South Nassau honors two local businessmen

Golf outing, a hospital fundraiser, breaks record

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South Nassau Communities Hospital honored former Island Park resident Butch Yamali and Rockville Centre’s Wayne Lipton, both successful local entrepreneurs, by naming them to the 32nd annual Golf Outing committee. SNCH President and CEO Richard Murphy credited them, along with the Golf Committee co-chairs, Tony Cancellieri, vice president of Park Strategies, and Jeffrey Greenfield, a managing member of the NGL Group LLC, with the most successful campaign in the hospital’s history.

Yamali is a leader in the catering and restaurant industry on Long Island. He founded the Dover Group, one of the largest hospitality, catering, vending and ice cream providers in the metropolitan area. Dover’s establishments include Peter’s Clam Bar in Island Park, the Coral House in Baldwin, the Sands in Lido Beach, Malibu Shore Club, Camp Malibu, Maliblue Oyster Bar, Hudson’s on the Mile, Dover Caterers, Quick Snack Vending, Dream Event Planning, Carnival Ice Cream and, most recently, the Milleridge Inn in Jericho.

“The golf outing did very well — they raised more money than they had ever done in the past,” Yamali said of the June 13 event. “We’re community members. I live in the community. … My mother had a very bad accident in July of 2015. The hospital did everything they could, and every department came to help. And she’s back home, so when they asked me to chip in for the foundation, I was happy to do so.”

The Dover Group was the exclusive event underwriter for this year’s outing, and Greenfield was the hot dog cart underwriter.

Lipton, founder of Concierge Choice Physicians LLC in Rockville Centre, has nearly 40 years of experience in health care and business. In 2005 he founded Concierge Choice Physicians, which works with doctors in 23 states on marketing and administering concierge programs. A Rockville Centre resident since 1980, Lipton owned and operated Richmind-Way Inc., a chain of discount drug stores, for almost 20 years. He was named to South Nassau’s board of directors in 2013.

Supporters made history at the golf outing, netting more than $250,000 to support the expansion of the hospital’s Emergency Department. The event broke all previous records, and saw an increase in contributions of more than 20 percent over last year’s event.

“Our Golf Committee and honorees really made a difference this year,” Murphy said. “They worked the phones and generated a lot of interest in the Emergency Department expansion campaign. We’re grateful to them and to all our supporters who recognize the importance this expansion project has to all the residents of the South Shore of Nassau County. It will improve care and service to tens of thousands of patients who depend on our Emergency Department each year.”

The hospital’s expansion campaign, whose goal is to raise $10 million to help fund the $60 million project, is nearing the halfway point. The project will expand the Emergency Department from 16,000 to 30,000 square feet, enough room to accommodate a projected 80,000 patient visits each year. The department currently sees some 65,000 patients a year, but was designed to handle 35,000.