[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5544-5546]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          MONMOUTH MEDICAL CENTER PRESENTS THE PINNACLE AWARDS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 12, 2000

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, April 15, 2000, Monmouth 
Medical Center in Long Beach, NJ, will present the sixth biannual 
Physician Recognition Dinner and the presentation of the Pinnacle 
Awards. The event will be held at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank, 
NJ.
  Mr. Speaker, these awards will be presented in recognition of six 
physicians whose contributions have helped to establish Monmouth 
Medical Center as one of the foremost community teaching hospitals in 
New Jersey. The six outstanding physician recipients of the Pinnacle 
Award for 2000 have been leaders and achievers. Each has devoted a 
lifetime of faithful service to Monmouth Medical Center, exemplifying 
the ideals and traditions of the practice of medicine. More 
importantly, they have devoted a lifetime of service to the care and 
healing of innumerable grateful patients.
  The Pinnacle Awards are presented on behalf of the entire household 
family, by authority of the administration of Monmouth Medical Center 
and the Medical and Dental Staff. The recipients of the Pinnacle Awards 
are:
  Richard A. Daniels, M.D. Besides practicing medicine, Dr. Daniels has 
had another love for the past 49 years--teaching it. Although he 
officially retired from his internal medicine practice last year, he 
can still be seen on the patient floors of Monmouth Medical Center, 
providing one-to-one instruction to medical school students and medical 
residents. Dr. Daniels has been actively involved in Monmouth's medical 
education program since the early 1960s. Throughout his career, he's 
placed a major focus on cardiology, serving as president of the 
Monmouth County Heart Association. Later, he combined that interest 
with geriatric medicine, becoming board certified in that specialty.
  A 1955 graduate of the State University of New York, Dr. Daniels 
completed his residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, 
New York, serving as chief resident in his final year of training. He 
then spent two years in the military as chief of medicine at the Air 
Force Hospital in Minot, ND. He joined Monmouth's attending staff in 
1961, and entered into private practice the same year. Since 1968, he 
has been an associate clinical professor at MCP Hahnamann School of 
Medicine, the teaching affiliate of Monmouth Medical Center. Dr. 
Daniels is a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a 
fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Society 
of Internal Medicine, and a member of the Teachers of Family Practice 
and an associate of the American College of Cardiology. His research 
work has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, American 
Journal of Medicine and New Jersey Medicine.
  Dr. Daniels and his wife Norma divide their time between Long Beach 
and Vermont. They have two sons, Steven and Jeffrey, both of whom are 
doctors--as is one of their sons-in-laws. They also have two daughters, 
Cathy Zukerman, an architect, and Barrie Markowitz, a director at 
American Express. Their four children have presented Dr. and Mrs. 
Daniels 12 grandchildren.
  Barry D. Elbaum, D.D.S. Since joining Monmouth Medical Center's 
Medical and Dental Staff in 1996, Dr. Elbaum, an oral and maxillofacial 
surgeon, has been a driving force in the growth of the Department of 
Dentistry. For the past 11 years, Dr. Elbaum has served as department 
chairman. Under his leadership, the number of dentists on the attending 
staff has quadrupled to 80 dentists. Having established his discipline 
as a major department that holds a permanent seat on the hospital's 
Medical Executive Committee, Dr. Elbaum is credited with changing the 
attending staff's official name to the Medical and Dental Staff. The 
dentists on the staff, under Dr. Elbaum's guidance, provide instruction 
to four resident dentists each year, providing hands-on training in one 
of the busiest facilities of its kind in the state. He has also offered 
direction in bringing in the most advanced dental and oral techniques. 
He has also helped to raise significant funds to establish the Samuel 
Elbaum Continuing Dental Education Program. He is also in private 
practice at several locations in Monmouth County.
  Born in Poland, Dr. Elbaum is a Holocaust survivor who was 12 years 
old when he came to the United States in 1950. During his three-month 
stay at Ellis Island, he mastered both the English language and table 
tennis, which he later won a championship in. He graduated from the New 
York University College of Dentistry in 1962. After a four-year 
residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, he established his 
practice in Asbury Park, NJ. He became chairman of the oral and 
maxillofacial

