Dr. Katz Tribute Video | Northwell Health

Honoring a Pioneer Who Changed Cardiology on Long Island

Client: Northwell Health
Industry: Healthcare
Video Type: Educational
Messaging Type: Interview-Style

About This Video Project

Northwell Health hired us to create a tribute video honoring Dr. Stanley Katz, a pioneer who changed cardiology on Long Island. He built multiple programs, trained hundreds of doctors, and has saved countless lives. Learn more about what Dr. Katz accomplished during his time in the Northwell Health system.

Transcription

Dr. Katz is a pioneer. He demands excellence, and what he leaves behind in his wake is better care for patients. He did what many people think they want to do, but most people don’t do. He took an idea, and he created a whole different way of taking care of patients. When I was training to be a cardiologist, which was 1977, there was a German who invented a procedure that he called angioplasty, and he had now come to Emory in Atlanta and started giving courses to train American cardiologists. And so I enrolled in one of the courses, and when I saw it and saw how successful it was, I thought, holy cow, I really need to be able to do this. I started doing the procedure literally within weeks after coming back. He really believed that if we could go into the coronary arteries and manipulate them and help patients in the immediate sense during a heart attack, that could have a real impact on patients’ lives. And you know what? He was right. At Winthrop, we were the only hospital in New York State that were treating heart attack patients like this. And it was because of that that I was recruited to North Shore. When he came to North Shore, he wound up influencing the creation of a state-of-the-art cath labs and transitioned that community hospital to a tertiary hospital. That was Stanley’s vision, creation, and ultimately North Shore University Hospital became the nidus for the beginning of what is now an integrated health system. I went to North Shore in 91 as the chief of cardiology. And I was the chief of cardiology there for 26 years. And when it was time for me to step down, I didn’t want to retire. I really enjoy what I do. So I knew Andy Mitchell, who at the time was the CEO of Peconic Bay Medical Center. And Peconic Bay was on the verge of becoming part of Northwell. He and I shared a common vision, and that was people who lived on the east end of Long Island deserved the same quality and scope of care that people who live to the west get every day. It was as if we put a supercharger on the whole project. And what’s happened is an elevation of care for a huge geography, 400 square miles, 250,000 people. Coming out to Peconic Bay Medical Center and starting a program in a community that did not have this level of care, in many ways, I think, is one of the most powerful creations of his career. He helped us build the absolutely magnificent Corrie Critical Care Pavilion. He designed the Canis Regional Heart Center. And he has saved more lives than any of us can count at this point in the last five years. Dr. Katz is an extraordinary individual. In his quiet, sincere way, he is so powerful. He has a very fatherly appeal, not to mention his age or anything. And a lot of the patients really do appreciate that. He’s very soft-spoken. He explains things in a way that patients can understand. He’s very kind. He’s very compassionate. He makes you feel calm. He makes you feel like you’re the only person that’s on his mind. It’s this way of his communicating with patients that’s had a tremendous impact on every single person that has been at the care of Stanley. His latest role is that of a grandfather. I think to myself, this man who has fixed so many hearts over a 40-plus year career now has had his heart stolen by three little individuals on the planet. And it’s a lot of fun to see. I don’t think any of us have any idea how far Stanley’s influence reaches, how many lives have been saved. He’s changed care for cardiac patients in this region. He’s changed it by pushing the envelope clinically. He’s built cath labs. He’s built programs. Very much from scratch, from the beginning. He has trained hundreds and hundreds of doctors who practice in our region in cardiology, which changes everything. If you look at Dr. Katz’s impact on cardiology for the island, you had North Shore and LIJ, and then you look at what’s happened at South Shore and Huntington Hospital, now with us at Peconic. We were soon followed afterwards by Mather. There will be another cath lab opening up at Plainview, and it’s been massive to the population. Dr. Katz has touched the lives of every interventional cardiologist on Long Island. It makes me feel so proud to have been given the honor to work with him as a director. It’s been the highlight of my career. He’s one of those individuals that has given 150% of himself. I do believe the health system is what it is today because of his pioneering work. Stan, we go back a long time. And I can say, and I don’t mind other people hearing about this, but you at one point, as you know, you helped save my life. You’re a very, very special person. You were a major architect of creating what Northwell now is. We owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you, Stan. So this is sort of an amazing moment, Stanley Katz, and an amazing career. Congratulations, Stanley. Thank you so much for being such an inspirational colleague and leader. I appreciate it so much. Thank you. To Dr. Katz, thank you for everything that you’ve done for me, for my family. Thank you again for all that. On behalf of all of Northwell Cardiology, thank you so much. You are a game changer for medicine on the east end of Long Island. Thank you, Stanley. You are a spectacular individual. I am very blessed to know you. Thanks for everything you do. I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you.

To learn more: https://www.northwell.edu