Shelton resident wins memorial trophy at hospital's 5K event

Winner of the inaugural Vic Weinstein Memorial Trophy Carl Sylvester of Shelton, center, with Bridgeport Hospital Foundation President Steve Jakab and Director of Development Susan Chudwick. / Contributed photo


BRIDGEPORT - The Bridgeport Hospital Home Run May 25, presented by AMR, was the most successful in the event’s 11-year history, attracting more than 750 participants and expected to raise over $25,000 to support the Joel E. Smilow Heart Institute at the hospital.

“Everything worked in our favor – a great turnout, great volunteer and sponsor support, and especially great weather,” said Steve Jakab, president of the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation, which organized the event.
“Our thanks go out to everyone for making this year’s Home Run such a huge success.”

The Bridgeport Hospital Home Run, which begins and ends at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish, includes a 5K run, walk, and wheelchair race, and a children’s fun run inside the ballpark.

Although participants came from all over Connecticut, Trumbull residents made a special mark on the event.
Overall 5K winner Matt Ferroro and women’s champion Lisa Romanchick are both from Trumbull. 
Wheelchair racer Kari Craddock, 10, also lives in Trumbull. This was her third 5K and she achieved her personal best time.

“Kari’s participation was inspiring,” Jakab said. “And it underscored the fact that the Home Run is an inclusive event, not limited to serious runners. Many people choose to walk the 5K course, as well, many of them pushing baby strollers. The aim is to promote good heart health through exercise.”

Trophies were also presented to the top three men and women 5K finishers in several age categories, from 9 and under to 80 and over. 
Carl Sylvester of Shelton received the first-ever Vic Weinstein memorial trophy for best time in the 70 and over group.

Weinstein, who had taken part in each of the first 10 Home Run 5K events, died last December at age 75. 
A resident of Tarrytown, NY, he was a former IBM manager and community volunteer who began running in the 1970s and continued until the end of his life. His wife, three children, and eight grandchildren all took part in this year’s Home Run.

Part of Yale New Haven Health System, Bridgeport Hospital is a 383-bed acute care hospital (plus 42 beds licensed to Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital) serving parts of Fairfield and New Haven counties. The hospital admits more than 8,000 patients and receives more than 240,000 outpatient visits annually.

This post is taken from a press release from Bridgeport Hospital. 

Bridgeport Hospital staff honors Shelton resident

2014 Nurse Manager of the Year

Diane Youd of Shelton. / Contributed photo

BRIDGEPORT – Bridgeport Hospital marked Nurses Week earlier this month with a series of recognition events and activities for its 700-member nursing staff.

Diane Youd of Shelton received the 2014 Nurse Manager of the Year Award from the Bridgeport Hospital Medical Staff during a reception at Ralph and Rich’s Restaurant in Bridgeport. 

Youd oversees the SurgEase ambulatory surgery center as well as the labor and delivery unit.

Chairman of Anesthesia Kenneth Stone, M.D. and Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology Harold Sauer, M.D., were among those who paid tribute to Youd at the event.

“You are dedicated to your role but have never lost sight of patient care,” Stone said to Youd. “You have a real sense of your mission and treat your colleagues in a respectful manner.”

“You are fair and have earned the respect of both physicians and staff,” Sauer added.

Youd joined the hospital in 1985, working first in the main operating room. She moved to SurgEase in 1990 and became the SurgEase nurse manager in 2005. 

During the past year, she took on the added role of interim nurse manager in labor and delivery.

On receiving the award, Youd said, “I never expected it. I’m truly grateful to the medical staff for being recognized, and I thank the entire team around me for their help and support. I could not succeed without them.”

More than a dozen other nurses were recognized for outstanding performance during Bridgeport Hospital’s Professional Practice of Nursing Awards ceremony at the hospital. 

They included: Brooke Barbee of Stratford, Cardiology; Kara Burdick of Bridgeport, Internal Medicine; Tobias Breuing of Newtown and Karen Reyes-Benzi of East Haven, Oncology; Cecilia Coehlo of Seymour, Major Surgery; Ken Forte of Milford and Marlene Schmidt of Shelton, Emergency Department; Dana Genarelli of Oakville, Operating Room; Jim Haddon of New Haven, Psychiatry; Britany Najarian of Shelton, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital Bridgeport campus; Laura Neumon of Milford, Ahlbin Centers Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit; Jessica Orama of Newtown, Resource Support Unit; and Dorett Thomas of Bridgeport, Women’s Care Center.

“I believe I lead one of the strongest nursing teams in the nation,” Chief Nursing Officer MaryEllen Kosturko said at the ceremony. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the work you do.”

This post is taken from a press release from Bridgeport Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health System.

Hospital gets donation of electronic tablets from Shelton auto dealer

Pictured from left, Samantha Regina, child life therapist, Bridgeport Hospital’s SurgEase ambulatory surgery center;  Amy Huff, child life therapist, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital Bridgeport Hospital campus; Tom D’Addario of D’Addario Auto Group; and Eric Labonte, physical therapist, Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital. / Contributed photo

Thanks to the generosity of the D’Addario Auto Group of Shelton, Bridgeport Hospital has received a donation of 10 Starlight Children’s Foundation electronic tablets for use by pediatric patients while they are in the hospital.

The gifts will help the hospital’s child life therapists and other staff by educating and entertaining young patients who are undergoing treatment.


This post is taken from a press release from Bridgeport Hospital.