The following blog post was written by Dr. Ginny Mantello, Director of Health and Wellness.

The month of September is observed as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Today, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among American men. It is estimated that over 161,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2017. It is important to increase public awareness about prostate health and provide educational information about risk factors of prostate related diseases. Here is some information on Prostate Cancer:

• Prostate Cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in men. Remind your loved ones to get screened. Early detection saves lives.
• A healthy diet and lifestyle is a good way to reduce your risk of Prostate Cancer.
• Men who have a family history of other cancers have a 2.5% higher risk of Prostate Cancer. Height, family history, and an inactive lifestyle are risk factors for Prostate Cancer.
• African American men have highest incidence of Prostate Cancer. They are 70% more likely to get it than white men and 2.4x more likely to die from the disease.
• Over 161,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2017. About 1 in 39 men, 26,730, will die from Prostate Cancer. 2.9 million US men diagnosed with Prostate Cancer have survived it because the disease was found at an early stage.
• Symptoms of prostate cancer generally do not appear until the disease has spread. When diagnosed at an early stage, 10 year survival rate for all stages is 98%.

Unsure of what your risks are for developing prostate cancer? Speak to your health care professional.

For more information, click here.

Imagine this scenario: your chest is cracked open by expert surgeons, veins are taken from other parts of your body to bypass a blockage, and you wake up in a recovery room believing that the hard part is finally over.  But then you learn it’s not - your recovery is just beginning.  You are sent home with instructions to begin cardiac rehabilitation, only to find out that to get to the nearest facility you’re forced to cross a bridge. 
 
This scary scenario is all too real – and it is unacceptable.  And it is going to change.
 
What is cardiac rehabilitation? According to the American Heart Association, it is a “medically supervised program designed to improve your cardiovascular health if you have experienced heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty, or heart surgery.”
 
It includes three important components:
 

1. Supervised exercise counseling and training, to help get your body moving in ways that promote heart health.
2. Education to promote a heart-healthy lifestyle.
3. Counseling to reduce stress – so important because of the damage stress can inflict upon the heart.

 
Cardiac rehab is a team effort, a medically supervised program where physicians and other medical professionals help individuals who have been given a second lease on life.  The studies prove it works, and that it’s a necessary and effective path forward for patients who wish to have a healthy and fulfilling future.
 
How do patients benefit? They lower their risk of future cardiac events; they learn how to eat better; they lose weight; and they are able to return to work and engage in daily activities more quickly.  Clinical research has reveals that cardiac rehabilitation reduces mortality by up to 40% compared to those patients who do not participate.  Participation in cardiac rehab can also reduce the likelihood of hospital readmissions (for all causes) by 25% as well as the use of medical resources
 
So try to imagine my shock at the inaugural meeting of my Heart Health Advisory Committee about a year and a half ago, when I learned that our borough had no cardiac rehab facilities at all.  This situation forces Staten Islanders to go to other areas of the city - or to New Jersey - to access this potentially life-saving treatment.  In speaking with cardiologists, I found that of the hundreds that qualify for cardiac rehab every year, less than 5% of Staten Islanders are actually getting it.  Isn’t it ironic that if you have simple knee surgery there are plenty of local options available for physical therapy, but if you have complex quadruple bypass surgery you lack any local options at all.
 
This sad situation, which to some could be considered catastrophic, was the result of two things: low financial reimbursements to cardiac rehab providers, and high co-payments required of patients each time they attended a session. When combined, these factors caused the operation of such facilities to be simply not feasible. 
 
My team and I, in consultation with the eminent experts present in the room that day, decided we would do something about it, and so began our quest to bring cardiac rehab back to Staten Island.  Happily, we were able to convince both borough hospital systems – Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) and Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) – to agree to work towards the goal of providing this necessary service.
 
So strong was my belief in the value this would provide Staten Islanders that I allocated taxpayer funds – $250,000 for each hospital – to be used for equipment and other costs to get the new facilities up and running.  As with any similar project there were fits and starts, but I’m happy to say that we went recently to RUMC for the announcement of a brand new cardiac rehab facility that will be opening next year on their campus, a facility that will have the capacity to serve about 600 Staten Islanders.  And we will soon be announcing the progress made at SIUH as well. 
 
