Good health is more than a matter of simply eating well and getting enough sleep and exercise. That’s a great start, of course, but equally important are regular checkups, timely medical screenings — and top-notch medical professionals. When it comes to choosing a doctor, you need to find someone you can trust — someone who is not only easy to talk to, but also highly qualified and well-versed regarding medical breakthroughs and cutting-edge techniques.
How to find the perfect doctor? One resource is the medical data research firm Castle Connolly, which asked local doctors, hospital administrators and other medical staff to nominiate the “top” doctors in their own, and related, specialities. After compiling the results and verifying the physician’s education and credentials, the firm produced the following list; it includes 86 doctors representing 35 specialities, from allergists to pediatric cardiologists to vascular surgeons.
This list, of course, is just a starting point. Only you can decide if a particular doctor is right for your particular health needs.
Here’s to your health!
Meet our top doctors »
Wendy Parish, M.D.
Dermatology
Kingston. 845-331-2677
The medical field has played a big role in Dr. Wendy Parish’s life ever since she was a little girl.
“My dad was a dermatologist — he’s retired now. When I was young, after work he would bring home interesting stories about his day,” she recalls. “It might be something relating to a mystery or problem-solving, like how he figured out what someone was allergic to that they were coming in contact with. As a child, that was what intrigued me about medicine – the mysteries and problem-solving.”
And even as a youngster growing up in Westchester County, she was drawn to math and science. “I remember when my mom read me the story of the scientist Edward Jenner and his development of the smallpox vaccine. I loved that story,” Dr. Parish recalls.
By the time she reached college, Dr. Parish was not only on track to become a physician, but was a serious language student, too. She created an independent major in Russian at Cornell University, while also following a premed program. “I’d taken Russian in high school and wanted to continue it without narrowing my studies down strictly to science and medicine,” Dr. Parish explains.
She even traveled to Russia as a student. “It was actually a great balance, taking Russian classes and premed at college. The Russian classes would have maybe 10 or 20 students in them, while it seemed like there were thousands in premed,” she recalls.
She went on to graduate from medical school at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, followed by an internal medicine internship at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, then a dermatology residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Dr. Parish specializes in dermatopathology, a subspecialty of dermatology and pathology in which skin diseases are studied at a microscopic level. “It’s a specialized area of medicine, in which you analyze skin specimens under a microscope in order to become expert in diagnosing them.” And with an estimated 1,500 or more different types of skin rashes and skin tumors, there’s plenty to study. Dr. Parish honed her skills even further with a fellowship in dermatopathology at the Medical University of South Carolina.
She’s now in solo practice in Kingston, and sees about 100 patients a week, treating everything from skin cancer and precancerous conditions, to rashes and acne, as well as removing warts, moles, and other growths.
“I like to be down-to-earth in my medical practice; to me it’s really important to talk with patients and bond with them,” she says.
During her free time, the single mom’s hobbies include gardening, Pilates, daily walking, and cross-country skiing. “I love to get outdoors and exercise as much as I can.”
She says of her medical practice: “People are grateful for all kinds of things. Some patients are immensely relieved when they get treated for skin cancer and it’s caught early, but the situation doesn’t have to be that dramatic. Sometimes it’s just having a facial mole removed that you were always self-conscious about, or treating a recurrent rash or acne that you’d put up with for a long time.
“One patient had a skin condition where she’d been sent to have nerve studies done and even went to a neurosurgeon. Nobody was exactly sure what it was. But when I examined her, within two seconds I could identify it, in this instance. That’s the payoff of the specialized training.”
Dr. Parish especially likes treating older patients. “To me, it’s very rewarding to give back to the elderly. Some of them aren’t always tended to socially, but when we start talking, they have such rich stories and life experiences to share. It’s a dear part of my practice.”
Next appointment: Dr. John Bosso, West Nyack
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John Bosso, M.D.
Allergy and Immunology
West Nyack. 845-353-9600
Back when he was in high school in New York City, Dr. John Bosso discovered the magic of science that ultimately led him to a medical career.
“I loved science and did very well in science classes,” he recalls. “And after one advanced biology course that was primarily focused on human anatomy and physiology, I realized I wanted to be a physician. That was the first inclination.”
He went on to graduate from SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine and complete his internal medicine residency at Staten Island University Hospital and SUNY Downstate Medical Center, as well as a fellowship in allergy/immunology at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in California.
Dr. Bosso specializes in allergies and immunology. “I began to gravitate to that field during my medical residency,” he says. “It was partly because I like diagnostic challenges; the detective work of a difficult diagnosis. With asthma, for instance, I like the process of diagnosing someone with a specific sensitivity based on various clues in their medical history and laboratory tests. There’s a combination of science and a bit of art to making a diagnosis.”