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surgery and dental implantology, Dr. Elbaum is a fell of the American 
and International Sciences of oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and of the 
American Dental Society of Anesthesiology. He is also a former board 
member of the Jewish Community Center and the United Jewish Federation.
  Dr. Elbaum's wife Libbie, a certified public accountant, has been 
involved in the bookkeeping and financial activities of her husband's 
practice. Their son, Jeffrey Elbaum, D.D.S., and their daughter, Gayle 
Elbaum Krost, D.D.S., have both followed in their father's footsteps. 
Gayle's husband, Brian Krost, D.M.D., is also a practicing dentist. 
Their other daughter, Rochelle Matalon, has completed a master's degree 
in social work, and her husband, Albert Matalon, M.D. is completing a 
fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. The Elbaum's, who 
live in Ocean Township, NJ, have nine grandchildren.
  Carlos G. Garcia, M.D. In 1963, Dr. Garcia fled Cuba with his 
pregnant wife, young son and sister-in-law. Thirteen years later, he 
opened a private practice in cardiology in Long Branch, and has gone on 
to become one of the most well respected cardiologists in the region, 
having served as director of Cardiology at Monmouth Medical Center for 
15 years before his retirement last year.
  Dr. Garcia began his medical training in Cuba, where he also worked 
as an EKG technician for a cardiologist. The political unrest and the 
intolerable social and political pressures of the Castro communist 
dictatorship compelled him to seek a better life in the U.S. After a 
brief stay in Miami, Dr. Garcia and his family moved to New York. He 
eventually found a job at Mount Sinai Hospital, and then continued his 
studies in Spain. After earning his medical degree, he returned to the 
U.S. to continue his postgraduate education at Monmouth Medical Center, 
where he completed an internship and residency in internal medicine. He 
entered private practice in 1970, the same year he became a member of 
Monmouth Medical Center's Medical and Dental Staff. Three years later, 
the Garcias became naturalized U.S. citizens. In 1984, Dr. Garcia was 
named acting director of Cardiology at Monmouth Medical, and he soon 
assumed that post in a permanent capacity. During his tenure, the 
Department made major strides, providing the full range of services to 
patients, from the first signs of a heart attack through treatment, 
recovery and rehabilitation. One of the highlights of his tenure was 
the 1996 opening of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.
  Dr. Garcia and his wife Josephine are long-time residents of West 
Long Branch, NJ. Their daughter Maria is a registered nurse and 
lactation consultant, and their son Carlos is president of a managed 
care brokerage. They have five grandchildren. Dr. Garcia's brother, 
Juan Garcia, M.D., is also a practicing physician in the Central New 
Jersey area. The Garcias have relatives in Miami and some in Cuba, whom 
they hope to see soon.
  H. Lawrence Karasic, M.D. During his 35 years with Monmouth Medical 
Center's Department of Anesthesiology, Dr. Karasic has witnessed much 
change among his ranks on the surgical floor. The department has grown 
from a staff of four to 20 anesthesiologists, many of whom completed 
their residency training at Monmouth Medical. Monitoring equipment has 
become more sophisticated and anesthetic agents are more effective. The 
surgeons they support are also becoming ever more effective in saving 
lives, treating illnesses and reducing recovery times. Throughout those 
years, Dr. Karasic has remained committed to medical education, a 
dedication that was recognized when he received the 1999 Alumnus of the 
Year Award from MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine, which provides 
clinical training for more than 300 Hahnemann students each year. Since 
1982, he has served as associate clinical professor of anesthesiology 
at Hahnemann.
  Dr. Karasic earned his medical degree from Philadelphia-based medical 
school, where he completed his internship and residency. He spent two 
years in the military, as the head of anesthesiology at the U.S. Naval 
Hospital in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before joining Monmouth's attending 
staff in 1965. He served as coordinator of medical education in 
anesthesia and became instrumental in establishing the hospital's fully 
accredited anesthesiology residency program in 1982. For the next four 
years, he filled a dual role as department chairman and residency 
program director. Throughout his career, he has served on many 
clinical, educational and peer-related committees of Monmouth Medical 
Center, Hahnemann and the American Society of Anesthesiologists. From 
1993 to 1996, he was clinical director or anesthesia for O.R. 
operations at Monmouth. He is a diplomat of the American Board of 
Anesthesiology and a fellow of the American College of 
Anesthesiologists.
  Dr. Karasic's wife, Honey Karasic, owns and operates the Back Relief 
and Comfort Store in Oakhurst, NJ. Mrs. Karasic's business often 
provides much needed relief for the doctor after he engages in two of 
his favorite activities, downhill skiing and racquetball. The Karasics 
