Mount Sinai South Nassau Soirée To Support New Open-Heart Surgery Program

OCEANSIDE, NY — Mount Sinai South Nassau’s 2026 “Soirée Under the Stars” will raise money for the hospital’s expansion of cardiovascular services, including a planned open-heart surgery program on the South Shore.

The fundraiser will be held Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at The Lannin in Eisenhower Park. Proceeds will benefit the hospital’s “Bringing Heart Home” campaign, which supports expanding advanced cardiovascular services.

Hewlett Harbor resident Steven Gold, a longtime Mount Sinai South Nassau Advisory Board member and benefactor, will serve as the gala honoree.

Dr. Aaron E. Glatt, chair of the Department of Medicine, chief of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiologist, will receive the hospital’s Mary Pearson Award. Director of Nursing Nydia White will receive the Cupola Award.

The hospital will also present a special posthumous award to the family of the late Wayne Lipton, a longtime board member who co-chaired the gala for many years.

“Steven Gold is one of our longest serving volunteer board members, and he has been a supporter of the hospital for decades,” Interim President Dr. Joshua Kugler said. “Anytime we need something, he is there. He embodies the South Nassau spirit.”

Kugler also praised Glatt’s leadership of the Department of Medicine and White’s work as a nurse, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gold is known for his former leadership of Gold Pure Food Products, popularly known as Gold’s Horseradish, which his grandparents founded in Brooklyn in 1932. He spearheaded the company’s factory move to Hempstead in 1994 and served as president until the company was sold in 2015.

Gold has served on Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Advisory Board since 2011. He previously served as Development Committee chair and for many years co-chaired the Soirée, which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for hospital facilities, services and medical technology, according to the hospital.

Glatt has served as the hospital’s chair of medicine and chief of infectious diseases since November 2015. He was also the hospital’s lead infectious disease expert during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped lead initiatives involving monoclonal antibody treatments, vaccines and the hospital’s Vaxmobile.

White has spent her entire 22-year nursing career at Mount Sinai South Nassau, much of it in critical care. She worked alongside critical care nurses during the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and now helps oversee patient care and nursing operations in surgical and intensive care units.

Funds raised through the Soirée will support the hospital’s planned introduction of advanced cardiac surgical services, including adult open-heart surgery. The expansion also calls for an additional Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology Lab and a new CT-Angiography Lab.

The advanced cardiac and open-heart surgery program is expected to launch later this year and will be overseen by surgeons and clinical leaders from Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in Manhattan. Surgeons from Manhattan will be on site in Oceanside to perform advanced cardiac procedures, according to the hospital.

News 12 personalities Erin Colton and Joe Arena will serve as masters of ceremonies. The event will feature an extended cocktail hour, music, dancing and a mentalist.

For more information, tickets or sponsorship opportunities, contact Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Development Office at 516-377-5360.