Studying with experts also fired his love for the field as a medical student. “I had some great mentors, people like the late Elliott Middletown, Jr., who was editor of one of the standard textbooks on allergies. He was a giant in the field.”
Dr. Bosso, who is board certified in internal medicine and allergy and immunology, says the pace of immunology studies really started to take off in the 1980s. “It was when the AIDS epidemic started. A lot of immunology research was being done, which also helped the allergy field become more understandable.”
He has been in practice for 19 years in Rockland County, and serves as medical director of Allergy and Asthma Consultants of Rockland and Bergen, with offices in West Nyack and Westwood, N.J. He and his wife and three daughters live in New City. When he’s not busy in the office, Dr. Bosso can often be found on the tennis court; he’s also a “devout Mets fan, for 40 years” and collects baseball memorabilia.
For many years, Dr. Bosso, who also serves as chief of the Allergy and Immunology Department at Nyack Hospital, has used an innovative process called aspirin desensitization to treat some asthma patients.
“When I was at the Scripps Clinic in the 1980s, it was the national referral center for aspirin desensitization.” He explains that aspirin desensitization is used primarily for patients with adult-onset asthma and severe sinus polyps. “These people are really uncomfortable; they have frequent sinus surgery, and their asthma tends to progress. When they take aspirin or any substance in the aspirin family, they tend to have an acute asthma attack.”
By gradually exposing them to increased doses of aspirin over a few days, Dr. Bosso says, patients no longer react negatively to it. “And we found that if they continued to take aspirin, it actually helped decrease asthma and sinus inflammation.” Once considered an experimental procedure, it’s now a widely used treatment.
In 2004, Dr. Bosso set up a regional referral center for aspirin desensitization at Nyack Hospital, which has treated about 300 patients in five years. “We have received referrals from as far north as Albany; as far east as Montauk, Long Island; as far west as Lancaster, Pa.; and as far south as Atlantic City.”
What’s the wave of the future in the allergy field? “It’s not available yet, but I hope we’ll see a treatment for potential food allergens like peanuts in the next few years. It’s not ready for prime time yet, but some exciting progress is being made.”
Such a breakthrough would no doubt be welcome — for patient and doctors alike. “That’s because, for many years, all physicians could do for food-allergy patients was basically diagnose what they’re sensitive to — which is important — and arm them with emergency medication to have available in case of accidental exposure. That, and just educate them about avoidance.
“So it would be a lot more satisfying, as a physician, to be able to treat the disease, as opposed to just being able to tell people to avoid the substance they’re allergic to and be prepared for emergencies.”
Dr. Bosso says his field is truly rewarding when he “cracks” an especially tough case. “When you treat someone with a difficult chronic allergy or severe asthma — somebody who’s been through a lot — and you’re able to help them in diagnosis, treatment and really change their quality of life, you feel the professional rewards. But you also feel great about the human side.
“So for me, the two factors in medicine that are the most interesting are the medical challenges and the personal satisfaction in seeing people do well.”
Next appointment: Dr. R. Clifford Mihail, Fishkill
R. Clifford Mihail, M.D., FAAO
Otolaryngology
Fishkill. 845-231-5458
For R. Clifford Mihail, M.D., FAAO, it wasn’t exactly a case of growing up in a “like father, like son” scenario.
Mihail’s dad is also a doctor, and Mihail explains, “He’s certainly an inspirational figure in my life, and he did allow me to get a very realistic view, at a young age, of what life is like as a doctor. But I’m not sure I decided to go into medicine just because of it.”
In fact, recalls Mihail, who was born in Romania and grew up in Queens, N.Y., medicine wasn’t his first career choice. “Initially, I was going to study French literature. But somewhere along the line I realized I could have an impact on more people’s lives as a doctor, compared to becoming a French scholar.”
He went on to study medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., on an Army health professional scholarship, and did an internship and fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. He also spent a number of years in the military.
Dr. Mihail has been part of the Mid-Hudson Medical Group in Fishkill for more than four years, and is board certified in otolaryngology and facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. He is also affiliated with Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie.
“My practice is fairly broad. As one person, I encompass the entire speciality of ENT (ear, nose and throat),” he laughs. On a given day he might see patients of all ages with anything from head or neck cancers (“fortunately, these cancers aren’t too common; they make up perhaps 10 percent of my practice”) to sleep apnea, problems with the thyroid gland, allergy or sinus issues, and related conditions.
Dr. Mihail treats many patients with sleep apnea. The result of airway blockages, this common, sometimes-dangerous disorder causes a sleeping person to stop breathing for 10 to 20 seconds or more during an episode, which (in some cases) can recur dozens of times an hour throughout the night.
“Some of the newer treatments for sleep apnea involve dealing not only with the soft palate at the top of the throat, but the tongue, as well,” says Dr. Mihail. In the past, he explains, some treatments could be aggressive, such as repositioning the tongue to create more space at the back of the mouth. “Now there’s a new device called a coblator that allows us to reduce the volume at the back part of the tongue; it seems to help in many cases.”
