TIMES HERALD The Village
A Record of Pr otecting Our Families and Commun ity
• Protected ou
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Stony Brook • old Field • Strong’S neck • Setauket • eaSt Setauket • South Setauket • Poquot t • Pr otected our wa te
r quality
• Protected do
mestic violence
• Protected ou
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On Tuesday, No vember 3 rd Vote to Keep Kara Hahn as our Suffolk Co unty Legislat or. www.karaha hn.com Paid for by Frien
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October 15, 2015
Volume 40, No. 33
ds of Kara Hah
A bird’s-eye view with Jay Gammill
Also: ‘The Addams Family’ at the CMPAC, ‘Being There’ exhibit at Huntington Public Library
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Poquott still picking up pieces after storm North Shore community finalizing ways to dig out of August windfall
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West Meadow ranger returns Photos by Eric Santiago
residents gather around a park bench at West Meadow Beach on sunday for the chance to see former Brookhaven park ranger, Eileen Gerle, in green. By eric Santiago
More than 30 North Shore residents gathered around a park bench at West Meadow Beach on Sunday for the chance to see former Brookhaven park ranger, Eileen Gerle. The bench — which now bears a plaque commemorating Gerle’s work as an environmental educator — was dedicated to her after she retired and moved to Florida last year. “It’s hard to put into words,” said an emotional Gerle. “It’s very overwhelming and touching to be loved by so many people.” Gerle returned this week for a special Eagle Scout award ceremony of one of her former students just in time for a group of residents
and friends to seize the opportunity and formally show her the plaque and celebrate old times. “She was the best,” said Paul Feinberg, a West Meadow watchdog who helped organize the dedication along with a handful of other North Shore natives. They were all frequent guests at Gerle’s “Sundowner” beach parties, where they would drink wine, eat cheese and watch the sunset. When it was clear Gerle was going to retire, the group hatched a plan to honor her work. “We just decided that a simple plaque would be the nicest thing to do,” said Naomi Solo, a Port Jefferson resident who worked on the dedication. gERLE continued on page A12
Stony Brook sponsors Mather teaching transition By Phil Corso
Stony Brook is sending some fresh faces to one of its neighboring hospitals. Earlier this month, Stony Brook University Hospital heralded in a new partnership with John T. Mather Hospital that will transition the Port Jefferson facility from a community hospital into an academic teaching hub. But that doesn’t mean Mather will be losing its community-centric feel, officials with the hospital said. The partnership began in 2012 when Mather officials
started seeking advice from Stony Brook Medicine on how to establish a new graduate medical education program, and quickly evolved into Stony Brook Medicine’s sponsorship of the program. Mather welcomed its first class of nearly 100 residents studying internal medicine in July 2014 and it has been all systems go ever since. “It’s an investment in the future,” said Dr. Joan Faro, chief medical officer at Mather Hospital who works as the site’s designated institutional officer for the graduate medical education team and initially reached
out to Stony Brook Medicine to explore this partnership. “Our standards will be as high, or even higher, as they have been as they are passed down, and we are so fortunate to take advantage of [Stony Brook Medicine’s] expertise and guidance.” Under the new system, Stony Brook’s graduate medical education program reviews Mather’s selections for residency program directors and then Faro sends recommended candidates back to Stony Brook. The candidates are then interviewed and authorized for appointments. When Mather residents graduate, they
will receive a Stony Brook University Hospital crest alongside the Mather crest on their graduation certificates. With Stony Brook Medicine’s help, Mather has instituted its own de facto recruiting system for promising prospects in the medical arena. By inviting residents into Mather, the hospital is not only ingraining its culture into the learners at an early stage, but it is also setting them on a path that could potentially lead to long stays working there, Faro said. And with the recent HOSPITAL continued on page A9