have four children--Robert, Shara, Leslie and Neal--and two 
grandchildren--Zachary and Emily.
  Albert A. Rienzo, M.D. The opening last year of the Cranmer 
Ambulatory Surgery Center at the Monmouth Medical Center campus last 
year marked the beginning of a new era in otolaryngology. For Dr. 
Rienzo, the center's debut marked the culmination of years of hard work 
to bring state-of-the-art surgical systems to the region, paving the 
way for him and his colleagues to perform the latest procedures in 
treating disorders of the ears, nose and throat. The center is now 
performing three of the most advanced procedures offered at any medical 
facility in the nation, employing high-tech equipment and techniques to 
achieve an unprecedented degree of precision, safety, painlessness and 
non-invasiveness.
  A member of Monmouth's Medical and Dental Staff for 25 years, Dr. 
Rienzo has served as section chief of Ear, Nose and Throat since 1980, 
participating in the many initiatives that have shaped this surgical 
specialty over the past two decades. Under his leadership, 
otolaryngologists at Monmouth became the first in the region to perform 
endoscopic functional sinus surgery to treat chronic sinus disease. 
They also pioneered the removal of benign or malignant lesions from the 
larynx with minimally invasive techniques. During the early 1990s, Dr. 
Rienzo established the Department of Rehabilitation Services' Vocal 
Dynamics Laboratory. He also served as director of Monmouth's cochlear 
implant program, which was one of only three designated by the state to 
perform the surgical procedure, which involves placing an electrical 
device in the inner ear of a profoundly deaf patient to restore 
hearing.
  A 1966 graduate of the University of Bologna School of Medicine in 
Italy, Dr. Rienzo completed his internship and surgical residency at 
Monmouth. He also served in the military, serving for a year as 
director of the ENT clinic at the U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Devens, 
MA. After continued training at the Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, he 
returned to Monmouth Medical Center in 1974, and also established 
private practice in Long Branch. He has been active in the medical 
education program, and is a clinical senior instructor at MCP Hahnemann 
School of Medicine. Dr. Rienzo is a member of the American Academy of 
Otolaryngology and the International Society of Otolaryngologists.
  A resident of Rumson, NJ, Dr. Rienzo has three children--Anthony, 
Caroline and Benedetta. His daughter Elsa died three years ago. He is 
one of six physicians in the Rienzo family.
  Charles Sills, M.D. Dr. Sills has been at the forefront of the high 
technology boom that continues to revolutionize the field of surgery. 
Since joining the Medical and Dental Staff of Monmouth Medical Center 
in 1968, Dr. Sills, a thoracic surgeon, has played a major role in 
maintaining Monmouth's leadership position in New Jersey for excellence 
in the field. During the mid-1980s, Dr. Sills introduced laser surgery 
to Monmouth and Ocean counties as the first to perform endobronchial 
laser surgery. Since then, Monmouth Medical has been on the cutting 
edge of bringing to the region minimally invasive procedures, allowing 
for procedures to be performed on internal organs without the trauma of 
open surgery.
  For the past nine years, after spending a year as vice president of 
the Medical and Dental Staff, Dr. Sills has been chairman of the 
Department of Surgery and director of the general surgery residency 
program, which provides training to resident physicians who plan to 
enter the surgical field or to those who seek surgery training for 
preparation to enter other medical specialties. In 1994, he guided a 
multidisciplinary medical team that earned Monmouth the distinction of 
being the only hospital in New Jersey to participate in the Lung Volume 
Reduction Surgery study, which provides significant relief to emphysema 
patients.
  A 1967 graduate of Chicago Medical School, Dr. Sills completed a 
five-year residency program in general surgery at Albert Einstein 
College of Medicine in New York. He received fellowship training in 
surgery from the National Institutes of Health before embarking on 
cardiothoracic surgery training there and at Montefiore Hospital in New 
York. After joining Monmouth in 1968, he entered private practice five 
years later. Since 1975, he has been a clinical associate professor of 
surgery at MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine. He is a fellow of the 
American College of Surgeons and the American College of Chest 
Physicians. He

[[Page 5546]]

is also a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American 
Society of Laser Surgery, and other professional societies.
  Not content to have mastered one field, Dr. Sills is an undergraduate 
student at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of Fine Arts, and 
plans to seek his master of fine arts degree there. His sculpture has 
been exhibited in New Jersey and New York. Dr. Sills and his wife 
Caryl, chairman of Monmouth University's English Department, live in 
Rumson, NJ. They have three sons--Peter, Keith and Adam--and two 
grandsons--Liam and Zachary.

                          ____________________