He also prescribes tried-and-true treatments such as a mask-like unit known as a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (or CPAP) device that’s worn over the patient’s face while sleeping. “It’s not sexy, but it’s extremely effective as long as the patient sticks with using it,” Dr. Mihail says.
When it comes to surgery, “the trend is definitely toward more minimally invasive procedures,” he notes. “For instance, thyroid surgery can now be done with a much smaller scar,” and is sometimes performed with a tiny camera-like device called a laparoscope. This so-called “keyhole surgery” involves using very small incisions “and in many cases, helps with a faster recovery,” he says.
And since Dr. Mihail deals with many allergy cases – especially in this warm-weather time of the year – minimally invasive treatments are a boon. “For instance, with sinus surgery, sometimes less is more. We can do a small treatment in an area that helps several of the sinuses drain at once. It can be done with minimal discomfort for the patient, and it has a dramatic effect on their quality of life.”
Many of his allergy patients are kids. “I’d say the biggest drawback in allergy treatments for children is when there’s a need for injections. They hate those needles. There’s a new technique called sublingual immunotherapy, where flavored drops of allergen solution are given under the tongue. It’s much better tolerated by the kids.”
When he isn’t busy in the office, Dr. Mihail, who is married with two children and lives in Putnam County, loves to travel. And he admits that hitting the road is one way to maintain his lifelong love for all things French. “I’m still fluent and I try to get to France about once a year. My wife sometimes jokingly calls me ‘Euro-centric.’ I’m a diehard Francophile,” he adds.
Next appointment: Dr. Joseph Appel, Kingston
Joseph Appel, M.D.
Pediatrics
Kingston. 845-331-4484
When asked what they want to be when they grow up, lots of kids say they’d like to go into medicine someday. But Joseph Appel really meant it. “I declared ‘doctor’ my chosen career in my elementary school autograph book,” he laughs.
His early love of science was primarily influenced by an uncle, says Dr. Appel, who grew up in Brooklyn. “And Louis Pasteur, the scientist, was one of my heroes. I remember once, on a trip to Washington, D.C. when I was 15 years old, I even dragged my friends to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.”
He grew up to graduate from Hunter College in New York, and lived for a time in Aruba, Israel, and Belgium, where he graduated from the University of Brussels School of Medicine. He returned to the U.S. to complete his residency in pediatrics at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
A two-year stint as an emergency physician led to, as Dr. Appel puts it, “unrestrained enthusiasm for a career in pediatrics.”
He’s been in practice in the Hudson Valley since 1979. The former chairman of pediatrics at Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, Dr. Appel also has a teaching appointment affiliation as a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics with New York Medical College in Westchester.
Nowadays, he treats his young patients at the Pine Street Pediatrics practice, with offices in Kingston, Sawkill, and Red Hook. He focuses primarily on developmental, behavioral, learning, and communication disorders in children.
“Our input is often solicited by school personnel, committees on special education, learning disabilities specialists, and school psychologists who are all writing individual education plans for students with special needs,” Dr. Appel explains.
There’s a growing need for experts to treat children who have emotional and behavioral problems, he points out. “We’re trained much more now to recognize the early signs of psychiatric disease. And because there’s a shortage of psychiatrists to care for these conditions, pediatricians are assuming a more active role in the management of mental illness in children,” he says. “Pediatricians also employ medication to help kids overcome their disruptive behaviors that threaten to undermine their experiences in school.” So, does he think conditions like attention deficit disorder (ADD) are overdiagnosed these days? “This is a controversial area. My observation is that pediatricians certainly make the diagnosis much more frequently than we did even 20 years ago; but whether that represents an actual change in the incidence in the condition is not clear. It could be we’re much more aware of these issues in children now, and not likely to say something like, ‘Oh, he’s just being a boy!’ or ‘He’ll outgrow this.’ We take these concerns very seriously.”
Dr. Appel, who also treats “garden variety” sneezes, sniffles, and other childhood illnesses, points out just a few of the many breakthroughs in medicine — for patients of all ages — that he’s seen in his 30-year career.
“There have been dramatic advances in immunization medicine, including the recent so-called ‘cervical cancer vaccine’ and the evolution of HIV treatment. HIV is now more likely to be a chronic disease with an expectation of a reasonable quality of life, instead of a uniformly fatal one.”
He also points out breakthroughs in asthma therapy “favoring home care and reducing hospitalizations. The combination of inhalation therapy at home, and a much more liberal use of cortisone medications, are what we think are dramatic advances in asthma care, but there still seems to be a lot of morbidity from asthma.” He also touts antibiotics that make it much easier to treat childhood infections.
