Yulana Kostvetsky, RT, is our lead respiratory therapist with experience in the field for 27 years! She had worked as a floor therapist, and supervisor at Mount Sinai NICU prior to joining our team as a respiratory therapist. Yulana has been with Sunshine for almost five years, tending to the children under her care with her special brand of love and compassion. She is known to refer to all as “ her children”. In fact, her favorite part about working at Sunshine is how much time and interaction she gets to spend with them. As lead therapist, she and her team of respiratory therapists are responsible for assuring the children’s airways are functioning at their optimal level, every hour of every day. Yulana notes, “I think about my job is similar to that of a fireman’s. If something goes wrong, we are the first line of defense.”
Yulana’s daily routine consists of coordinating ongoing care with the medical and nursing teams, and handling of the many ventilators on the three units, always with the goal of ensuring the children’s healthy air flow. Her future goal is to be able to retire in about 10 years! Aside from loving her line of work, Yulana loves spending time with her dog, sailing, practicing needle point, and making jewelry out of precious stones. You can find her anywhere on the floor — but typically in the nursery, more often than not.