Southside Hospital Participates in Mulligan Middle School Career Night

Southside Hospital employees from various departments addressed the students at Central Islip school district’s Mulligan Middle School on October 21.

Harold Fernandez, MD, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Southside Hospital and system director of surgical heart failure at Northwell Health, was the event’s keynote speaker. He told the young audience about how he overcame adversity – being an undocumented immigrant – to become a top New York physician.

“It has been important for me throughout my career to work very hard to ensure my success,” Dr. Fernandez said. “I would encourage all young people to put in the appropriate amount of effort into their school work and studies.”

Other Southside Hospital speakers included Michael Nolan, RN, and Kenneth Swaine, RN, from the hospital’s operating room; Steven Fishman, a paramedic with the Northwell Health Center for Emergency Medical Services; Jenny Assael and Leah Pasquarella from Southside’s food and nutrition services department; Marie Brukhardt, NP, from Southside’s radiation oncology unit. Each of them chronicled what steps they took to get where they are today.