White Plains Hospital names new emergency department director
RAFAEL TORRES of Manhattan has joined White Plains Hospital as medical director of emergency medicine at The Flanzer Center for Emergency and Critical Care Medicine. The two-story center at the hospital with all private rooms opened in 2010. It is the busiest emergency department in Westchester County with approximately 55,000 visits in 2013.
After completing his undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins University, he earned his medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine, where he received honors for academic achievement. Torres completed his residency in emergency medicine at New York Methodist Hospital, where he served as chief resident and was honored as Resident of the Year.
Torres comes to White Plains Hospital with extensive emergency medicine experience. Since 2009, he has served as the medical director for Citywide Mobile Response, a comprehensive ambulance service in New York City. He has also held the position of emergency department medical director at Westchester Square, the first free-standing emergency department in New York state, and St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers.
“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Torres to White Plains Hospital,” said Michael Palumbo MD, executive vice president and medical director. “He has an outstanding reputation and understands the value of providing patients with a positive experience while they are in the hospital.”
Torres’ extensive professional development includes an training program in quality improvement, outcomes measurement and process management with the Intermountain Healthcare Institute for Health Care Delivery Research; a 15-month Clinical Quality Fellowship with the Greater New York Hospital Association/United Hospital Fund; and a three-stage training program with the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Emergency Department Directors Academy. He is board-certified in emergency medicine.
New commercial division of Tri-Crest Realty Inc.
PHIL BIANCAVILLA has joined TRI-CREST REALTY INC., a real estate brokerage serving lower Westchester County, to head its newly formed commercial real estate division. According to principal broker, Veronica Meola, the commercial division will focus on serving owner, landlord, investor and tenant clients for properties primarily located in Eastchester and surrounding vicinities.
Prior to joining Tri-Crest Realty, Biancavilla was a career information technology executive working for companies in financial services, telecommunications and life sciences. In 2007, he ventured out as an entrepreneur and co-founded Vantage Systems, a provider of enterprise software and professional services to midsize companies. His many years of corporate experience resulted in keen negotiation and financial analysis proficiency.
Graduating with a degree in information science from Fordham University, Biancavilla, an Eastchester resident, enjoys coaching travel softball and has a passion for sports and cars. He can be contacted at the Tri-Crest Realty office in Eastchester at 914-779-1700.
White Plains Hospital to honor longtime CEO
CEO JON B. SCHANDLER of White Plains Hospital will be honored at its annual auxiliary gala for his nearly four decades of service to the health care organization.
The event will take place at the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $500 per person.
Schandler, joined the administrative team in 1976 as controller before being promoted to lead the institution in 1981 as president and CEO. His leadership tenure during that time drove growth of the now 121-year old hospital, expanding its clinical programs and services, growing its physician base and strengthening its position in the community as a leading advanced health care provider in the region.
“We couldn’t have picked a more fitting honoree this year to salute an individual who has led our hospital through multiple decades of growth, transformation and prosperity,” said White Plains Hospital Auxiliary Co-President Brenda Oestreich, of Scarsdale. “His reputation as a champion of quality health care in this community is well deserved and one we are very excited to be celebrating near the end of his remarkable career.”
Schandler plans to retire in the spring of 2015. Earlier this year, it was announced that Susan Fox, current hospital president, will succeed him as both president and CEO.
Initial sponsors of the celebration include White Plains Radiology, the Medical and Dental Staff of White Plains Hospital, Westchester Anesthesiologists, Garfunkel Wild P.C., Gilbane Construction Co. and A.P. Construction. For more information on tickets and sponsorships, visit givetowphospital.org/form or call 914-681-2264.
Durante Rentals named on list of fastest-growing companies
INC. magazine has ranked DURANTE RENTALS No. 2098 on its 33rd annual Inc. 5000 List, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing privately owned companies. This is the second year in a row Durante Rentals has made the list, coming in at No. 1879 in 2013.
“We are extremely honored and proud to have made the Inc. 5000 list for the second year in a row. It is a true testament to the hard work and dedication exemplified by every member of our team throughout the course of the year,” said John Durante, president of Durante Rentals.