Medical technology has advanced tremendously, he adds, “From CT and MRI scanning, to office lab techniques — we can now get a complete blood analysis right in our office in five minutes. Wherever you look, medicine exposes people every day to the latest in science and technology.”
When he’s not attending to patients, Dr. Appel likes to “read, write, garden, and golf.” He and his wife have two grown children, and he’s a die-hard fan of living in the Hudson Valley. “It’s a thoroughly beautiful area, close to New York City, close to my extended family, with the right balance of everything else I want in my life.”
Next appointment: Dr. Wayne Weiss, Middletown
Wayne Weiss, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Surgery
Middletown. 845-692-8780
“My mother tells me I wanted to be a doctor almost since I was a baby,” laughs Dr. Wayne M. Weiss. “She says that when I was seven or eight years old, we had a dog that was hit by a car, and I did all the wound care. Another time, our neighbor’s cat was having kittens and one wasn’t coming out too well; she says I carefully pulled it out during the birth.”
A proud mom’s exaggeration perhaps, but Dr. Weiss agrees he’s had a lifelong love of the field. “I was always interested in science; medicine has been all-inclusive and all-encompassing for me. Growing up, I was totally focused on medicine; it was a kind of tunnel vision in terms of my interests.”
A Long Island native, Dr. Weiss graduated from New York University Medical School, completing his surgical residency at NYU Medical Center.
Dr. Weiss went to medical school on a military scholarship, and is also a U.S. Navy captain. “I’ve served for 27 years,” he says. Currently a reserve naval officer, he has also seen active duty as a critical-care trauma surgeon.
“I’ve been to the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and done surgery at sea,” and was recalled for the war in Iraq, he says. “I took care of the injured marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. It’s rewarding to serve as a trauma surgeon, taking care of critically injured individuals. But it’s a tough thing to do exclusively; it burns you out,” he adds.
Board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care, Dr. Weiss is the medical director of bariatric surgical services and lead bariatric surgeon at Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown. His special focus is bariatrics: dealing with weight loss and obesity. “I first became interested in the field for two reasons,” Dr. Weiss says. “First, I saw it as technically challenging, because a lot of weight-loss surgery has been done in the last 15 years or so with laparoscopes — tiny telescopes that allow minimally invasive procedures. It’s an exciting aspect of medicine.”
The second reason, he says: the obesity epidemic. “With two out of three people in the population now overweight or obese, I also saw an opportunity to serve an important area of health care. It’s a serious cause of disability and premature death, second only to the health risk attributed to tobacco — obesity is that critical of a problem.” He knows this firsthand. “I’ve also had at least two family members die from obesity-related conditions such as diabetes.”
Dr. Weiss specializes in laparoscopic gastric bypass and Lap-Band surgery for obesity patients; both involve restricting the size of the stomach to aid in weight loss. “I also sometimes do open surgery with larger incisions, but that’s usually in a special circumstance,” he says.
Many of his patients are severely overweight; his procedures benefit patients with health issues that go beyond just a yen for a cosmetic tummy tuck.
“Obviously, everyone wants to look better, too; I won’t minimize the importance of that,” he says, “but these procedures aren’t cosmetic surgery.”
Health experts, adds Dr. Weiss, are more aware than ever nowadays of the link between being overweight and a host of medical woes. “What goes hand-in-hand with morbid obesity is also diabetes and other metabolic diseases,” he explains.
“People in the medical field used to talk about weight-loss surgery just for weight loss, per se, and for helping to deal with heart disease and conditions like sleep apnea.
“But now, weight-loss surgery has the potential to be able to cure weight-related diabetes in the majority of patients. It’s a hot topic right now,” he says. Some endocrinologists, however, hesitate to use the word “cure,” Dr. Weiss notes, “because if someone loses weight and their diabetes is cured, but they later regain the weight, they could develop diabetes again. Yet, in any event, I would say that nothing controls most diabetes in extremely obese people better than weight-loss surgery.”
Dr. Weiss is such a proponent of weight-loss surgery as a viable option for many patients that he gives free seminars on the topic throughout the Hudson Valley. “The reality is, we can spread the information, but it’s ultimately up to the individual. Weight-loss surgery isn’t for everyone. There’s a significant commitment that goes along with it.
“By the time someone has the surgery, they’ve usually been living with this problem for years. It affects their lives and self-esteem in ways that many people have trouble understanding.
“Many weight-loss patients have basically given up on a lot of things in life; they’re on a downward spiral of hopelessness and helplessness. That’s why their appreciation afterward is immensely rewarding to me as a physician.
“One of my patients recently told me, ‘I went to the movies last week and loved it.’ You might wonder why that’s a big deal. But before they had surgery, they were too big to fit in the theater seat. Another patient said she’d flown to see her daughter; she said that, before, she’d been so large the only way she could fly was if she bought two tickets and used two seats.
