The Arnold P. Gold Foundation and Gold Corporate Council member BD (Becton, Dickinson & Company) are pleased to announce the presentation of the 2021 BD Gold Humanism in Community Health Innovator Award to Thomas Tighe, the President and CEO of Direct Relief.
BD has long supported Community Health Centers, which serve an essential role in building healthy communities, and the BD Gold joint award was created to recognize the critical role of community health centers in a more visible way. Through the 2021 award, BD and the Gold Foundation recognize Mr. Tighe’s and his team’s great contributions to underserved communities during the COVID-19 crisis. BD is a founding member of the Gold Corporate Council, a group of the world’s foremost healthcare companies that has committed to elevate humanism in healthcare and advance the Gold Foundation’s mission.
During the past year, under Mr. Tighe’s leadership, Direct Relief mobilized and donated nearly $400 million in personal protective equipment (PPE), emergency grants, and essential medications to almost 2,900 community health centers and other safety-net providers. In doing so, Direct Relief enabled these essential healthcare providers (including Free and Charitable Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers) to provide care to millions of at-risk Americans who were uninsured or underinsured.
“BD has partnered with Direct Relief for over 25 years and we have witnessed the incredible growth and strategic direction of the organization under Thomas’ leadership,” said Ellen Rafferty, Senior Manager of Social Investing at BD. “Although we have been continually impressed with the organization’s work, we were particularly moved by Thomas and his team’s round-the-clock efforts during the pandemic to help deliver critical aid to underserved communities and save lives.”
