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The Brooklyn Hospital Center celebrates healthcare wins at 36th annual Founders Ball

TBHC CEO Gary Terrinoni at Brooklyn Hospital Center Founders Gala
The Brooklyn Hospital Center CEO Gary Terrinoni poses at the medical center’s first in-person Founders Ball since 2019. The gathering raised about $1 million for the hospital and celebrated its achievements over the last two years.
Photo by Caroline Ourso

It’s been nearly three years since The Brooklyn Hospital Center was able to host its annual Founders Ball in-person, and there was a lot to celebrate when hospital leadership and honorees gathered at the Brooklyn Museum on May 23.

The annual fundraising event raises up to $1 million for the hospital each year, and the money raised goes right back to making continued technological and care advancements at the Fort Greene hospital. This year’s donations are expected to be used to double the size and capacity of the hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab, part of their acclaimed cardiac care unit.

the brooklyn hospital center gala drinks being poured
Donors and honorees celebrated two years of progress at The Brooklyn Hospital Center’s annual Founders Gala on May 23. Photo by Caroline Ourso

With champagne glasses and a beautifully-decorated venue, the hospital was also celebrating the accomplishments of the last two years. The pandemic has been a strain on all local hospitals, including TBHC, but the medical center has made enormous progress in expanding and modernizing their medical facilities. Earlier this year, the hospital received $9.2 million in federal funding to finish a long-needed upgrade and expansion of their emergency department, which joins a brand-new location and dialysis technology for the award-winning dialysis center and a the Physicians Pavilion, a shiny, brand-new home for the hospital’s specialty practices.

people at a dinner table at the brooklyn hospital center's gala
Donors raised about $1 million to continue improving the hospital’s award-winning facilities and celebrated the progress made at the Fort Greene hospital over the last two years. Photo by Caroline Ourso

Four accomplished doctors and TBHC partners were honored with awards. Dan Chung, CEO at investment firm Alger, was given the Brooklyn Without Borders medal alongside his colleagues at Alger. In December 2020, Chung donated $400,000 to pay off the outstanding student debt of the hospital’s nurse managers and provided a summer-long stress management program for nurses as they dealt with the pandemic’s most difficult days. 

Carlos P. Naudon, President and CEO of Ponce Bank and a former chairman of TBHC was named the Founders Medalist, while two physicians — Dr. Ahmar Butt and Dr. Louisdon Pierre — were awarded Walter E. Reed medals for their work in medicine both within the walls of the hospital and elsewhere.

dr. louisdon pierre makes a speech at a podium after receiving a medal at the brooklyn hospital center's gala
Dr. Louisdon Pierre, a celebrated physician and Director of Pediatric Inpatient Services at TBHC, was honored with a Walter Reed medal at the annual Founders Ball on May 23. Photo by Caroline Ourso

The more than century-old hospital is one of a small number of independent hospitals still operating in Brooklyn, and a large number of its patients are low-income and insured by Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to overcoming financial struggles made worse by the pandemic and celebrating the hospital’s new facilities, TBHC was the only hospital in Brooklyn to raise its Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade this spring, earning a “B” from the independent hospital-safety organization. Leapfrog specifically commended the hospital’s infection control, leadership, and qualified nurses.

people at TBHC gala
The money raised at the 2022 Founders Ball will be used to expand and improve the hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab. Photo by Caroline Ourso

Last month, Brooklyn Paper’s parent company Schneps Media honored TBCH CEO Gary Terrinoni as a “Healthcare Hero.”