St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center

11/21/2025

Dr. Omar Khalique, Director of Cardiovascular Imaging, is Co-Chair of the writing group with The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) - they published comprehensive research on imaging for structural heart disease. Read more:

Published in JSCAI, the statement outlines how ICE can improve safety, efficiency, and patient access across structural heart interventions.

11/14/2025

Our Gastrointestinal Surgery team wears purple, for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. This is the team that cares for our brave patients. If you or a loved one need care pertaining to GI surgery, please call 516 627 5262.

11/13/2025

St. Francis has earned its 26th Leapfrog A rating, more “A” grades than any hospital in New York State since the safety scores launched in 2012.

https://www.catholichealthli.org/news/catholic-health-hospitals-once-again-earn-hospital-safety-grade-leapfrog-group

11/13/2025

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center has earned its 16th consecutive and 26th overall “A” grade for hospital safety from The Leapfrog Group. St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center has received more “A” grades than any hospital in New York State since the safety scores launched in 2012. Its nationally ranked cardiovascular services and innovations are now available at other Catholic Health hospitals, as well as many of the system’s Ambulatory Care sites. Every Catholic Health cardiologist is part of St. Francis Heart Center.

11/12/2025

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. We wear purple in honor of the brave people who fight this illness. 💜

11/11/2025

November flurries outside of the St. Francis chapel ❄️

11/11/2025

This Veterans Day, our Field of Honor stands outside of our hospital, recognizing all of the brave veterans. Thank you to the Guild of St. Francis Hospital for organizing this beautiful display every year. 🇺🇸

11/06/2025

On Wednesday, we assembled at our Field of Honor and celebrated our veterans and their service to our country. Thank you to The Guild of St. Francis Hospital and Christina Engel for organizing our Field of Honor tribute in anticipation of Veteran’s Day. Sr. Pauline led us with a prayer. Veterans from the local Port Washington VFW joined us, reading an emotional poem about the history of our flag. One veteran, 99 years old, served in World War II - he was deployed to the Pacific region. It was an honor to spend time with him, as well as his fellow servicemen. We also had the privilege of being joined by Jennifer DeSena, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor, Elaine Phillips, Nassau County Comptroller, and Randall Rosenbaum, Mayor, Village of Flower Hill. We express our gratitude to current Guild President, Pam Blank, Event Chair, Joan Durso Serra and the entire Guild Board, for being a part of the St. Francis Hospital Mission of providing the highest quality care with compassion. During the month of November, the Field of Honor serves as a visual reminder of all who sacrificed on our behalf to keep us safe and free.

11/06/2025

Doctors Eugene Rubach, Gary Gecelter and Sandeep Anantha recently performed the first Robotic Whipple procedure at Catholic Health, at St. Francis Hospital. This advanced minimally invasive surgical procedure is performed to treat patients with pancreatic cancer and periampullary tumors. Dr. Anantha explains, “In the realm of cancer surgery, the Whipple procedure is one of the most complex procedures, requiring highly skilled staff, performed at high acuity hospitals with excellent patient outcomes. Now, we are proud to have the opportunity to perform it with the state of the art Robotic technology at Catholic Health. Traditionally, this complex operation is performed with a large abdominal incision. With the high definition camera and articulating robotic instruments, we can perform the surgery with precision, achieving similar results. The minimally invasive approach allows for less pain, efficient recovery and better patient satisfaction.”

11/04/2025

Last week, the Interventional Cardiology team transmitted a successful case of BASILICA as a Live Case to TCT (the biggest interventional cardiology conference in North America). Dr. Jaffar Khan, Director, Cardiovascular Innovation Services, explains, “Being selected as a live case site for TCT is a rare honour and only a handful of leading centres from around the world are selected. Here’s a picture of the whole team in the OR at the conclusion of the case.”