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Parker Jewish Institute’s Samuel Bennett earns LeadingAge NY Employee of Distinction Award

The Island Now
Dan Heim, LeadingAge New York, State Sen. John C. Liu (D-Flushing), Samuel Bennett, Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Whitestone), Michael N. Rosenblut, Parker’s president and CEO.

Samuel Bennett, the senior supervisor and dispatcher at Parker Jewish Institute’s Lakeville Ambulette Transportation, is a 2019 LeadingAge New York Employee of Distinction Award recipient.

Mr. Bennett, who began working at Lakeville Ambulette in 2009, was recognized for the expertise and care he consistently delivers to those served by Parker. He is widely credited for his work ethic and loyalty, along with his reassuring nature and leadership. Mr. Bennett has been instrumental in seeing to the essential and safe transport of patients and residents, even in harrowing weather conditions, including during critical evacuations prompted by Hurricanes Sandy and Irene.

In his current role at Lakeville, Mr. Bennett coordinates the organization’s professional transportation services for Parker’s patients and residents­ when they travel to appointments with physicians, nursing homes and related destinations. This service is also provided to adults in the communities that are served by Lakeville, including nursing homes, health care facilities and residences throughout New York City and Long Island.

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Mr. Bennett served as an ambulette driver and a dispatcher, and during Hurricane Irene in 2011, as both an ambulette and ambulance driver. With his direction and dedication, Mr. Bennett ensured that all patients safely arrived at their destination, and returned back to their point of origin, whether it was Parker, another health care facility or their home.

Over the course of Hurricane Sandy, there were hundreds of evacuations, which Mr. Bennett coordinated at Lakeville in his role as a dispatcher. And during Hurricane Irene, Mr. Bennett assisted in the evacuation of patients and residents from a skilled nursing facility in Long Beach. At the height of this storm, he served as part of a caravan of ambulettes and ambulances traveling to Hunter College, where the gymnasium was set up to provide shelter and care for evacuees. The next morning, Mr. Bennett helped transport these evacuees back to their homes.

“Sam is a valued member of our Lakeville Team, who goes above and beyond, each day, to safeguard our clients,” said Michael N. Rosenblut, Parker’s president and CEO.

Submitted by the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation.

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