United Hospital Fund Event Honors 38 Trustees from New York Metropolitan Area Hospitals

Release Date: 05.14.2010
Contact: rdeluna@uhfnyc.org
Contact Phone: 212 494 0733

The United Hospital Fund presented Distinguished Trustee Awards to 38 trustees from metropolitan area hospitals at a luncheon today at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The honorees are being recognized for their leadership, generosity, and extraordinary service to not-for-profit and municipal hospitals in New York City and nearby communities.

This is the 20th year the Fund has bestowed Distinguished Trustee Awards, and for the second year, honorees from outside New York City are also being recognized. The 38 honorees are all trustees from the Fund’s beneficiary not-for-profit hospitals, New York’s municipal hospital system, and hospitals participating in the United Hospital Fund/Greater New York Hospital Association quality improvement collaboratives.

Among the award recipients are prominent leaders in business, medicine, education, law, and religion, as well as those involved in human services and philanthropy. (See the list of honorees and the hospitals they serve, below.)

TD Bank (through its charitable giving arm, the TD Charitable Foundation) is the generous underwriter of the 2010 Tribute to Hospital Trustees, reflecting its commitment to hospitals and health care in New York, community involvement as a corporate value, and customer focus. Greg Braca, President of Metro New York for TD Bank, joined United Hospital Fund President James R. Tallon, Jr. and luncheon co-chairmen Patricia S. Levinson and Howard P. Milstein in recognizing the 38 Distinguished Trustees honored at the event.

The luncheon co-chairmen are themselves both longstanding board members of New York health care institutions. A previous recipient of the Distinguished Trustee Award, Ms. Levinson is both a trustee of The Mount Sinai Hospital and an active and committed member of the Fund’s board since 1994, as well as its vice chairman since 2006. Mr. Milstein, in addition to being the chair, president, and CEO of New York Private Bank & Trust and its operating bank, Emigrant Bank, has served on the board of Weill Cornell Medical College for more than 20 years and joined the Fund’s board in 2005; he also serves as chair of the New York Blood Center and American Skin Association.

The trustees were nominated by their respective institutions, which include community hospitals, academic medical centers, and public hospitals representing all five boroughs of New York City and nearby communities in both New York and New Jersey.

“Between the national health reform debates in Washington and the financial crisis in Albany, metropolitan area hospitals have had a lot to think about, prepare for, and adapt to this past year, and, as always, their voluntary leaders have played a key role,” said Fund President James R. Tallon, Jr. “Fortunately, these hospitals have some of the most talented voluntary leaders in the nation, bringing specialized knowledge and expertise to the table. These leaders understand and are sensitive to their communities’ needs, and they can bring their fresh perspectives on a range of issues. Those we honor today stand out even among their talented peers, guiding their hospitals through today’s challenges and preparing them for what is to come. That’s why we at the United Hospital Fund feel privileged to have this opportunity to recognize the exemplary efforts of this remarkable group of voluntary leaders.”

The United Hospital Fund is a health services research and philanthropic organization whose mission is to shape positive change in health care for the people of New York.

United Hospital Fund
2010 Distinguished Trustees

Paul T. Addison
Maimonides Medical Center

Hon. John. A. Barone
St. Barnabas Hospital

Frank J. Besignano
Staten Island University Hospital

Geraldine M. Chapey, PhD
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center

John R. Colon
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center

Mark L. Claster
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System

Jeffrey Dunston
Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center

Peter Frelinghuysen
The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary

Peter Gallagher
St. John's Riverside Hospital

Mortimer Gershman
Trinitas Regional Medical Center

Eugene Giscombe
North General Hospital

Genevieve Go, MD
Lutheran Medical Center

Gary Alan Goffner, RPH
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

Canon Peter P.Q. Golden
Interfaith Medical Center

Hugh Greenberg
The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center

Judah Gribetz
The Mount Sinai Medical Center

Rosemarie C. Guercia, MD, MPA
Nassau University Medical Center

John H. Gutfreund
Montefiore Medical Center

Sam Sang Ki Han
Flushing Hospital Medical Center

John. F. Heimerdinger
Westchester Medical Center

Fredric J. Hugue
New York Methodist Hospital

Richard T. Kennedy
New York Downtown Hospital

David H. Koch
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Edward B. MacDonald, Jr.
Hudson Valley Hospital Center

Jim McMullen
Lenox Hill Hospital

Ruth Nerken
Continuum Health Partners, Inc.

The Very Reverend J. Mastine Nisbett
Episcopal Health Services, Inc.

Daniel J. Paulo, MD
Richmond University Medical Center

Marlene Edith Post
New York Hospital Queens

Bernard Rosen
New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation

Michael E. Russell
Stony Brook University Medical Center

Lucy Salpeter
Peninsula Hospital Center

Joseph M. Sanzari
Hackensack University Medical Center

Stephen C. Sherrill
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Joseph A. Tarantino
Calvary Hospital

Hon. David G. Trager
The Brooklyn Hospital Center

Daniel G. Tully
Hospital for Special Surgery

George E. Weinberger
New York Community Hospital