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Community Corner

Albertson Water District's Howard Abbondondelo Among Commissioners to Learn About Occupational Medicine Benefits

Hicksville, NY USA – As part of its continuing effort to provide plentiful, high-quality water at a nominal cost, the Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners Association (NSWCA), of which Albertson Water District’s Howard Abbondondelo serves as 1st Vice President, recently explored the potential merits of occupational medicine as a health benefit to employees and the public, as a cost-saving measure to assist consumers.

At a recent NSCWA board meeting, Jorge L. Gardyn, MD, FACP presented a thorough overview of occupational medical services, employee benefits and a cost-benefit analysis of preemptive medical care examinations. Dr. Gardyn, a Board Certified Internist who specializes in Occupational and Adult Medicine, is Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer of Island Occupational Medical Resources, P.C. (IOMR). He is also the Division Chief of Occupational and Corporate Medicine at Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, NY. 

“The goal of a preemptive medical program is to identify health risks that may interfere with an employee’s job performance, thereby putting the employee and the public at risk for various hazards,” stated Dr. Gardyn.

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Dr. Gardyn noted that pre-employment physicals are instrumental in helping employees meet all physical criteria necessary for performing his or her job in a manner that not only ensures employees’ health and safety, but also the public they serve.  Occupational medical programs may also include post-incident medical examinations to expeditiously diagnose on-the-job injuries, enabling faster care and recovery. 

“Having healthy employees translates into fewer absences, both short- and long-term, and less disability,” Dr. Gardyn asserted.  “Preemptive medical programs result in a healthy work force and can potentially promote public cost-savings through a decrease in paid sick days and disability.”

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 Abbondondelo, NSWCA 1st Vice President, commented, “Our ongoing educational initiative helps NSWCA commissioners increase their awareness of essential issues and we encourage programs that can be potentially beneficial for internal operations. It is our mission to increase service and benefits to the communities we serve, control costs, and maintain extremely high levels of quality.  Our commissioners remain empowered in keeping employees healthy and safe and we want to make sure that water, our most essential resource, remains the least expensive of our consumer utilities.” 

Among his many accolades, Dr. Jorge L. Gardyn is the recipient of the 2010 Nassau County Department of Health “Partner in Health Award” for contributions in the field of public health. He is presently the National Speaker on Current Guidelines for Establishing Medical Programs in the Fire Service. His background includes over 20 years in emergency medicine and critical care. 

The Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners Association (NSWCA) is comprised of Water Commissioners from 21 Nassau County and Suffolk County Water Districts.  NSWCA is dedicated to communication, efficiency and best practices among Long Island’s water districts.  As part of its mission, the Association holds monthly educational meetings sponsoring experts on various topics that include law, cost efficiencies, rules and regulations and other issues germane to water utilities. 

For further information, please contact Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners Association President Gary Brosnan at (516) 249-3330 or via email, gary@sfwater.com.

For information regarding your district’s water commissioners, please contact Jamie Stanco of Progressive Marketing Group, Inc. at (631) 756-7160 or via email, jpstanco@pmgstrategic.com

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