12th Annual Mack-Cali 5K Race To Benefit White Plains Hospital’s NICU

Oct. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- White Plains Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which has delivered and cared for more than 5,000  premature and at-risk infants since it opened 17 years go, will be the beneficiary of the 12th Annual Mack-Cali Realty Corporation/ City of White Plain’s 5K race.
   
Participants of all ages will gather at the intersection of Maple and Davis Avenues near the Hospital’s complex on Saturday, October 16, to begin “The Run for Miracles” at 9 a.m. The youth race will begin at 8:30 am.

To attract more participants Mack-Cali and the City of White Plains Department of Recreation and Parks announced changes to this year’s race. The White Plains Business Improvement District (BID) will join Mack-Cali, the City and White Plains Hospital in sponsoring and coordinating the event. In addition, “The Run for Miracles” will include a one-mile walk and a youth race, thereby appealing to a broader array of participants— runners, walkers and families.  A more scenic route located closer to the Hospital will take participants through the Highlands section of White Plains.

Members of the NICU staff will also participate in the 5K. Kathleen Scofield, RN, who has been on the NICU nursing staff since 2007, said: “I am very proud to have been associated with this NICU which has been a major and valuable  resource for thousands of families and their newborns throughout the region. I am looking forward to running in this 5K to benefit our NICU.”

Dr. Jesus Jaile-Marti, Chief, Neonatology at White Plains Hospital, said: “The NICU at White Plains Hospital offers one of the most advanced programs in the area and provides state-of-art monitoring, physical therapy, and respiratory and nutritional support for the babies. We are so appreciative of the efforts of all involved in this exciting event. Funds raised will allow us to advance some of the next generation of safety initiatives and help ensure the hospital staff can continue to provide the most extraordinary care for the newborns and their families.”

According to the March of Dimes, prematurity has been escalating over the past two decades. Today, in the U.S, one out of eight babies is born prematurely (less than 37 months of gestation) and pre-term delivery can happen to any woman.

The Hospital opened the new and expanded NICU in 2001 as part of the William and Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center Unit where more than 400 (number?) preemies were delivered in 2009.  It features labor and delivery suites, a maternity pavilion and a neonatology pavilion that all have comprehensive state-of-the-art medical equipment and 24-hour coverage by board-certified neonatologists and neonatal-trained registered nurses.  The Unit has 15 beds for infants born as early as 24 weeks, including three isolation rooms for immune-deficient, contagious and surgical newborns.

To reserve for “The Run for Miracles,” visit http://www.wphospital.org.

About Mack-Cali Realty Corporation: Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is a fully-integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) providing management, leasing, development, construction and other tenant-related services for its class A real estate portfolio. Mack-Cali owns or has interests in 287 properties, primarily office and office/flex buildings located in the Northeast, totaling approximately 32.9 million square feet. The properties enable the Company to provide a full complement of real estate opportunities to its diverse base of approximately 2,100 tenants.

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White Plains Hospital is a 292-bed voluntary, not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of offering high quality, acute health care and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Treatment Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center, The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center, and The Westchester Orthopedic Institute. The Hospital has the busiest Emergency Department in Westchester County, treating nearly 50,000 patients a year. White Plains Hospital is the only hospital in Westchester County licensed to perform emergency & elective angioplasty. The Hospital is an eight-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation. WPHC is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and the Stellaris Health Network, Inc.