Healthcare Quality, Service Executive Joins South Nassau

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. - June 6, 2017 - PRLog -- South Nassau Communities Hospital has named Melissa Hershfield, MSN, RNC, CPHQ, assistant vice president for regulatory affairs, performance improvement and management.  Ms. Hershfield brings more than 25 years of diverse and progressive experience from the acute care setting in nursing, service excellence, quality and patient outcomes to South Nassau.

This also includes her role as a director-at-large for the New York State chapter of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ).  The nation's leading membership association of healthcare quality and service excellence administrators, NAHQ is consulted by the federal and state governments for direction and insight on healthcare quality policy and regulation nationally and statewide.

         "Melissa has forged a career of achievement and marked outcomes in healthcare quality and safety and patient satisfaction and has demonstrated a broad understanding of healthcare leadership and administration," said Ruth Ragusa, RN, Senior Vice President for Quality and Care Management. "We are certain that her experience and expertise will be integral to the hospital's continual quest to improve the patient experience and the quality of the healthcare that we provide."

         In her role, Ms. Hershfield will serve in both the Performance Improvement Department and the Performance Management Department.  She will spearhead South Nassau's quality management initiatives and facilitate improvement teams, while overseeing the hospital's implementation and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Prior to coming to South Nassau, Ms. Hershfield served as the Nursing and Quality Management Executive at Northwell Healthcare System's Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital/Lenox Hill Hospital.  Prior to that she was the Director of Quality Management at Northern Westchester Hospital.  A graduate of Western Governors University with a Master's of Science in Nursing Leadership, Ms. Hershfield holds multiple certifications in Healthcare Quality Professional, High Risk Obstetrics and Just Culture.

Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care, South Nassau® Communities Hospital is one of the region's largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees.  Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.  In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies.  South Nassau is the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons. South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons, and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program.  In addition, the hospital has been awarded the Joint Commission's gold seal of approval as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care; and disease-specific care for hip and joint replacement, wound care and end-stage renal disease. For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.