“Probably the most heartbreaking story was a mother — she was quite overweight before surgery — who told me she would walk her child to school, and the child would stop and say at a certain spot, ‘Mom, I’d really like it if you didn’t come any further with me.’ It eventually came out that the child was ashamed to have their little friends see how big she was. It’s reasons like this that people are so appreciative after weight-loss surgery.”
Next appointment: HealthMatch
Ellenville Exposure
Remember the TV show Northern Exposure, in which a small Alaskan town recruited a big-city doctor by helping to pay off his medical school loans? Well, fiction has become fact right here in the Valley, where — like Alaska — small communities are suffering from a serious lack of health-care providers. Playing the part of Cicely, Alaska, is Ellenville, Ulster County.
The Catskill Hudson Area Health Education Center (Catskill Hudson AHEC) has launched a new program called HealthMatch. Under the leadership of executive director Kathryn Reed, HealthMatch works with community leaders in health care, business, and government to recruit doctors, dentists, and other providers into their locale. The pilot community for this program is Ellenville.
The New York State Area Health Education Center system is a workforce development initiative established in 1998 to find solutions to the shortage of health-care workers, and the lack of diversity in the health-care workforce, in the more rural areas of the state. While the physician shortage is a national problem, it is even more acute in rural regions. Catskill Hudson AHEC, which serves 11 counties in the Valley and the Catskills, is one of nine AHEC centers statewide.
In 2007, Reed was involved in a focus group regarding health-care needs in Ellenville. “It became evident that community members were passionate about preserving their hospital and retaining local health care. That was the catalyst to developing this program,” she explains. The funding for HealthMatch came from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the New York State Department of Health, and local grants. Local government officials, including Assemblymen Peter Lopez and Kevin Cahill, Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun, and State Senator John J. Bonacic, were instrumental in acquiring those funds, Reed says. Local buy-in is critical for the program’s success: It will be up to community leaders to sell the area’s lifestyle and its benefits to newly minted primary-care doctors, and to provide the incentives (such as helping to pay off loans or subsidizing the start-up costs of establishing a practice). “I think they underestimate the geographic location of Ellenville. People from the outside see it as geographically isolated,” says Reed, who notes that Ellenville is located in a valley between two mountain ranges. “But most don’t realize you can have this great rural lifestyle, where you’re not in the middle of all that urban hubbub.” Plus, she notes, Ellenville has “a real sense of community,” a vibrant cultural scene (including a professional theater), and a wide range of shops and services. And, with Kingston just 30 minutes away and Middletown even closer, the bigger stores and malls are also easily accessible.
In effect, Reed and her staff of four are matchmakers. She knows that finding the right doctor for the right community is tricky. But if Ellenville successfully lures a new M.D. to town, Reed hopes to roll HealthMatch out to the rest of her service area and, eventually, throughout the state. She has no doubts it will work. “I am convinced we will get it done,” she says. “If we can place one or two doctors a year, I will feel like we have made a difference.”
Meet all 86 of our top doctors »
Top Doctors 2009
Allergy & Immunology
John Bosso
2 Crossfield Ave., Ste. 406
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-353-9600
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Valley Hospital
Special expertise: Asthma, contact dermatitis, food allergy, drug sensitivity
Peter Lo Galbo
1 Crosfield Ave., Ste. 201
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-727-1370
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Asthma, food allergy
Scott Osur
8 Southwoods Blvd.
Albany, NY 12211
518-434-1446
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center, St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Special expertise: Asthma, asthma in pregnancy, food allergy, cardiovascular disease
Stephen Brady
Samaritan Medical Arts Building
2231 Burdett Ave., Ste. 160
Troy, NY 12180
518-292-6200
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center, Samaritan Hospital
Special expertise: Interventional cardiology, peripheral vascular intervention, echocardiography
Lee Marcus
Hudson Valley Heart Center
1 Columbia St.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
845-473-1188
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center, St. Francis Hospital
Special expertise: Congestive heart failure, nuclear cardiology
Richard Roth
222 Route 59, Ste. 302
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-0100
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Cholesterol/lipid disorders, non-invasive cardiology
David Southren
Cardiovascular Care Center
206 Rte. 303
Valley Cottage, NY 10989
845-268-0880
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Cholesterol/lipid disorders, non-invasive cardiology, preventive cardiology
Colon & Rectal Surgery
Garner Johnson
5 Palisades Dr., Ste. 200
Albany, NY 12205
518-438-2776
Affiliation: St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany), Albany Medical Center
Gokhan Ozuner
100 Route 59, Ste. 101
Suffern, NY 10901
845-357-8800
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Inflammatory bowel disease, colon and rectal cancer, rectal prolapse, laparoscopic surgery
