Our Chaplains and Staff

Mount Sinai Pastoral Care Staff and Volunteers

Rabbi Dr. Rafael Goldstein, BCC
Chief Chaplain
Mount Sinai Health System

Rabbi Goldstein joined the staff as Director of the Department of Spiritual Care of Mount Sinai Hospital in 2009 and became the Chief Chaplain of the Mount Sinai Health System in 2014. He received a Doctorate in Ministry from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2014. Rafael was ordained in 1994 by the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, holds a B.S. in Social Work from Columbia, a B.H.L. in Talmud and M.A. in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He trained as a Chaplain at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego and was Board Certified (BCC) by the National Association of Jewish Chaplains in 2004 and the Association of Professional Chaplains in 2012. Rabbi Goldstein is the author of four books, a peer-reviewed article and actively participates in chaplaincy research. He is the New York Chair of Continuing Education for the Association of Professional Chaplains and serves on the Mount Sinai Ethics Committee, Organ Donor Council, Patient Complaint Review Committee and other committees.

Rabbi Nathan Goldberg, ACPE
Director of Clinical Pastoral Education
Mount Sinai Health System

Rabbi Nathan Goldberg is the Director of CPE for Mount Sinai Health System. He is the only Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) Supervisor in America who is Orthodox Jewish. Originally from Nashville, TN, he is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Beit Midrash L'Torah in Israel. After completing chaplaincy training at Memorial/Sloan Kettering, he served as Kansas City's Jewish Chaplain. Rabbi Goldberg's professional life has taken him to many NY area hospitals where he Community has been Chaplain, Director of Pastoral Care and Chaplain Educator. He now serves on the National Certification Commission for the ACPE, the Mount Sinai Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Rev. Dr. Zorina Costello
Assistant Director and Community Liaison

Rev. Dr. Zorina Costello has had a life-long passion to engage the community in issues of well-being. As a Spanish speaking native of East Harlem she has spent over 25 years encouraging and counseling people as a community advocate, a licensed mental health clinician and an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her experience includes having completed a Chaplain Residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital Heart Hospital, the administration of program development in pastoral care ministries in both educational and church settings. She has served as a mental health counselor in private practice, multi-cultural community based counseling with adolescents and survivors of domestic violence, and for the Department of Defense with enlisted, civilians, and families. Her educational achievements include a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Master of Science in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD, MDiv and Doctorate of Ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. She believes in life affirming practices of empowerment, advocacy, education and creative engagement with art, music, and dance, and travel across the life span.

Apolinary  Ngirwa, MA, D.Min.  
Chaplain

He has been a Chaplain for over 19 years. He has worked at Mount Sinai Medical center since 1999 as Chaplain in various capacities. He completed his first Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) residency at Aurora Saint Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI (1997), and the second Residency at Saint Anne's Hospital, Fall River, MA (1998). He is a  graduate of Saint Paul Senior Seminary (B.A, Theology, Tabora, Tanzania 1995); Saint Anthony Major Seminary (Philosophy, Advanced Diploma, Bukoba, Tanzania, 1991). He also holds a Masters of Arts, 'Magna Cum Laude' (2001), and Doctor of Ministry (2011) both from Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus, NY. He received Board Certification through the National Association of Catholic Chaplain (NACC, 1998). He is an active member of NACC, ACPE and APC. Chaplain Apolinary has a unique capacity to interact respectively across cultures and works effectively in stressful situation while maintaining a calm demeanor. He is an avid advocate for persons living with HIV and AIDS.

Sr. Nadine Koza, BCC
Chaplain

Sister Nadine Koza is a Franciscan Sister from Joliet IL—though she is a native New Yorker. She joined Mount Sinai as a Volunteer Chaplain in 2010 and became a member of the staff in 2013. Her areas of focus are the Oncology and Bone Marrow transplant units and she brings to her ministry a background as a mathematician, educator, campus minister and nine years as Director of Patient Advocacy at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. She holds a BS in Mathematics from St. Joseph College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame, and a M.P.S. (Masters in Pastoral Studies) from Loyola University, Chicago. In addition, she spent a year of study at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. She did her chaplaincy training at NY Methodist Hospital and is a Board Certified Chaplain (BCC). She is a member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains and the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Rev. Denise Welsh, BCC
Women and Children's Chaplain

Chaplain Denise Welsh serves as the chaplain for all the Pediatric patients and families (PICU, NICU, PC-ICU, P4, P5) as well as the Gynecological/Oncology patients. She is a Board Certified Chaplain. Denise completed here Pediatric Residency at NY Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell. She is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Harvard Business School, (MBA) and Wellesley College (BA). Denise is a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, USA. She resides in New York City with her husband and Wheaton Terrier, and has two daughters.

