Spring came late this year to the Bronx, but just in time for the sun to shine on Montefiore Medical Center’s See, Test & Treat event, held on Saturday, May 14, at the Greene Medical Arts Pavilion. The medical center, along with its sister institution, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is part of Montefiore Health System, whose mission is the delivery of high-quality, compassionate healthcare to people in underserved communities in the Bronx and beyond.
See, Test & Treat is funded, in part, by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Foundation; all participating staff donate their time and expertise outside of their normal working hours.

Shared Commitment

As in years past, a core group of staff spearheaded by the Montefiore Einstein Pathology Department had spent months preparing for the big day. Led by Mark Suhrland, MD, past Division Chief of Cytology at Montefiore and a Professor of Pathology at Einstein, and Judy Huie-Kennedy, Laboratory Marketing Specialist in the department’s Customer Service Division, diverse individuals from across departments -- Pathology, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Radiology, and Oncology -- were bonded in their dedication to the cause: providing free breast and cervical cancer screenings, rapid test results, and follow-up care, if needed, to uninsured and underinsured women in the Bronx and lower Westchester County.

Team Players

Pathology Department staffers Janet Omene, Supervisor, Courier Services and Logistics; Yaskana Clase, Manager, Customer Service;  Dolis Ruiz, Supervisor, Quality Management Systems; Bjorn Gjoni, Project Manager; and Frances Mendez, Cytology Fellowship Program Coordinator, contributed their time and talent. Cytology Laboratory technicians Kalpana Patel, Marlene Perez, and Sherrie Williams processed the Pap specimens, which were then analyzed by Cytotechnologists Jared Larson, Lynda Nhan, Li Shi and Dr. Mark Suhrland.

Pathology Resident Raquel Yokoda, MD, and Cytology Fellow Silva Kristo, MD, invited attendees to join them in peering into double-headed microscopes to view cervical cell specimen slides. The exercise helps explain the process and value of cervical cancer screenings, the relationship of HPV infection to cervical disease, and the value of HPV vaccinations for family members as well as the vital role of pathologists as members of the healthcare team.

Talitha L.M. Bruney, MD, Associate Director, Obstetrics & Gynecology Residency Program at Montefiore; Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health at Einstein, and Medical Director, Comprehensive Family Medical Care Center, resumed her longtime role as leader of the Ob-Gyn team. She was assisted by Drs. Angela Gonzalez, Mzmelli Morris, Genevieve Umeh, Ayoka Adams and Andrew Rezk.

Lamar Duncan, Assistant Administrator; Radiologists Laura Hodges, MD, and Mira Herman, MD; Rosie Yeboah, MPA, Imaging Manager; and Yahaira Diaz, Technical Director, Breast Imaging, represented the Radiology Department.

Teaming up to spread the word to the community and pre-register patients were Britney Miller, PhD, and Johnna Bakalar, MPH, of the BOLD (Bronx Oncology Living Daily) Cancer Wellness Program, an initiative of the Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center. Ms. Bakalar also volunteered on-site the day of the event, heading up a team that offered attendees literature and information about the BOLD program.

Alina Mitchell, a second-year Einstein medical student, alerted her colleagues at the ECHO Clinic, a medical student-run healthcare resource for uninsured Bronx residents.

Also pitching in to promote the event were Myishia Taylor-Myke and her colleagues in the Women’s Ministry of Grace Baptist Church, Mount Vernon, NY, who conducted a community outreach effort in lower Westchester and nearby areas of the Bronx for the second year in a row; and Maria Alfaro, executive director of Que Paso Latinx, a community organization serving youth and families in Yonkers, NY.

Westchester County resident Ernie Kennedy volunteered for his second consecutive year as a patient navigator.

Bronx-based organizations participating in the See, Test & Treat health fair included BOLD; the American Cancer Society; HealthFirst, a not-for-profit health insurer; Ridgewood Savings Bank; InterGenHealth, a home healthcare agency; the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center; the Montefiore Department of Clinical Nutrition; and Team Maureen, a non-profit, organization dedicated to ending cervical cancers by educating the public about the HPV-cancer connection and the importance of early detection and prevention.

Future Healthcare Leaders

Jimmy Sanchez, then a biology and mathematics major at Lehman College, volunteered as a patient navigator/language interpreter at See, Test & Treat in 2019. He signed on again this year and recruited his friend Joselyn Montero. Both are members of Bronx Community Health Leaders (BxCHL), a “pipeline” program for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. BxCHL is headed by co-founder/director Juan Robles, MD, an Einstein graduate, Family Medicine Attending Physician at Montefiore and Assistant Professor of Family and Social Medicine at Einstein. Both Jimmy and Joselyn are currently in post-baccalaureate pre-med programs and plan to apply to Einstein for medical school.

At Joselyn’s request, the BxCHL social media team sprang into action in the weeks leading up to See Test & Treat 2022, pushing out promotional messages. On the day of the event, Joselyn, Jimmy and fellow BxCHL members Micaela Artis, Fardausi “Annie” Mukti, and Natalie Jara served as patient navigators/language interpreters.

“I really loved the goal of See, Test & Treat so I volunteered to be the point person,” says Joselyn. “At the event, I enjoyed bringing patients downstairs to the radiology suite to get their tests done. In the small moments we had together, each patient shared with me how glad they were that an event like See, Test & Treat was taking place because so many people go undiagnosed--the main reason being that they don’t have insurance, or their policy doesn’t cover cancer screenings. It felt nice when the patients thanked us for helping them out. I would love to volunteer again next year if my schedule permits. Now that I know how the event works, I can promote it even more in the neighboring area and nearby schools.”

Point of Pride

“See, Test & Treat is a proud tradition here at Montefiore,” notes Ms. Huie-Kennedy, who received the CAP Foundation’s Volunteer Leadership Award in 2021. “We were pleased and honored to have an enthusiastic group of volunteers and vendors participating again this year.”

“See, Test & Treat is truly a team effort. I’m always humbled by the strong spirit of collaboration,” adds Dr. Suhrland, the recipient of the CAP Foundation’s 2017 Herbek Humanitarian Award. Named for the late distinguished pathologist Gene N. Herbek, MD, who conceived it, See, Test & Treat is a model program of healthcare equity that has been adopted by providers across the nation, including Montefiore.

“Everyone involved in the planning and execution of this project is deeply committed to helping promote the health and wellbeing of women in our community who are in the greatest need,” notes Dr.  Suhrland. “Dr. Herbek would be proud.”