Dermatology
Samuel Book
575 Hudson Valley Ave., Ste. 205
New Windsor, NY 12553
845-220-2200
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Yale-New Haven Hospital
Special expertise: Mohs’ surgery, skin cancer
Wendy Parish
361 Broadway
Kingston, NY 12401
845-331-2677
Affiliation: Kingston Hospital
Special expertise: Skin cancer and moles, dermatologic surgery
Hendrik Uyttendaele
969 Main St., Ste. D
Fishkill, NY 12524
845-896-7730
Special expertise: Hair loss, nail disorders
Heidi Waldorf
57 N. Middletown Rd.
Nanuet, NY 10954
845-623-7077
Affiliation: Mount Sinai Medical Center
Special expertise: Cosmetic dermatology, skin laser surgery, skin cancer, Mohs’ surgery
Diagnostic Radiology
Lewis Bobroff
255 Lafayette Ave.
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-5196
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Mammography, nuclear medicine, PET imaging
Richard Friedland
Hudson Valley Radiologists
1 Columbia St.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
845-454-4700
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center
Victor Gaines
Hudson Valley Radiologists
1 Columbia St.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
845-454-4700
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Columbia Memorial Hospital
Diagnostic Radiology
Mark Geller
18 Squadron Blvd.
New City, NY 10956
845-634-9729
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, CT scan
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Felicia Cosman
Helen Hayes Hospital, Reg. Bone Center
Rte. 9W
West Haverstraw, NY 10993
845-786-4318
Affiliation: Helen Hayes Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia)
Special expertise: Osteoporosis, bone densitometry
Matthew Leinung
28 Hackett Blvd., MC 141
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5185
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Adrenal disorders
Family Medicine
Vincent Ibelli
97 Rte. 303
Tappan, NY 10983
845-359-5005
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital – Suffern
Special expertise: Asthma, hypertension, osteoporosis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Joseph Ingrassia
36 College Ave.
Nanuet, NY 10954
845-623-2456
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Lauren Vigna
CMH Center Care
71 Prospect Ave., Ste. 130
Hudson, NY 12534
518-697-3540
Affiliation: Columbia Memorial Hospital
Special expertise: Complementary medicine, women’s health
Gastroenterology
Kevin Dodd
Hudson Valley Gastroenterology
26 Pearl St.
Kingston, NY 12401
845-331-8222
Affiliation: Kingston Hospital, Benedictine Hospital
Gynecologic Oncology
Daniel Kredentser
319 S. Manning Blvd., Ste. 301
Albany, NY 12208
518-458-1390
Affiliation: St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany), Vassar Brothers Medical Center
Special expertise: Gynecologic cancer
Internal Medicine
Lev Barats
2 Clara Barton Dr.
Albany, NY 12206
518-435-1300
Affiliation: St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Charles Glassman
7 Medical Park Dr., Ste. C
Pomona, NY 10970
845-362-1110
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Concierge medicine, preventive medicine
Complementary Medicine
Paul Mangiafico
Southeast Executive Park
185 Rte. 312, Ste. 201
Brewster, NY 10509
845-278-7000
Affiliation: Putnam Hospital Center
Carol Santoro
Albany Clinical Nutrition Specialists
25 Hackett Blvd., MC 133
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-0942
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Nutrition
Interventional Cardiology
Jan Houghton
Albany Medical College, Div. of Cardiology
47 New Scotland Ave., MC 44
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5076
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Cardiac catheterization
Michael Innerfield
2 Executive Blvd.
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-0048
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Peripheral vascular disease
Medical Oncology
James Arseneau
400 Patroon Creek Blvd., Ste. 1
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2607
Affiliation: St Peter’s Hospital (Albany), Albany Memorial Hospital
Stephen Hillinger
400 Patroon Creek Blvd., Ste. 1
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2607
Affiliation: St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Michael Kolodziej
