Hearst President & CEO Steven R. Swartz, Mentoring in Medicine co-founder Dr. Lynne Holden, Dean of NYU Nursing College Dr. Eileen Sullivan-Marx, and UHF Chairman Emeritus J. Barclay Collins II Receive Awards
NEW YORK, NY—October 7, 2019—United Hospital Fund (UHF) paid tribute tonight at its annual gala to Steven R. Swartz, Lynne Holden, MD, J. Barclay Collins II, and Eileen Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN for their efforts to improve health and health care through information and technology, a more diverse workforce, nurse leadership, and professional-volunteer partnerships.
The event at Cipriani 42nd Street raised almost $1.6 million and was attended by more than 500 health care, business, and community leaders. It marked the opening of UHF’s 141st fundraising campaign in support of the organization’s work to build a more effective and equitable health care system for all New Yorkers.
“The individuals we are honoring tonight truly embody the ideals of United Hospital Fund and the best of New York. They are breaking new ground and stimulating innovation and improvement,” said Anthony Shih, MD, president of UHF. “We are inspired by their commitment to addressing the health needs of all people, especially those who are most vulnerable.”
Steven R. Swartz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hearst, received UHF’s Health Care Leadership Award for raising the standard of excellence in patient care through health care information and technology. A year after taking the helm at Hearst in 2013, he announced Hearst Health, a new division to encompass and further develop the company’s health information businesses, providing next-generation clinical decision support, and communicating a common mission across the clinical, pharmacy, home and hospice care, and health insurance markets. Hearst Health now includes five businesses and a venture fund focused on health information technology, all with the goal of improving health care safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness. Every year, its care guidance reaches 85 percent of discharged patients and 205 million insured individuals in the United States and informs 77 million home care visits and 3.2 billion dispensed prescriptions. Mr. Swartz is a trustee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital where he co-chairs the budget and finance committee, serves on the information technology committee, and mobilizes support for Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
The Health Care Leadership Award was established by United Hospital Fund in 1998 to recognize strong and sustained leadership aimed at improving health care in New York City and beyond.
Lynne Holden, MD, co-founder and President of Mentoring in Medicine, received the Distinguished Community Service Award for her leadership in creating mentoring and academic programs to provide opportunities for disadvantaged and minority students to become health care professionals, and for creating a more diverse and equitable health care workforce in the process. Dr. Holden, an emergency room physician at Montefiore Health System and a professor of emergency medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, knew how valuable mentors were to her in her journey through Howard University and Temple University School of Medicine. In 2007, she founded Mentoring in Medicine in the Bronx to offer youth the same support and encouragement to enter health professions. Since its founding, the organization has recruited more than 1,500 health and science professionals—along with college and medical school students—as volunteers to help with academic enrichment, leadership development, community engagement, and mentoring for students from second grade through graduate and medical school. To date, more than 500 Mentoring in Medicine students have pursued health professions, with 289 entering medical school. The organization has expanded to 16 cities, from Washington, D.C., to Anchorage, Alaska.
Established by UHF in 1987, the Distinguished Community Service Award recognizes volunteer leadership that significantly improves health care in New York. For the fourteenth year, the award is generously supported by TIAA, the leading provider of retirement services in the medical, academic, research, and cultural fields. Roger W. Ferguson Jr, President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA, presented the award to Dr. Holden.
Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean of NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and President of the American Academy of Nursing, was awarded a Special Tribute for her pioneering leadership. She is one of the nation’s most distinguished nursing leaders, researchers, and educators, with a long history of promoting innovation in primary and geriatric care. Early in her career, in New Hampshire and at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Sullivan-Marx built a reputation as a leader in community-based long-term care for older adults and veterans. Since taking the helm at NYU in 2012, she has turned the college into one of the top nursing research institutions in the country. Applications for admissions have increased fourfold, making it one of the most competitive as well. Her influence and impact extend to the national stage; as the first nurse named to the American Medical Association’s committee for determining appropriate valuations for physicians’ work, she was instrumental in changing national reimbursement practices that elevated the acceptance and use of nurse practitioners. On October 1 she became president of the prestigious American Academy of Nursing, where she will work closely with the Academy’s 2,700 Fellows to promote nursing and patient-centered care.
J. Barclay Collins II, Chairman Emeritus of UHF, was also awarded a Special Tribute for his 35-year commitment to UHF and to ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to quality, safe health care. A corporate lawyer and former executive vice president and general counsel at the Hess Corporation, Mr. Collins joined UHF’s board in 1984. He served as chairman from 2006 until this past June, lending his financial acumen, legal prowess, and personal commitment to help UHF remain at the forefront of efforts to address critical challenges facing New York’s health care delivery system. He has been a leading champion of UHF’s Clinical Quality Fellowship Program, co-led with Greater New York Hospital Association, which has trained more than 200 physicians and nurses from more than 50 New York-area hospitals in the science of quality improvement. Mr. Collins worked with the UHF board to rally support for UHF’s response after the attacks of September 11, 2001, which resulted in more than 340,000 New Yorkers being enrolled in Disaster Relief Medicaid. He was also instrumental in recruiting UHF’s current president, Anthony Shih, MD, and his predecessor, James R. Tallon, Jr. He is a champion of New York’s community hospitals, with years of experience as a trustee of The Brooklyn Hospital Center. Mr. Collins also currently chairs the New York Botanical Garden and the Mystic Seaport Museum boards and is actively engaged in other nonprofits.
About United Hospital Fund
United Hospital Fund works to build a more effective health care system for every New Yorker. An independent, nonprofit organization, we analyze public policy to inform decision-makers, find common ground among diverse stakeholders, and develop and support innovative programs that improve the quality, accessibility, affordability, and experience of patient care. For more on our initiatives and programs please visit our website at www.uhfnyc.org and follow us on Twitter.