The Institute & Mount Sinai Dedicate the Alfred and Gail Engelberg Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Photo: Dr. Neil Calman, left, with Gail and Alfred Engelberg
New York, NY (May 26, 2016) – On Tuesday, May 24th, community leaders, health professionals, residents, and friends joined the Institute for Family Health and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) at a dedication ceremony honoring Alfred and Gail Engelberg. The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, an innovative partnership between the Institute and ISMMS, provides education, research, and patient care targeted to the concerns of medically underserved communities. The Department was renamed the Alfred and Gail Engelberg Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in appreciation of the Engelberg’s generous gift bestowed to the department.
For over two decades, Alfred and Gail Engelberg have been tireless champions of community health, family medicine residency training, and quality health care access for all.
Tuesday’s event began with a welcome and thanks from Institute President & CEO, Neil Calman, MD, the inaugural chair of Mount Sinai’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, and remarks from Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President & CEO, Mount Sinai Health System, who said, “We are deeply grateful for the Engelbergs’ immense generosity, which will help to enhance Mount Sinai’s reputation as one of the world’s leaders in family medicine.”
Dr. Calman emphasized that “Alfred and Gail are long-time advocates of family medicine. Their philanthropic commitment will significantly help to fund the expansion of Mount Sinai’s residency program and help the next generation of family medicine physicians.” Dr. Calman also noted the Engelberg’s longstanding support and previous contributions to the Institute including a substantial gift made to the Institute’s Mount Sinai Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Medicine; as well as support they provided to help the Institute open the Mt. Hope Family Practice Center in the Bronx.
Alfred Engelberg said, “It has been an honor and privilege to support this work over the last 25 years.” He applauded the department noting, “Mount Sinai is the only academic medical center in Manhattan to recognize that training family physicians that are capable of providing high quality and low cost care in urban neighborhoods is essential to the health and well-being of New York City,” and commended the work of family medicine doctors who “provide quality health care to those who need it most.”
As a result of the gift from Alfred and Gail Engelberg, the Department will be able to expand its research efforts by conducting high impact studies addressing population health and the elimination of health disparities; produce resident, fellow and faculty researchers equipped to use and conduct primary care research; promote an interest in family medicine careers among medical residents by offering a breadth of clinical and research opportunities; and continue to adapt and advance the state-of-the-art residency training curricula to prepare the next generation of physicians to work in the evolving health care system.