400 Patroon Creek Blvd., Ste. 1
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2607
Affiliation: St Peter’s Hospital (Albany), Albany Memorial Hospital
Sydney Welt
St. Peter’s Cancer Center
317 S. Manning Blvd., Ste. 220
Albany, NY 12208
518-525-6418
Affiliation: St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Ira Zackon
1003 Loudon Rd., Box 610
Latham, NY 12110
518-786-3122
Affiliation: St. Mary’s Hospital
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Jean Chelala
Putnam Hospital Center Birthing Center
670 Stoneleigh Ave.
Carmel, NY 10512
845-279-5711
Affiliation: Putnam Hospital Center, Westchester Medical Center
Glenn Mendoza
Good Samaritan Hospital, Dept. of Neonatology
255 Lafayette Ave.
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-5104
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Nephrology
Kenneth Shapiro
2 Crosfield Ave., Ste. 312
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-358-2400
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital – Suffern
Special expertise: Hypertension, kidney disease (diabetic), transplant medicine (kidney)
Steven Yablon
2 Crosfield Ave., Ste. 312
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-358-2400
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Hypertension, kidney failure, dialysis care, anemia management in CKD
Neurological Surgery
Michael Cho
110 Main St., Ste. 1B
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
845-454-4949
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center, St. Francis Hospital
Special expertise: Spinal surgery, minimally invasive spinal surgery, brain tumors
Jeffrey Oppenheim
Hudson Valley Neurosurgical Associates
222 Route 59, Ste. 205
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-0286
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Spinal disorders degenerative, brain tumors, spinal surgery, herniated discs
Daniel Spitzer
222 Route 59, Ste. 205
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-0286
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Brain tumors, spinal surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery
Neurology
Gary Bernardini
AMC Neurology Group
47 New Scotland Ave., MC 70
Physicians Pavilion Fl. 1
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5226
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Stroke, critical care
David Ober
2 Crosfield Ave., Ste. 202
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-353-4344
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Neuromuscular disorders, botox therapy
Glenn Seliger
Helen Hayes Hospital, Dept. of Neurology
Rte. 9W
West Haverstraw, NY 10993
845-786-4459
Affiliation: Helen Hayes Hospital
Special expertise: Brain injury
Earl Zimmerman
Albany Medical Center (Neurology)
47 New Scotland Ave., MC 65
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-0800
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Memory disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia
Neuroradiology
Joel Schwartz
18 Squaron Blvd.
New City, NY 10956
845-634-9729
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Head and neck imaging
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Peter Cole
AMC Women’s Wellness Health Center
713 Troy-Schenectady Rd., Ste. 305
Latham, NY 12110
518-262-4942
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery, incontinence (female)
Tanya Mays
CMH Women’s Health Center
71 Prospect Ave., Ste. 110
Hudson, NY 12534
518-828-1400
Affiliation: Columbia Memorial Hospital
Special expertise: Menopause problems
Ophthalmology
Nancy Miller-Rivero
94 Pine St.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
845-454-3030
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center
Special expertise: Retinal disorders
John Simon
1220 New Scotland Rd., Ste. 202
Slingerlands, NY 12159
518-533-6502
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center, St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Special expertise: Pediatric ophthalmology, strabismus
Phyllis Weingarten
4 Medical Park Dr.
Pomona, NY 10970
845-354-6225
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Beth Israel Medical Center (Milton and Caroll Petrie Division)
Special expertise: Pediatric ophthalmology, strabismus
Orthopaedic Surgery
R. Maxwell Alley
Capital Region Orthopaedic Group
1367 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2666
Affiliation: Albany Memorial Hospital, St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Special expertise: Sports medicine
Barry Kraushaar
2 Perlman Drive, Ste. 204
Spring Valley, NY 10977
845-425-0555
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Shoulder arthroscopic surgery, hip and knee replacement, knee injuries/ligament surgery, sports medicine
David Quinn
Capital Region Orthopaedic Group
1367 Washington Ave., Ste. 200
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2666
Affiliation: St Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Richard Uhl
Capital Region Orthopaedic Group
1367 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2666
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Hand surgery, upper extremity surgery
Otolaryngology
Richard DeMaio
12 Hudson Valley Professional Plaza
Newburgh, NY 12550
845-562-0760
Affiliation: St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital of Newburgh
Special expertise: Pediatric otolaryngology, endoscopic sinus surgery, sleep apnea
James Meltzer
102-A Fulton Ave., Ste. D
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
845-473-8600
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center
R. Clifford Mihail
Mid-Hudson Medical Group
600 Westage Business Center Dr.
Fishkill, NY 12524
845-231-5458
Affiliation: Vassar Brothers Medical Center
Special expertise: Sleep disorders/apnea
Stanley Shapshay
University Ear, Nose and Throat Center
35 Hackett Blvd.
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5575
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Laryngeal cancer, vocal cord disorders, sleep apnea
Pain Medicine
Paul Burns
Ramapo Anesthesiologists
133 Lafayette Ave.
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-5000, ext. 5039
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Pediatric Cardiology
Steven Kamenir
319 S Manning Blvd., Rm. 203
Albany, NY 12208
518-489-3292
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Echocardiography (transesophageal)
Harm Velvis
Capital Distict Pediatric Cardiology Assoc.
319 S. Manning Blvd., Ste. 203
Albany, NY 12208
518-489-3292
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center, St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Special expertise: Cardiac catheterization, congenital heart disease, heart disease in Down syndrome
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Jennifer Pearce
Albany Medical Center (Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology Dept.)
