Plastic Surgeon Smith Joins Staff at Raritan Bay Medical Center

PERTH AMBOY, NJ, November 3, 2010… Board certified plastic surgeon George Philip Smith, MD, with practice locations in Brooklyn and Staten Island, NY, and now Perth Amboy, NJ, has joined the medical staff at Raritan Bay Medical Center.

“I’m happy to join the healthcare professionals at Raritan Bay Medical Center, a wonderful clinical facility and nationally recognized Magnet hospital for nursing excellence,” said Dr. Smith. “My patients will be very happy with the medical center’s amenities and state-of-the-art operating room suites.”

Dr. Smith provides cosmetic and reconstructive surgery to minimize the effects of aging, scarring from injury, and re-contouring or refining of parts of the body. For an appointment call 718.608.1111.

A graduate of the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York, Dr. Smith is board certified by the American Boards of Surgery and Plastic Surgery. He completed his medical and plastic surgery residencies at S.U.N.Y. Health Science Center, NY, and Montefiore Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Dr. Smith is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, New York Regional Society of Plastic Surgeons, Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

The doctor accepts most medical insurances. Dr. Smith’s office locations include 2066 Richmond Ave., Staten Island, NY, 476 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY and the recently opened 272-274 High Street, Perth Amboy, NJ.

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Raritan Bay Medical Center’s Old Bridge Laboratory Receives Accreditation

OLD BRIDGE, NJ, November 17, 2010… Raritan Bay Medical Center’s (RBMC) Old Bridge laboratory has been awarded accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) based on the results of a recent comprehensive on-site inspection. The medical center’s Perth Amboy laboratory also received CAP accreditation earlier this year.

“CAP accreditation is the gold standard of excellence for clinical laboratories. Their nationally recognized accreditation process includes an on-site inspection as well as mandatory participation in ongoing proficiency testing,” said Cindy Comerford, director of clinical laboratories, Raritan Bay Medical Center. “It validates what our physicians already know; the exceptional quality of work done by our laboratory technologists.”

The CAP laboratory accreditation program, which began in the early 1960s, is recognized by the federal government as being equal or more stringent than the government’s own inspection program. CAP is the world’s largest association composed exclusively of pathologists and is widely considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance. The laboratories at RBMC’s Perth Amboy and Old Bridge hospitals have held full CAP accreditation for more than 30 years, one of the longest accreditation records in New Jersey. In addition, all of the pathologists at the medical center have demonstrated their competence through board certification by the American Board of Pathology. This combination of independent national accreditation and specialty board certification is widely viewed as one of the hallmarks of quality in all branches of medicine.

CAP inspectors examine the records and quality control of the laboratory for the preceding two years, as well as the education and qualifications of the total staff, the adequacy of facilities, equipment, safety and management to determine how well the laboratory is serving patients.

Realizing that laboratory services are a vital part of the patient’s continuum of care, the medical center installed cutting edge analyzing equipment technology at both its Old Bridge and Perth Amboy locations in 2010, providing for improved testing, result turnaround time and safety as well as accuracy among other features. “Our patients can trust that RBMC’s laboratories provide superior, timely and accurate services,” said Comerford. “A tremendous amount of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure this happens.”

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Off-Duty Raritan Bay Medical Center Nurse,
Perth Amboy First Responders Save Motorists

PERTH AMBOY, NJ, November 24, 2010… In the early morning hours of October 22, Perth Amboy’s emergency first-responders; fire and police departments and Raritan Bay Medical Center’s MICU and EMS units, arrived at the scene of violent head-on collision accident and truck fire on the Outerbridge Crossing, Route 440, from Staten Island.  Vehicular accidents of this type, involving fire and the potential for explosion, make locating and moving drivers and passengers to safety the priority.  When the responders arrived and as they were assessing the situation spilled fuel from the truck ignited and began making its way from the truck to the pinned car prompting everyone to quickly get into action.

Coincidentally, registered nurse Elena Milano from the medical center’s special care unit was also traveling near the Outerbridge at the time of the accident. Despite the danger she and passenger Michael Sterling had stopped and pulled the truck driver to safety, away from the fire before the responders arrived. “I saw the man trapped and I just reacted immediately and used my experience as a nurse to assess the situation and respond as fast as I could,” said Milano. This left just the car’s driver trapped in his vehicle.

Fire Lieutenant Edward Mullen and firefighter Eric Kayser used a fire extinguisher and dry absorbent in an attempt to prevent, or at least slow, the burning fuel from reaching the car. At the same time, Raritan Bay Medical Center Emergency Medical Technicians Gary Batista and Matt Redding, through physical force and sheer determination, were able to gain access and get the driver to safety. Moments later the burning fuel reached the car and engulfed it in flames. “I saw the burning fuel rolling down the highway toward us, I knew if that fire made it to us we were in a lot of trouble. So I focused on getting the patient out of the car as fast as I could,” said Batista.

“Gary Batista is a veteran EMT and knew the risks he was taking were great, but he also realized if he didn’t act quickly the driver wouldn’t survive with the fire rapidly approaching. Redding hopped the barrier to help Elena with the truck driver, and get him ready for transport. It was a tremendous rescue effort by all of the responders on Route 440 that night,” said Mike Semple, director of emergency medical services and emergency preparedness at Raritan Bay Medical Center.

Both the truck and car drivers were treated at the scene and taken to the trauma unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Considering the nature of the accident and subsequent fire, Perth Amboy’s first responders and specifically the intervention of Raritan Bay Medical Center’s Milano, Batista and Redding are credited with saving lives in what could have been a fatal accident.

With both drivers safe, the Perth Amboy fire department, with assistance from the Port Authority Police department’s foam unit, was able to rapidly extinguish the burning vehicle and burning fuel without any additional damage or safety issues.

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