So from currently having no facility at all, in a short span of time we will have two. 
 
We are also in the preliminary stages of working on the burdensome co-payment issue. Most of us have to make a small co-payment on the day of a doctor visit, but since our doctor visits are generally not frequent, such co-payments are ordinarily not too painful to our wallets.  When it comes to a cardiac rehab program, however, patients are advised to attend regularly.  The cost of these co-payments add up rather quickly, making it less likely those patients will complete this necessary treatment.  I am happy to report that Dr. Ginny Mantello, our Director of Health and Wellness, is working with a variety of healthcare insurers on a plan that might give cardiac rehab patients some co-payment relief.  It’s a bit too early to talk about the details, but two such insurers have expressed an interest in exploring possible avenues of relief.
 
I firmly believe Staten Islanders should have access to the same kind of health care enjoyed by residents of other areas, and the moment I became aware of the importance of having cardiac rehab available locally was the moment I decided that we’d do all it takes to get it done.  Thankfully, this is one of those rare matters we can take into our own hands, one that doesn’t require the approval of City Hall.  Instead, in a public-private partnership with our local hospitals, we as Staten Islanders are able to handle it all on our own. 
 
It is not often that one gets to work on a project that will literally save lives.  This is one of those times, and I’m thankful not only for the opportunity, but for being in a position where I could help make it happen.

The following blog post was written by Dr. Ginny Mantello, Director of Health and Wellness.
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Even though many Staten Islanders are still in summer vacation mode, it’s never too early to start thinking about the new school year. Now is a great time for parents to think about what they need to do to ensure the health and well-being of their children for the upcoming school year. Parental involvement has been found to be a protective factor for children. It helps reduce risky behavior and has shown to decrease the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. It has also been shown to decrease stress in children. Here are some recommendations for parents to improve the health and wellness of your children:

• Schedule yearly well visit with the pediatrician at the beginning of each school year. Talk to your doctor to ensure your children get all the necessary vaccinations.
• If a child has a medical problem, it is important to get the child’s doctor to fill the medication administration form (MAF) for the school.
• Talk to the school nurse about any medical conditions your child has and send in any medications that your child is on.
• Mild anxiety during the first days of school is normal. Listening closely to your children may help you to be alerted of any issues early on in the year.
• It is critical for children to get a good night sleep. Parents can help transition children back to regular bed time hours towards the end of the summer. Children and elementary in middle school level should get 10-11 hours of sleep per night, with high school children getting 8-9 hours of sleep. Even minor changes in sleep can impair school kids learning, memory, attention, and concentration.
• If breakfast is not available in your children’s school, it is important to ensure they eat a healthy and nutritious breakfast before school.
• Teaching children the basics of hygiene is crucial to reducing the spread of germs. Make sure that kids know proper handwashing techniques as well as the importance of coughing or sneezing into one’s sleeves. Also, let kids know that they shouldn’t share water bottles with friends, as this helps germs spread quickly. 

The following blog post was written by Chris DeCicco, Counselor to the Borough President.

​On July 8, 2017, I picked up my copy of The Daily Stoic to read that days short reflection. It included the following quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius:
 
“Enough of this miserable, whining life. Stop monkeying around! Why are you troubled?  What’s new here? What’s so confounding? The one responsible? Take a good look. Or just the matter itself? Then look at that. There’s nothing else to look at. And as far as the gods go, by now you could try being more straightforward and kind. It’s the same, whether you’ve examined these things for a hundred years, or only three.”
 
This passage is a good reminder that social media has been both a blessing and a curse in our daily lives. It’s a blessing because it allows us to stay better connected to friends and family, and it also provides elected representatives with a more efficient medium to communicate directly to their constituents. But at the same time it’s a curse, because it provides yet another forum for far too many to whine, criticize, and compare themselves to everyone else.
 
Complaining is easy. Solving problems is hard. And social media has become the place where folks can mistake the act of complaining for actually doing something to better the situation. 
 
At some point in the last year or so, I said “enough.” A big part of my job is dealing with social media, so I can’t totally disconnect - but I’ve done the next best thing: I’ve deleted those on my personal social media channels who filled up my timeline with complaints. I don’t want to expose myself to their daily negativity about how bad they think things are. Did you ever notice that the worst offenders never offer any solutions to fix the problems they are identifying? Complaining has become the norm, and I simply refuse to participate. In my own life I’ve made a conscious choice to, quoting from the lyrics of an old song, “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.” 
 
