Jim Tallon, president of United Hospital Fund; Edgar Mandeville, MD, recipient of the Distinguished Community Service Award; Richard Ravitch, recipient of the Special Tribute; Frank A. Bennack, Jr., recipient of the Health Care Leadership Award; Roger Ferguson, president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, which sponsored the Distinguished Community Service Award; and Barclay Collins II, chairman of United Hospital Fund.
The United Hospital Fund (UHF) paid tribute to Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Dr. Edgar Mandeville, and Richard Ravitch at its annual gala, held on October 11, 2011 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. They each received an award for their respective contributions to improving health care in New York.
Drawing a crowd of nearly 550, the event marks the opening of the Fund’s 133rd fund-raising campaign for its work to shape positive change in health care in New York.
Frank A. Bennack, Jr., received the Health Care Leadership Award for his extraordinary personal leadership to improve health and health care in New York City for more than three decades. He was one of the key architects of the 1997 merger of The New York Hospital and The Presbyterian Hospital—creating NewYork-Presbyterian, the world-renowned academic medical complex and the city’s largest private employer. He was also a driving force behind the creation of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. As chair of NewYork-Presbyterian’s budget and finance committee and an active member of several other committees, he has guided the hospital and its finances during a particularly tumultuous time. For more than 35 years, he has also served as a leader on the boards of the Hearst Foundations, which support a wide array of health care, social services, and educational and cultural programs throughout the country. In the greater New York area, the Foundations’ grants to health care and social services providers have been a steady and generous source of support, last year alone totaling approximately $3 million.
Edgar Mandeville, MD, received the Fund’s Distinguished Community Service Award for his pivotal role in shaping the Arthur Ashe Institute’s work to alleviate health disparities. Since 1993, the Institute, focusing on low- to moderate-income multiethnic communities, has grown from an exciting idea—formulated by tennis star and humanitarian Arthur Ashe just months before his death—to a dynamic organization reaching more than 3,000 Brooklynites each year. Combining his years of urban health care experience—both in private practice in Queens and now as chair of Harlem Hospital’s ob-gyn department—with his network of professional and personal connections, Dr. Mandeville has tirelessly promoted the Institute’s mission and helped establish critical relationships with SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Long Island College Hospital’s Healthy Families Brooklyn program, the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, 11 schools, and more than 250 neighborhood businesses.
Richard Ravitch was recognized with a Special Tribute for his impressive and long-standing service to New York and its health care community. He has been there whenever New York has needed him and continues to be a model hospital trustee and civic leader. He may be best recognized for the 18 months he served as New York’s Lieutenant Governor, during which he focused attention on the State’s serious budget shortfall and the urgent need to dramatically reform our Medicaid program. Often challenging the status quo and proposing
The benefit chairman was J. Barclay Collins II, chairman of the United Hospital Fund.
“We at the United Hospital Fund feel fortunate to have the opportunity to pay tribute to three special honorees this evening,” said James R. Tallon, Jr., president of the United Hospital Fund. “While they have chosen to tackle different health care challenges, what they share is a vision for change, a commitment to bringing about that change, and the know-how to make change happen. These individuals are leaders who make a difference, and New York’s health care system and the people of New York are better for their respective contributions. For these reasons, the United Hospital Fund is pleased to recognizeFrank Bennack, Dr. Edgar Mandeville, and Richard Ravitch—dynamic, thoughtful, caring leaders who richly deserve recognition.”
UHF Chairman J. Barclay Collins II, UHF SVP David A. Gould, and UHF Director Peter J. Powers.
Jeffrey Menkes, UHF Vice Chairman Patricia S. Levinson, Dr. Kenneth L. Davis, and Peter May.
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan and UHF President Jim Tallon.
UHF Director John C. Simons, Sheila L. Lennon, and Anastasia M. Hagan.
Peter W. May, Paula L. Root, and Dr. Leon Root.
Dr. Mary Lake Bennack and Frank A. Bennack, Jr., recipient of the Health Care Leadership Award.
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., and Dr. Edgar Mandeville, recipient of the Distinguished Community Service Award.
Kathleen M. Doyle and Richard Ravitch, recipient of the Special Tribute.
Dr. Nancy Wexler, Dr. Robert E. Kelly, Dr. Steven J. Corwin.
Dr. Steven M. Safyer, Dr. Peter Semczuk, Patrick Haughey, and Susan Solometo.
Hon. H. Carl McCall and Rev. Terrence McKinley.
Michael J. Noone, Kevin Nazworth, Pierre DeJean, Sara Reineman, and Edward Moslander.
Patricia J. Wang and Harriette Mandeville.
Donna Moylan, Dr. Benjamin K. Chu, and Dr. Ruth C. Browne.
Ellen Levine and Dr. Richard Levine.
George Irish and Jeannie Irish.
Jim Asher and Donna Kalajian Lagani.
Mitch Scherzer and Andrea Mann.
Dr. Samuel Gulley, Billye A. Aaron, and Linda Gulley.
Deborah Bachrach, Joseph R. Baker III, and Richard N. Gottfried.
