Although Dr. Ringo suggested that I chat with him again in a couple of months as more details of his interim position unfold, I took the opportunity to find out more about him, Sinai Hospital and LifeBridge Health.

BJL: How long have you been associated with Sinai and LifeBridge Health and in what capacity?

JR: I did my clinical training here as both a medical student and a resident. Five of my six children were born here; my wife was born here; my mother-in-law [Dr. Aviva Weisbord] was born here; so, I have a very long history with Sinai.

BJL: How will you divide your time between your interim administrative duties and clinical practice at Sinai Hospital? 

JR: The final details of the responsibilities and how I will divide my time are still being worked out, but I do plan on continuing to practice clinically. That is something that is very important to me. I think it informs the work that I do; it allows me to see and understand what is happening throughout the hospital and be able to have a better perspective of what our employees go through every single day.

BJL: Please share something about your family with our readers.

JR: I am a native of South Africa. I relocated to Baltimore because my wife, Devora Meira, is from here. We have, Baruch Hashem, six children, and we live on Yeshiva Lane, in the house that my wife grew up in. I think it is a tremendous zechus to be able to live on Yeshiva Lane and be so close to the Beis Medrash; at the end of the day, to come home and have that right there is wonderful.

BJL: Do Sinai Hospital and LifeBridge Health have employee recognition and rewards programs​?​

JR: Yes, we do. We have a number of significant employee recognition and rewards programs. Employees are, of course, our most important assets. We really value their contributions very highly. There are educational programs that we sponsor for our employees, there are reward and recognition programs that focus on both short-term and long-term rewards.

​BJL: ​Please discuss Sinai and LifeBridge Health's efforts to promote disease prevention and wellness.

JR: Sinai’s mission is to maintain and improve the health of the communities that we serve, and we have a number of different initiatives that have been expanded upon over the past few years. We have chronic disease prevention programs, diabetes education programs, community health workers, violence and abuse prevention programs, educational programs and a number of population health programs--in which we really help people in the community understand wellness and disease so they can put in place preventative measures; that is obviously something that is very important. A wide variety of activities are happening in this area.

BJL: ​What steps can patients take who are facing a hospitalization?

JR: I think the most significant things for patients facing hospitalization are both education—the understanding of the disease process as much as possible, from those who are giving them their care—and being able to advocate for themselves. Hospitals are complex organisms and a lot of things are occurring all the time, so to be able to effectively advocate is something that I think is also important.

BJL: What if the patient is not in the position to advocate for himself/herself, and no one to advocate on their behalf?

JR: We have patient advocacy services. That is something that we are always looking at and always expanding, I think in terms of educating our staff about the needs of a wide range of communities and how they would experience and relate to their health care; providing that education to the patients so that they can effectively advocate for themselves; and providing education to our staff so they can advocate on behalf of the person.

BJL: If the patient needs those advocacy services does the Sinai staff need to be alerted or does the hospital automatically provide those services?

JR: Every single floor in the hospital has social workers, case managers, and others who go around to all the patients and can help them understand what resources are available. Everyone has a board in their room telling them who their nurse, charge nurse and attending physician are. They can always ask their nurse questions or, if they are not able to reach their nurse, speak to the charge nurse. We always try to make sure that the patients are educated as to what their different opportunities are to advocate for themselves.

BJL: Please share your feelings regarding your interim appointment.

JR: Sinai has a 150-year history of service and tradition to the community, and I am just really honored and humbled to be put into this position to be able to work with people who have really done so much for the community. Neil Meltzer, who was the president, and Amy Perry, our current president, have really done phenomenal things for this organization. Whatever role I can play to help build on this tradition, I am really so proud to be able to do that.