2021 hAPPY NEW YEAR to all our readers
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Bellmore
2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
HERALD
Vol. xx No.DECEMBER x 31, 2020 - JANuARY 6, 2021 MoNth xx-xx, 2020
Vol. 28 No. 1
Anticipating ‘the good times ahead’
By ANDREW GARCIA agarcia@liherald.com
S
imply read Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein’s title — commissioner of the Nassau County Department of Health — and you know he’s had a hectic year. Earlier this year, he spent more than 100 straight days at news conferences alongside County Executive Laura Curran, helping lead Nassau, which has more than 1.3 million residents, through the coronavirus pandemic. The Health Department’s “sole purpose,” Eisenstein said, is preventing people from getting sick. “It’s been an around-the-clock battle since early February,” said Eisenstein, 48, of Bellmore. Although it’s not the first major test of his career, it has perhaps been the most trying. Eisenstein has worked around the clock for months as he and his staff have coordinated with school districts, businesses, hospitals and residents — virtually everyone in Nassau — on lockdowns, quarantines, safety procedures, testing and more, which, at the start of the year, were entirely unfamiliar to most of us. Eisenstein not only works at the county level, but is also connected and dedicated to the Bellmore community. His leadership has been tireless since the pandemic began to spread across the U.S. in March. It is because of this passionate, unwavering dedication that the Herald Life proudly names Eisenstein its 2020 Person of the Year. Eisenstein has been with the Health Department since 2009, and has been commissioner since 2011. He recounted other difficult moments, such as sleeping on a cot between two firefighters when Hurricane Sandy ravaged Long Island in 2012, but none matched the tribulations of this year. Nassau has reported nearly 75,000 coronavirus cases since March, and was one
JERRy GIulIANo
of the first areas in the country to receive the long-awaited Covid-19 vaccines in December. Early next year, the vaccine will likely be distributed widely to the public — a process that will largely overseen by Eisenstein and his staff. “I dream of the good days,” he said. “I know we’ll get back there now that the vaccine is [here] . . . I’ve learned to appreciate the good times ahead.” Eisenstein said he loves his work and believes in the personal satisfaction of helping others, like caring for patients on the verge of death until they recover — an experience he learned about firsthand at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, now NYU Langone, where he was a chief resident. “In public health, you don’t get that experience as much,” Eisenstein said, “but you save many lives, maybe thousands.” When it comes to infection control, however, the number of lives saved is almost an impossible to know. Eisenstein earned his medical degree at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico, and then completed his U.S. training at the New York Medical College in Westchester. At Winthrop, he later received a fellowship in infectious disease. In 2009, he became Nassau County’s deputy health commissioner, before being promoted to the top spot in 2011. He has since helped bring the department to new, nationally recognized heights. In 2018 it was named the Local Health Department of the Year by the National Association of City and County Health Officials, which represents nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments throughout the nation. The honor recognized Nassau’s network of providers, hospitals and communitybased organizations that meet the needs of residents. In 2018 the department was also awarded Model Practice and
Attorney, Nassau County Department of Health
Courtesy Commissioner Lawrence Eisenstein
HERALD PERSON oF thE YEAR
lAWRENCE EIsENstEIN xx
‘‘
H x
e’s raised the xxx excellence of the department on all xx levels.’ xx
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What’s
INSIDE
Andrew Garcia/Herald xx/Herald Life
Andrew Brinton, Katherine St George xx become Regeneron finalists.Page 0
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Andrew Garcia/Herald xx/Herald Life
Thousands march in support of xx Black Lives Matter movement. Page 0
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Lawrence Eisenstein, of Bellmore, became Nassau County’s deputy health commissioner in 2009, before being tapped to head the Health Department in 2011.
Infections as of Dec. 28
3,044
CoMMuNItY uPDAtE
Infections as of Dec. 21 2,860
Andrew Garcia/Herald xx/Herald Life
Student athletes rally for a fall xx sports season in Nassau County. Page 0
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