It has worked. I’ve successfully banished most of the complainers from my social media feeds, and I feel less stress because of it. And in my attempts to focus on the positive, I’ve noticed other additional benefits; most notably, I realized that in the past I spent way too much time envying other people when their hard work led to good things for them. This flaw, too, I’ve taken steps to eliminate.  
 
Ultimately, the reality is, and has always been, that we all will experience problems and challenges during every stage of our life. Growth happens when we take responsibility and deal with those problems; it is so much more productive and healthy to work on the steps we can take to make improvements, than it is to carp online to our social media “friends.”

The following blog post was written by Nikki Marra, Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff.

I have spent my entire career working in the private sector.  While doing so, I built a solid resume in areas such as human resources, administration, operations, and logistics.  So when I found myself laid off from my last job after eight years, I thought that finding a new gig would be a no brainer.  With my skillful resume writing and job board after job board at my fingertips, this was going to be easy!  Well, not so much.  It is the black hole, the abyss of resume submissions!  I started to question: did they see my resume?  Did anyone read it? Should I submit it again, so that it’s at the top of their inbox?  Where are the calls? 

Eventually the calls did come; however, they were never the right opportunity.  Were they really not what I was looking for or was the picture of the next and last leg of my working career changing?  I was 47 at this point, did I really want to work at another small privately owned company and serve the needs and line pockets of the owner of that company?  Or work in a large publicly traded firm and just be a number? 

The answer came to me in a call from a friend asking if I would be interested in interviewing for a position at the Borough President’s Office. I said yes for many reasons, one of which being that I could never say no to this particular friend, but secondly, it occurred to me that this could be the solution to my dilemma.  Fast forward—I got the job!  Now, what was I going do?  I have a menu of skills, but did they apply to an environment such as this? How quickly could I learn to apply them to the needs of a community?  Well let’s slow down a bit here. I needed to start by answering the phone!

I have lived on Staten Island my entire life, so I figured this wouldn’t be too hard. Of course, I was wrong. My head was spinning for the first six months.  Wait, what, the Borough President and his team help get our roads paved, work on traffic congestion, education, help the veterans in our community, the list is endless…come on!  Where have I been?  I will tell you, like most people, nose to the grindstone; working, raising two children, a member of the “bedroom community.”  The name "bedroom community" refers to the fact that commuters perform most professional and personal activities in another location, maintaining their residence solely as a place to sleep.

Of course, that’s me, traveling back and forth to Manhattan & New Jersey, working 60 hours per week. Maybe that’s you too. I quickly realized that I resided on Staten Island, but I did not LIVE here.  In my opinion, performing my daily duties as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff plays only a small role in any of the good that is done in our office, but as I continue to plan and work community events like Kids Day at the Carousel or the annual Halloween Hoopla at Bloomingdale Park, I see what it means to be part of a community. I’ve seen firsthand the good it does when people come together with a common goal of making the place they live better. So get out there and do what you can to improve your neighborhood. Attend your local civic association meeting to see what you can do to help.  Help catapult us from the “forgotten borough” to the “memorable borough.”  I am proud to LIVE here and I ask you to LIVE here too.  

The following blog post was written by Dr. Ginny Mantello, Director of Health and Wellness.

June is Men’s Health Month, and it’s a good time to remind men to get a checkup. ​Men are often reluctant to go to the doctor, even when they are sick, unless it is an emergency, and even then it can be a struggle. The reality is that annual checkups play an important role in a man’s long-term health. Here are some facts about men’s health that you should know and share with the men in your life:

• Statistically, men have shorter lifespans than women.
• Men are also less likely to have visited a doctor in the past year.
• This does not mean that men must accept declining health as a certainty. Lifestyle changes and regular doctor visits can vastly improve men’s quality of life and increase their lifespans.
• Starting at age 30, men should begin visiting their primary care physicians regularly. This is also a good age to begin assessing personal risk, based on family history, and start doing certain health screenings.
• The leading cause of death in men is heart disease. However, heart disease can often be controlled through lifestyle changes and medical care. Men should ask their doctor about their risks for cardiac issues.
• The top cancers affecting men are prostate, lung, colon, and skin cancer. There are also other cancers specific to men, such as testicular cancer, that can be fatal.
• Screenings for these and other cancers can catch them at an earlier stage, which make them easier to treat and increase the chances of survival.
  