Maggie Keogh
Chaplain and Staff Care Team Specialist

Maggie Keogh is a hospital chaplain, and counselor who completed her CPE clinical units at Mount Sinai. Maggie has been a part of the New York Insight Buddhist Mediation Center as well as a yogic practitioner for over 15 years.  She has a B.A. in English from Tufts University, and her M. Ed in Counseling from the University of Virginia.  Her other counseling and therapeutic experience encompasses biofeedback treatment for stress related disorders, drug, alcoholism counseling and short term hypnotherapy.  She has worked with individuals as well as facilitating groups.

Maggie also had a successful career as a multi-media producer and manger where she supervised inter-disciplinary teams in creating solutions to complex content for websites.  Her multi-media experience is an asset to the Department of Spiritual Care and Education, creating videos and other media. In addition to visiting patients in the ICU's, Maggie runs the Staff Support Team, which provides support to staff when there is a need for specialized care for staff, such as when a team member dies, when long-term patients die, or when there are serious disruptions of the usual work environment.

Rabbi Dr. Edith Meyerson, BCC
Director of Pastoral Counseling and Bereavement Services, The Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute

Rabbi Meyerson joined the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute in 2006. A Baltimore native, she earned a B.A. in Anthropology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies in 2002 from Brandeis University. She earned her Doctorate in Ministry,  focusing on the spiritual and psychological integration of pastoral counseling, from Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in 2013. She received rabbinic ordination in 2007 from the HUC-JIR as well as an M.A. in Hebrew Literature during her tenure with the College-Institute. After ordination, Rabbi Meyerson fulfilled her clinical chaplaincy training through a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) residency at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn where she is currently on the Pastoral Care Advisory Committee. She received Board Certification through the National Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC) in 2010 and currently sits on the NAJC board and the NAJC certification commission.

Linda K. Kleinman
Volunteer Community Clergy Engagementment Coordinator

Linda K. Kleinman has used her skills from a career in financial services marketing to build relationships with community clergy.  She initiated and runs the monthly breakfasts with religious leaders that feature a speaker from the Mount Sinai Hospital or Medical School.  These events have led to increased involvement with the community and many have become volunteers, interns and chaplains for the hospital. She is a graduate of Clark University and in her spare time has run a cooking school for low fat, low cholesterol French and Italian cooking.

Sandy Michael
Administrative Assistant/CPE Program Registrar

Sandy has been the Administrative Assistant for the Department of Spiritual Care for over 2 years, after serving as a part-time volunteer for a year. She has been a 'Volunteer' for over 25 years serving non-profit organizations in Westchester. Sandy served as President and Director of Program Planning for more than 10 years for Na'Amat USA, New Rochelle. One of the goals was to raise funds for social services to women and children in Israel and also to support legislation in the US. She was an active member of "My Sister's Place" in White Plains, which helps abused women and their children in 'safe houses' and a long-time participant with the 'Family Services of Westchester', provider of furnishings to needy families. She also delivered meals to homebound seniors in Westchester through UJA 'Meals on Wheels' program. Now, a resident of Manhattan, Sandy coordinates the planning of menus at a women's shelter. She continues to look for new ways to give back.

Rabbi Jo Hirschmann

Rabbi Jo Hirschmann is a board certified chaplain and an ACPE supervisory candidate. A chaplain who has worked in hospice and psychiatric settings, she currently supervises students in the new Clinical Pastoral Education program at Hebrew Union College in New York City. Hebrew Union College is an educational site of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. With Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener, she is co-author of Maps and Meaning: Levitical Models of Contemporary Care, published by Fortress Press.