The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is pleased to announce the 2021 Champions of Humanistic Care, physicians, nurses, and healthcare team members who have been selected by their healthcare institutions for compassion and courage during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 healthcare team members have been chosen from Gold Partners Council member institutions and Gold Corporate Council member companies, as well as other affiliated Gold partners.
“Nurses, doctors, and care teams have shouldered an incredible burden for over a year now, caring in uncertain and harrowing conditions, when their own safety was at times at risk, and when the normal support systems were dismantled. They have stood in for family members who could not be in the room, they have adapted again and again, and through it all, they have brought their own humanity to bear in caring for patients,” said Dr. Richard I. Levin, President and CEO of the Gold Foundation. “It is our honor to recognize their critical contribution of humanism in healthcare during this ongoing crisis. We are so very grateful.”
The Champions of Humanistic Care will be recognized at the Gold Foundation’s virtual gala on June 10, 2021, alongside three esteemed National Humanism in Medicine Medal recipients:
- Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden.
- Wayne Riley, 17th President of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New York Academy of Medicine.
- Eric Topol, Founder and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, and Professor of Molecular Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute.
Dr. Fauci will be accepting his medal on behalf of all healthcare teams in America. The 200 or so Champions of Humanistic Care are a small sample of the millions of healthcare team members who have been a part of the immense care effort during the pandemic.
In addition, Gold Trustee and Emory Professor Dr. Kimberly Manning will host, and Nurse and R&B singer Felicia Temple will perform.
Each Champion of Humanistic Care will receive a certificate and an invitation to attend the virtual gala. In addition, the Gold Foundation encourages institutions to recognize their honorees locally.
Among the honorees is at least one healthcare professional who has since died. Dr. Mary Fowkes, a neuropathologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, contributed critical information early in the pandemic through autopsies that revealed organ damage from COVID-19 was not limited to the lungs.
As Mount Sinai Health System wrote it its selection of Dr. Fowkes: “We are honoring Dr. Fowkes because of her courageous and selfless efforts to perform autopsies on COVID patients when little was still known about the disease, despite [herself] being in a vulnerable age group. Her findings led to changes in treatment protocols for COVID patients, resulting in improved outcomes for some patients.”
A forthcoming gala program will provide more details on each honorees’ contributions. The virtual gala, which is planned for one hour, 7-8 p.m. EDT, will include a wide selection of honorees featured in a video. Every honoree will also be listed in the digital gala program (PDF) and receive a certificate from the Gold Foundation.
Learn more about the 2021 gala.
