|
UNITED
HOSPITAL FUND CELEBRATES FOUR NEW YORK LEADERS
AND THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN IMPROVING HEALTH CARE
Michael A.
Stocker, MD, Jennie L. and Richard K. DeScherer,
and Paul E. Francis Receive Awards
NEW YORK, NEW YORK October 6, 2014—The United
Hospital Fund paid tribute to Michael A. Stocker, MD, Jennie
L. and Richard K. DeScherer, and Paul E. Francis at its
annual gala, held this evening at the Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel. The awards were presented to acknowledge their major
contributions aimed at improving health care in New York.
Drawing a crowd of close to 600, the event
marks the opening of the Fund’s 136th fund-raising campaign
for its work to shape positive change in health care in New
York.
Michael A. Stocker, MD, MPH, former chairman of the New York
City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and former
president and CEO of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, received
the Health Care Leadership Award. Over seven years, Dr.
Stocker successfully led Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield’s
conversion from not-for-profit to publicly traded status,
creating a leaner, more efficient and competitive business
in the process, and further signaling the embrace of managed
care by the insurance industry. Following a brief
retirement, Dr. Stocker advised and supported HHC’s
management team as they dealt with the perpetual challenges
of infrastructure, staffing, and money, along with a new
focus on the critical areas of corporate compliance,
internal audits, and procurement. During his five years of
leadership at HHC, he was often recognized for his role in
enhancing the quality and safety of its services and, in the
context of national health reform, preparing the public
health care system to be seen as “providers of choice” as
fewer New Yorkers go uninsured.
The Health Care Leadership Award was
established by the United Hospital Fund in 1998 to recognize
strong and sustained leadership aimed at improving health
care in New York City. Previous recipients of the award
include Peter May, Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Kenneth Raske,
James and Merryl Tisch, Anthony Watson, Martin D. Payson,
John K. Castle, Mathilde Krim, PhD, Sanford I. Weill, and
Maurice R. Greenberg.
Jennie L. and Richard K. DeScherer received
the Distinguished Community Service Award for their
outstanding leadership of the SLE Lupus Foundation and the
Lupus Research Institute. Mr. DeScherer leads the SLE Lupus
Foundation’s board as president, while Mrs. DeScherer, also
an active board member, has helped shape each of the
foundation’s program initiatives. Both are founding members
of the board of the Lupus Research Institute. Over the past
40 years, the DeScherers have worked to ensure that
thousands of people with lupus had the lifeline they needed,
and to spur research toward a cure. The SLE Lupus
Foundation’s programs include support groups, doctor
referrals, summer vacation camp for children with lupus and
their families, public awareness and advocacy, and model
storefront outreach efforts in underserved neighborhoods
throughout New York City. The Lupus Research Institute has
awarded $42 million in grants to scientists in over 60
academic and medical centers in 21 states, and it estimates
that its support has leveraged an additional $132 million
from the National Institutes of Health and other sources.
Established by the Fund in 1987, the
Distinguished Community Service Award recognizes volunteer
leadership that significantly improves health care in New
York City. For a ninth year, the Distinguished Community
Service Award has been generously supported by TIAA-CREF,
the leading provider of retirement services in the medical,
academic, research, and cultural fields. Roger
W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, presented
the United Hospital Fund award to the DeScherers.
Paul E. Francis was recognized with a Special
Tribute for his many contributions to New York and to health
care; following a successful career in the private sector
and critical budget and advisory roles with three New York
governors, he is now increasingly focusing on improving
health care. Mr. Francis serves on the board of directors of
the New York State Health Foundation, whose grantmaking and
convening activities play a vital role in advancing health
care in New York. He also serves on the board of trustees of
Interfaith Medical Center, an important safety net hospital
in Brooklyn, as well as the boards of directors of the New
York e-Health Collaborative, which is building the statewide
network for sharing electronic medical records, and of GNYHA
Ventures, the for-profit subsidiary of the Greater New York
Hospital Association. In 2014, his work on behalf of the
spinal cord injury advocacy community in New York helped to
restore $7 million in annual funding for spinal cord injury
research. Formerly a member of the United Hospital Fund’s
board, and currently a member of its Health Policy Forum, he
remains a close friend and supporter of the Fund.
The benefit chairman was J. Barclay Collins
II, chairman of the Fund’s
board of directors.
“The individuals we are honoring tonight each
enrich the long, storied history of health care leadership
in New York,” said Jim Tallon, president of the United
Hospital Fund. “Their experiences are as varied as our
health system is complex, but all these honorees share a
compelling vision—they see how health care can work better
and meet real needs. And the people of New York are better
for their respective contributions.”
The United Hospital Fund is a health services
research and philanthropic organization whose primary
mission is to shape positive change in health care for the
people of New York. For more information, please visit
www.uhfnyc.org
|