Legacy
This category is for those who have made a lifetime impact and commitment to improving mental health care for physicians and healthcare. Past winners include the Lorna Breene Heroes Act.
Dr. Carol A. Bernstein is Professor and Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Wellbeing in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and Obstetrics and Gynecology and Women's Health at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is also a consultant and Senior Scholar for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). She was previously Vice Chair for Education and Director of Residency Training in Psychiatry at NYU. From 2001-2011, Dr. Bernstein also served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and the Designated Institutional Official for ACGME accredited training programs at NYU. Dr. Bernstein is a Past-President of the American Psychiatric Association and served the Association as Vice-President, Treasurer and Trustee-at-Large and as the chair of multiple committees. She has served as a spokesperson for the American Psychiatric Association on many occasions and received the 1997 exemplary psychiatrist award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). She is the recipient of the APA/NIMH Vestermark Award in Psychiatric Education and the APA Alexandra Symonds Award for contributions to the advancement of women in leadership and in women’s health. In 2018, Dr. Bewnstein received a special Presidential commendation from the APA for her work in educating the public about mental illness through her role on Sirius/XM Doctor Radio. In 2019, she received the John Gienapp Award for notable contributions to Graduate Medical Education from the ACGME and the Distinguished Service Award from the American College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Bernstein completed medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Following an internship in internal medicine at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Medical Center in New York, she completed her psychiatric residency training at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Bernstein is active in many national psychiatric associations in addition to the APA - these include the American College of Psychiatrists where she is currently the Treasurer of the Board of Regents, the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, among others. In 2003, Dr. Bernstein was selected as a Fellow in ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine) a national program, designed to promote leadership for women in medicine. In 2005, Dr. Bernstein completed the Physician Leadership Development Program at NYU as well as the Graduate Medical Education Leadership Program of the ACGME. From 2010-2016, Dr. Bernstein served on the Board of Directors of the ACGME where she co-chaired the ACGME Task Force on Physician Well Being. She is also a member of the Action Collaborative on Clinician Wellbeing and Resilience of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Bernstein has written numerous articles and chapters on psychiatric education and has served as a peer reviewer for both the American Journal of Psychiatry and Academic Psychiatry. She has served on the editorial boards of Academic Psychiatry, the Journal of Psychiatric Services and Focus, has presented at more than 80 conferences and meetings and has been the recipient of a number of visiting professorships. For more than ten years, Dr. Bernstein hosted a weekly call-in show for consumers on Sirius Radio’s Doctor Radio Channel sponsored by the NYU Langone Medical Center.
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc, FACP was the 43rd Commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, one of the leading health agencies in the world. He led the City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its historic campaign to vaccinate over 6 million New Yorkers, saving tens of thousands of lives. Dr. Chokshi architected treatment strategies, navigated school and economic reopening, and served as principal public spokesperson. Under his tenure, the Health Department’s budget grew to its highest-ever level, reflecting investment in signature initiatives such as the Public Health Corps, Pandemic Response Institute, and New Family Home Visiting program. In 2021, the Department also stewarded the launch of the nation’s first publicly-authorized overdose prevention centers—as well as a landmark Board of Health resolution on racism as a public health crisis.
Dr. Stephen Klasko is a transformative leader and advocate for a revolution in our systems of health care and higher education. He has been a university president, a dean, a CEO, and an obstetrician, and now pursues his vision for the creative reconstruction of American healthcare by bridging traditional academic centers with entrepreneurs and innovators. His passion is using technology to eliminate health disparities and offer everyone the promise of health assurance. Dr. Klasko is also a lifelong DJ who believes that the message in the music can give us the courage to tackle a broken, fragmented, unfriendly, expensive, and inequitable healthcare system. He currently serves as an executive in residence at General Catalyst, North American ambassador for Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and as CMO of Abundant Partners. He serves on the board of directors at Teleflex. In 2022, President Biden appointed him to the National Board of Education Sciences. His 2023 book is titled Feeling Alright: How the Message in the Music can Save Healthcare. To be published by ACHE. As president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health from 2013-2021, he led one of the nation’s fastest growing academic health institutions based on his vision of re-imagining health care and higher education. Under his leadership, Jefferson expanded from three hospitals to 18 and from a health sciences university to a professional university with multiple campuses. Its revenue grew from $1.8 to $9 billion. His 2017 merger of Thomas Jefferson University with Philadelphia University created a pre-eminent national doctoral university that includes top-20 programs in fashion and design and occupational therapy, the first design-thinking curriculum in a medical school, and the nation’s leading research on the role of empathy in health care. His track record of success has earned him Modern Healthcare’s #2 in 2018’s “100 Most Influential Individuals”; as #21 in Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business 2018”; “Philadelphia Entrepreneur of the Year 2018”; Ernst & Young’s “Greater Philadelphia Entrepreneur of the Year 2018”; and Becker’s Hospital Review’s “100 Great Leaders in Healthcare.” Dr. Klasko is an internationally recognized advocate for transformation in health care and higher education. He is the author of 2020’s UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance, with Silicon Valley investor Hemant Taneja. In 2019, he spoke about the future of hospitals at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and in 2020, was named a Distinguished Fellow of the World Economic Forum and co-chair of its Board of Stewards for the Forum’s platform on the digital economy. He is co-author of the 2020 book, Patient No Longer with Ryan Donahue; Bless This Mess: A Picture Story of Healthcare in America (2018) – an account of how the USA was elected to the Intergalactic Council of Cool Health Systems by 2035; WE Can Fix Healthcare in America (2016); and The Phantom Stethoscope (1999). He is married to Colleen Wyse, a fashion leader and founder of The Philadelphia Trunk Show, and has three children: Lynne, David and Jill.
what will you leave behind?
Mental Health of healthcare workers is an important and long journey. Thank you to all who have donated, worked in policy, provided care, and advocated for those who come after you.