43 New Scotland Ave., MC 24
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5513
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Hemophilia
Pediatrics
Joseph Appel
Pine St. Pediatrics
140 Pine St., Ste. 210
Kingston, NY 12401
845-331-4484
Affiliation: Benedictine Hospital
Special expertise: Developmental, behavioral, learning and communication disorders
Luciano Barone
10 Ronald Reagan Blvd.
Warwick, NY 10990
845-986-2058
Affiliation: Westchester Medical Center
Lawrence Greitzer
29 Jones Ave.
Chatham, NY 12037
518-392-2277
Affiliation: Columbia Memorial Hospital
Nancy Wade
8 Southwoods Blvd.
Albany, NY 12211
518-434-1446
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Asthma
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Andrew Dubin
Capital Orthopedic Group
1367 Washington Ave., Ste. 201
Albany, NY 12206
518-489-2666
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Pediatric rehabilitation, amputee rehabilitation, electrodiagnosis
Nicholas Panaros
664 Stoneleigh Ave., Ste. 300
Carmel, NY 10512
845-278-8400
Affiliation: Putnam Hospital Center, Northern Westchester Hospital
Special expertise: Pain (neuromuscular)
Sciatica, Neuropathy Psychiatry
Michael Levy
160 N. Midland Ave.
Nyack, NY 10960
845-348-2116
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Psychopharmacology, geriatric psychiatry
Karl Schroeder
104 Montebello Rd.
Suffern, NY 10901
845-357-9367
Special expertise: Addiction/substance abuse, psychiatry in physical illness, post-traumatic stress disorder
Olanrewaju Somorin
807 Rte. 17M, Ste. 2
Monroe, NY 10950
845-341-0211
Affiliation: Orange Regional Medical Center (Goshen campus)
Special expertise: Addiction/substance abuse
Pulmonary Disease
Barbara Chatr-Aryamontri
6511 Springbrook Ave.
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
845-871-3611
Affiliation: Northern Dutchess Hospital
Special expertise: Sleep disorders
Clement Osei
2 Crossfield Ave., Ste. 318
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-353-5600
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, COPD
Thomas Smith
Albany Medical Center, Pulmonary and Critical Care
47 New Scotland Ave., MC 91
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5196
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), emphysema
Radiation Oncology
Susan Gibbons
43 New Scotland Ave., MC 95
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-3368
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Breast cancer, brachytherapy, gynecologic cancer
Surgery
David Conti
Albany Medical Center
47 New Scotland Ave., MC 61GE
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5614
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Transplant (kidney)
Lee Fleischer
100 Rte. 59, Ste. 101
Suffern, NY 10901
845-357-8800
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), Nyack Hospital
Special expertise: Breast disease, laparoscopic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery
Wayne Weiss
Tri-State Bariatrics
390 Crystal Run., Ste. 102
Middletown, NY 10941
845-692-8780
Affiliation: Orange Regional Medical Center
Special expertise: Obesity/bariatric surgery
Thoracic Surgery
Lyall Gorenstein
5A Medical Park Dr.
Pomona, NY 10970
845-362-0075
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern), New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia)
Special expertise: Thoracic cancers, esophageal surgery, minimally invasive thoracic surgery, palmar hyperhidrosis
Edward Lundy
257 Lafayette Ave.
Suffern, NY 10901
845-368-8800
Affiliation: Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Cardiothoracic surgery
Urology
John Giella
2 Medical Park Dr.
West Nyack, NY 10994
845-354-5000
Affiliation: Nyack Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern)
Special expertise: Kidney stones, prostate cancer, hypospadias
Barry Kogan
Urological Institute of NE New York
23 Hackett Blvd.
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-3341
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center
Special expertise: Pediatric urology
Kandasamychetty Perumal
267 Hoosick St.
Troy, NY 12180
518-272-1333
Affiliation: Samaritan Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital
Special expertise: Prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, urinary stones
Vascular Surgery
R. Clement Darling III
Albany Medical Center, Vascular Institute
43 New Scotland Ave., MC 157
Albany, NY 12208
518-262-5640
Affiliation: Albany Medical Center, St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany)
Special expertise: Aneurysm (abdominal and thoracic aortic), arterial bypass surgery, carotid artery surgery
Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. is a health-care research and information company founded in 1991 by a former medical college board chairman and president to help guide consumers to America’s top doctors and top hospitals. Castle Connolly’s established survey and research process, under the direction of an M.D., involves tens of thousands of top doctors and the medical leadership of leading hospitals.
Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Using mail and telephone surveys, and electronic ballots, they ask physicians and the medical leadership of leading hospitals to identify highly skilled, exceptional doctors. Careful screening of doctors’ educational and professional experience is essential before final selection is made among those physicians most highly regarded by their peers.
The result — we identify the top doctors in America and provide you, the consumer, with detailed information about their education, training and special expertise in our paperback guides, national and regional magazine “Top Doctors” features, and on-line directories.
Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected and profiled as Castle Connolly Top Doctors.
Physicians selected for inclusion in this magazine’s “Top Doctors” feature may also appear as Regional Top Doctors on-line at www.castleconnolly.com, or in one of Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors guides, such as America’s Top Doctors® or America’s Top Doctors® for Cancer.