NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx CEO Christopher Mastromano announced Thursday that Solymole Kuruvilla, the associate director of Occupational Health Services for Jacobi and North Central Bronx, has been awarded the “Legacy of Caring Award” from the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA).
The award honors outstanding nurses who embody and exemplify excellence in patient advocacy, creativity, compassion and leadership in the nursing practice.
Solymole has served at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx for nearly 30 years, almost immediately upon immigrating to this country from India in 1992. For her first six years, she worked in Jacobi’s Surgical and Medical Intensive Care Units and Coronary Care Unit. During that time, she returned to school, receiving her Master of Science in Nursing from the College of New Rochelle, becoming an Adult-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.
In 1999, Kuruvilla joined the Occupational Health Services team, becoming the associate director in 2015. In this capacity, she supervises both facilities’ nurse practitioners, nurses and other support staff. As she puts it, it comes with a significant personal plus — “I get to know everyone in the hospital!”
“Solymole is an important part of the fabric of
our facility,” said Mastromano. “She represents the dedication many of our staff bring to their everyday care of our patients.”
“I find my job very rewarding. I get to make a difference in the lives of our staff. If our employees are not healthy, there is no safe delivery of quality patient care in the hospital,” said Solymole.
She lives in Westchester with her husband and son. She also holds a PhD in Biblical Counseling and considers her faith a driving force. She also regularly volunteers with NAINA and its local chapter, Indian Nurses Association of New York (INA-NY), hosting numerous virtual forums and talk shows to discuss the importance of vaccinations, particularly the COVID-19 vaccination, within the nursing and Indian-American communities.
“I think it’s so important that people, particularly healthcare professionals, get vaccinated,” said Solymole. “We have seen that as vaccination rates go up, mortality rates go down.”
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