hospital is truly dedicated to continuous improvement by using data and ACS standards and resources to deliver the best possible care.”

 

Last July, Jacobi officials a announced that Dr. Komal Bajaj, chief quality officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi was appointed to the National Advisory Council for Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  Also in July, both Jacobi Medical Center and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx received gold awards for quality heart failure and stroke treatment care for quality heart failure and stroke treatment care and in May, both hospitals were ranked highest in LGBTQ+ health equity certification training.

 

According to the latest available NYPD crime statistics for November 2022, overall index crime in New York City decreased in November 2022 by 1.2 percent, compared with November 2021 (10,196 v. 10,323). Three of the seven major index-crime categories saw decreases, driven by a 14.1 percent decrease in rape (110 v. 128), a 6 percent decrease in burglary (1,231 v. 1,310), and a 5.5 percent decrease in grand larceny (4,187 v. 4,430).

 

For the month of November 2022, the number of overall shooting incidents also and once again decreased in New York City compared with November 2021. Citywide shooting incidents decreased by 32.8 percent (80 v. 119) for the month – adding to the 16.2 percent (1209 v. 1442) decrease achieved year-to-date. According to the NYPD, this was driven by significant reductions in northern Manhattan, Brooklyn, and The Bronx. Citywide murders year-to-date also decreased by 11.1 percent (393 v. 442) as of November’s end compared to 2021.

 

NYPD officials said the agency’s attention remains on preventing people from ever becoming victims of gun violence. They said the proliferation of illegal guns on the city’s streets is an ongoing challenge. However, they said the department’s strategies to fight the scourge continue to take hold.

 

They said gun arrests citywide as of November 2022 are at a 27-year high, and increased another 3.9 percent (4319 v. 4155) year-to-date, with significant increases in Queens and The Bronx. They said these arrests have resulted in 6,638 guns being seized citywide as of November 2022.

 

They said these seizures include 356 ghost guns, a 76 percent increase compared with the 202 ghost guns seized by the department in the same period of 2021. NYPD officials added that the work has led to a 34.3 percent (92 v. 140) reduction of shooting victims across the city for the month of November 2022, compared to the same period the previous year.

 

As of November 2022, year-to-date shooting victims had declined by 15.2 percent (1465 v. 1728), which means 263 fewer people were victims of gun violence in 2022 compared to 2021. 

 

As reported, Dexia Billingsea recently wrote an open letter to her late son, Prince Shabazz, 14, who was fatally shot in Fordham Heights on Nov. 30.

 

December and year-end crime statistics for 2022 are due to be discussed at a press conference with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell on Thursday, Jan. 5.