  

Learn more about health and screening guidelines for men here.

The following blog post was written by Lexey Chandler, Communications Coordinator.

So how did a Northern California girl end up on the North Shore of Staten Island? I field this question on an almost weekly basis, so one would think I’d have a quick answer by now.

I always planned on college in Southern California. I never planned on college in Staten Island. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the way my life has panned out thus far, it’s that even if I think I have a plan, it will always without a doubt change.

I grew up a “classic” Californian, spending summers at the beach with a tan all year long. My childhood was spent playing every sport from softball to track and field to basketball, but my heart always resided in swimming. It wasn’t until 8th grade that I discovered water polo. I played my way through high school and was lucky enough to be offered an athletic scholarship that would bring me all the way out to New York City to attend the school up on the hill—Wagner College.

When I was presented with the opportunity to attend Wagner, my whole thought process changed. Could I really move so far from home? Could I really be an athlete who would perform at a Division I level? Could I really take such a large leap of faith with no guaranteed success?

My plans were up in the air, and everything I imagined for my future seemed wrong. I knew if I didn’t take a chance on the little liberal arts college in Staten Island, I would forever regret it. So, I finished my senior year of high school and moved all the way across the country. Unfortunately, I had to hang up my cap after two years of playing due to health issues, but I am forever grateful to water polo because it got me out to New York City.

Since my water polo career ended, I have never looked back. My whole world opened up after that point. I was able to meet people and have experiences I never could have had if I had still been on the team.

As I just started my position as the Communications Coordinator with the Office of the Borough President a mere two weeks post-graduation, I can whole-heartedly say that making that leap of faith was worth every minute of homesick phone calls and late night study sessions.
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Being almost 3,000 miles from my family can be rough at times, but I know this is the right path for me. Watching the sun set across the New York City skyline, whether on the Staten Island Ferry or while on the roof deck of my apartment in St. George, puts everything in perspective. I am so lucky to call one of the greatest cities in the world my home. I’m excited for the opportunity to further explore Staten Island and to understand what it is that makes this island tick. 

The following blog post was written by Renee Sarno, Community Events Coordinator.

What do you want to be when you grow up? That’s the question everyone asks you from the time you’re born until you graduate. Starting in 2nd grade, I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but once I got older, I started to consider other options. There are so many jobs out there, and as a student, I didn’t even know what some of them were!

The students at I.S. 61 are starting to think what they want to be when they grow up, beginning in 6th grade. I was recently asked to speak at the school’s Career Day as a young professional and alumna. Walking through the doors, ready to speak to the students, it brought me back to my 7th grade year. One of my teachers, Mr. Kantrowitz, asked my parents at my parent-teacher conference where I was thinking of going to college. My parents just looked at him, confused, because I was only in 7th grade. He told them that I should already start thinking about it. When it came time to apply to college several years later, my parents and I thought back on how he was right.

About 40 career professionals spoke to the 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes individually. The goal of Career Day was to get the children thinking beyond school and have them learn about different occupations they may never have even heard of. I spoke alongside firefighters, engineers, bakers, exercise professionals, bankers and a flight attendant. I spoke to five 8th grade classes and two 6th grade classes.

After introducing myself, and noting that I too attended I.S. 61, I was bombarded with questions from the students. They wanted to know everything from what education path I took to what I do for the Borough President. I brought up different programs our office has worked on, including Pave Baby Pave and Too Good for Drugs, and many of the students were familiar with these initiatives.  
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Then to my surprise, they started asking me about other projects happening on the Island. They wanted to know more about the NY Wheel, Empire Outlets, the mall expansion and even the Fast Ferry! Not only were these students learning about the Borough President’s office, they were fascinated about what is going on in their community.

It was a great experience for both the students and me. The students were engaged, and I believe that they are on the right track in their preparations for high school and beyond. This was a great way for the students to learn about different industries and occupations. I look forward to speaking to the kids again next year.