SNCH’s Dr. Cheryl Carrao remembered

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Dr. Cheryl Lynn Carrao, a longtime medical education professional, died on Sept. 29. She was 51.

Carrao, remembered by those who knew her as a person who emanated positivity, was the associate designated institutional officer and director of medical education at South Nassau Communities Hospital. She came to South Nassau in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy destroyed the Long Beach Medical Center, where she served as the Vice President of Medical Education and the Chair of Family Medicine.

Immediately after arriving at South Nassau, Carrao worked to restructure the Long Beach residency programs under South Nassau and successfully helped permanently assume more than 30 residents at the hospital. In addition, having been at the Long Beach hospital for more than 15 years, she had a loyal patient following.

She also served as the director of South Nassau’s Osteopathic Medical Education program and director of its Osteopathic Family Medicine Residency Program, officials said. Carrao was nominated for the prestigious Mentor of the Year award from the American Osteopathic Association. She also served on the board of directors of the New York Institute of Technology’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and its Education Committee, and was an Assistant Clinical Professor there.

The most unique quality about Carrao, South Nassau officials said, was her positive disposition. No matter what issued she was faced with, they said, she would always have a smile and a solution, and saw every day as an opportunity for happiness and success. She was regarded by her colleagues as an eternal optimist. Her talent, enthusiasm, compassion and the beaming smile that was her trademark would be missed.

Those who knew her said she was an exemplary practitioner, leader and mentor, and beloved by the community, her patients, colleagues and student physicians.

She was born in Yonkers in 1967, and graduated from New York University in 1989. Carrao graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with the class of 1993. A year later, she married Dr. Vincent Carrao.

Carrao is survived by her husband; her children, Thomas and Sara Carrao; her parents, Billy and Joan Wafford; her  brother, William Wafford; her in-laws, Thomas and Lucille Carrao, and cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.

To honor her life, family and friends gathered at Coxe & Graziano Funeral Home in Mamaroneck on Oct. 3, and a mass of Christian Burial was held Oct. 4 at Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church, followed by interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.