“To achieve this kind of consistent growth, year after year, is a credit to the unique business and financial strategy employed by the company in one of the most difficult and competitive markets in the construction equipment rental industry,” said Christopher Jones, CFO of Durante Rentals.
Durante Rentals’ three-year growth was 191 percent. “To be mentioned in the same breath as other 2014 winners like GoPro, Tough Mudder and Bowlmor makes us appreciate the award that much more. Our goal is to make the list next year and every year thereafter,” said Anthony Durante, CEO of Durante Rentals.
Founded in 2009 by three entrepreneurs, Durante Rentals is in construction equipment and tool rentals in the New York tri-state area. Its newest location is at 122 N. Saw Mill River Road, Elmsford. General contractors look to Durante for equipment needs, including excavators, skid steers, light towers, generators, compressors, forklifts, air tools, boom lifts and more. With four locations and counting its to expand while servicing all five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Rockland County, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Degree focuses on creating new ventures in the arts sector
PURCHASE COLLEGE will launch an MA in Entrepreneurship in the Arts — the first degree in the country that focuses exclusively on creating new entities in the arts sector. The program, which will commence next fall, will provide graduates with the skills to create arts ventures and act as entrepreneurs — along with an in-depth foundation in management and leadership skills.
“This visionary degree program will enable graduates to identify, imagine and build enterprises that will create and sustain the arts marketplace of tomorrow,” said Thomas J. Schwarz, president of Purchase College. “It will address a critical need for creative leadership in both the commercial and not-for-profit arts and culture sectors.”
Ravi Rajan, dean of the Purchase College School of the Arts added, “The program is designed to empower the emerging generation to be leaders who will redefine the arts through innovation. It will foster a ‘meta synergy’ by equipping graduates with a unique blend of idea generation, marketing, policy, management and financial skills to apply to the creation of new entities for the arts.”
James Undercofler, professor and chair of the Purchase College Department of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship, spearheaded the design of the new program, following many years of his leading both schools and professional arts organizations. “With its visionary leadership and world-class arts programs embedded together with a college focused on liberal education, Purchase College is the ideal institution to offer this degree,” he said. “We anticipate that this new program will be a galvanizing force campuswide, as well as helping to redefine the arts world.”
Courses in the one-and-a-half-year degree program will feature a core of three courses in arts entrepreneurship, plus those in leadership and management techniques, fund development and financing for the arts, digital marketing and law and the arts. Students will be guided into deep thinking about the arts and culture worlds, then create entirely new ideas, which will then be developed into their own new enterprises. The new degree program has recently received final approval from the New York State Education Department.
New partner at Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano
Elder law attorney SARA E. MEYERS of White Plains has become a member of Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano L.L.P., with offices in White Plains and Somers. Meyers joined the firm as an associate attorney in 2007 and has spent the past two decades protecting the rights of seniors, the disabled and their families. An authority on Medicaid and special-needs planning, her practice areas include elder law, home health care, Medicaid planning, wills, trusts and estates and guardianships. Prior to Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano, Meyers was a staff attorney at the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging and Longevity and the New York Legal Assistance Group.
Named to the 2013 New York Metro Super Lawyers list in Elder Law, she is a frequent lecturer for both professionals and laypersons. She is the immediate past chair of the Westchester County Bar Association’s Elder Law Committee and is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) elder law and trusts and estates sections. In July, Meyers began her term as the 9th Judicial District Representative to the NYSBA elder law section’s executive committee.
“Sara is an invaluable member of our team and has been instrumental to Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano’s continued success,” said elder law attorney Anthony J. Enea, the firm’s managing partner. “For years Sara has upheld our firm’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards and achieving the best possible results for our clients. As partner, her expertise will play a key role in shaping our firm’s future.”
Meyers is an editor of the Westchester County Bar Journal and the NYSBA Elder Law Section’s Elder and Special Needs Law Journal. She received a B.A. in history from Brandeis University and her J.D. from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano concentrates its practice in elder law planning; asset protection planning; wills, trusts and estates; Medicaid applications (home care and nursing home); guardianships; nursing home negligence as well as real estate; and corporate and commercial law.
Information for these features has been submitted by the subjects or their delegates.
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