19th Annual Golf Classic
19th Annual Golf ClassicHonoring Patricia Matos-Puente, M.D. & Jorge Puente, M.D.
Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice of Suffolk held its 19th Annual Golf Classic on Monday, August 7, beating the morning’s inclement weather with clear skies just in time for the shotgun start at noon. Golfers filled the course at the beautiful Indian Hills Country Club and enjoyed the afternoon playing 18 holes of golf with lunch on the course. The day wrapped up with golfers and other invited guests enjoying a cocktail reception and dinner followed by an awards presentation and raffles. They were also treated to a surprise mini concert by Co-Honoree Patricia Matos-Puente, M.D., an accomplished oboist and former VNSHS board president (2021-2023) and member of the VNSHS Board of Trustee since 2007, who entertained guests with her musical performance accompanied by pianist Tom Zatorsky.
“In addition to having a long, successful career as a physician who provided medical care to home-bound patients in the Northport area through her geriatric house call practice known as Doctor in the House, Dr. Patricia Matos-Puente is as an accomplished and talented musician as an oboist who co-founded and conducted the Wellesley College Chamber Orchestra (now known as the Wellesley-Brandeis Symphony) and has played in the Mount Sinai Doctor’s Orchestra, the Stony Brook University Symphonic Band and the Northport Community Band,” said Linda Taylor, CEO of Visiting Nurse Service & Hospice of Suffolk.
Following the musical performance, Linda Taylor and Golf Co-Chair Ronald Duswalt, presented the honorees with VNSHS’s Outstanding Community Leadership Award in recognition of all they have done throughout the years to advance the mission of VNSHS and the medical profession. “I am pleased and proud to present this award to Dr. Patricia Matos-Puente and Dr. Jorge Puente in honor and appreciation for their years of service and devotion to Visiting Nurse Service & Hospice of Suffolk and the many patients in our community and around the world who have benefited from their excellent care,” Linda Taylor remarked. “Together, they have dedicated their lives and careers to the health and well-being of others locally and around the world.”
Jorge Puente, M.D. is co-founder and managing partner of Plesanton Pharma Ventures and a board member and medical advisor of the SFJ Pharmaceutical Group, a privately held company that focuses on the funding, development and registration of new medicines for serious diseases. In addition, Dr. Puente has served as a member of the Smithsonian’s National Board since 2014 and currently serves as Chair of the Board after having been elected Vice Chair in 2019 and Chair in 2022. Patricia Matos-Puente, M.D. serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institute Travelling Exhibition Services and Affiliates and Co-Chairperson of the Smithsonian Institute Regional Council for the New York region. Later in the evening, guests were treated to a Smithsonian Trivia Contest hosted by the honorees and each of the guests seated at the winning table were presented with Smithsonian prizes.
100% of the net proceeds from this event benefit the VNSHS Hospice House, located at 101 Laurel Road in East Northport, NY, which has been providing inpatient hospice care and respite care for patients in the community since it was founded in 2004 as the first free-standing inpatient hospice in New York State. Visiting Nurse Service & Hospice of Suffolk is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization that was established in 1952 as Suffolk County’s first home care nursing agency. The VNSHS Board of Trustee and administration is especially grateful for the generosity and support of all its Golf Classic sponsors particularly: Platinum Sponsors: The Integrity Life Brokerage in Partnership with Pacific Life, Minuteman Press Internationaland Mutual of America; Gold Sponsors: USI Insurance Services, Sheehan & Co., The Madison Square Group at Morgan Stanley and Linda & WarrenTaylor; Silver Sponsor: Cerini & Associates, LLP; Dinner Sponsors:Helping Hands, Inc. and David Harris M.D., MPH; Golf Ball Sponsor: Nolan Funeral Home; Cocktail Hour Sponsors: Right at Home, Ferrara, DeStefano & Caporusso CPAs, P.C. and Mr. & Mrs. John Rieger in memory of Jay Walsh; Special Giveaway Sponsor: Caminiti & Cogliati CPAs, LLP; Fun Hole Sponsor: Old Castle Financial Advisors and Crab Meadow Ladies Golf Association; Golf Cart Sponsor Rossiter Financial Group in Loving Memory of Jane Rossiter; Greeter’s Table Sponsor: Janice Nill in loving memory of Bob Nill; Raffle Sponsor: Kiwanis Club of Northport/East Northport; Awards Sponsor: The Lambert Family Foundation; Refreshment Sponsor and Longest Drive Sponsor: USI Insurance Services; Putting Green Sponsors: Hilton Capital Management, Richard Colarossi, CFP/Colarossi & Williams, Inc., Andrew Lawrence, Esq., Arlene Trolman, EdD, RN; Driving Range Sponsor: Brueggemann Funeral Home; Nearest to the Pin Sponsor:Asset Graphics; Closest to the Line Sponsors: Northport Rotary Club and First National Bank of LI and Hole-in-One Sponsor: Mercedes-Benz of Huntington.
VNSHS CEO Linda Taylor, RN, BSN, MA (left) is pictured here with Golf Co-Chair Ronald J. Duswalt, CFP presenting their Outstanding Community Leadership Award to this year’s honorees Patricia Matos-Puente, M.D. and Jorge Puente, M.D.
Golf carts sponsored by Rossiter Financial Group in loving memory of Jane Rossiter are pictured here on their way to their starting hole assignments following the 12 noon shotgun start