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Brooklyn Hospital Foundation’s 2013 Founders Ball raises $1.3 M for Brooklyn Hospital Center

First fundraising event on Barclays Center Arena floor a huge success

June 17, 2013 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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In the first fundraising event to be held on the Barclays Center arena floor, The Brooklyn Hospital Foundation raised over $1.3 million at its 2013 Founders Ball, which honored Forest City Ratner President and CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, Data Delivery Systems, LLC CEO Eric D. Moskow, and Hospital’s VP Academic Affairs, CMIO and Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine Benson Yeh, MD.

Proceeds from the Founders Ball will fund the modernization of the emergency room at The Brooklyn Hospital Center—the Official Hometown Hospital of Barclays Center—one of north Brooklyn’s most urgent health needs.

The gala was co-chaired by Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center & Brooklyn Nets, and Robert B. Catell, former chairman of KeySpan and National Grid US, and Chairman, Advanced Energy Center. Cat Greenleaf, host of Talk Stoop on NBC4 New York, served as MC with Barclay Collins, Chairman of the Brooklyn Hospital Foundation.

Guests included Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and former Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden; Peter Meyer and Emmet Conlon of TD Bank; CBRE CEO Mary Ann Tighe; Robert Knakal and Paul J. Massey, Jr. of Massey Knakal Realty Services; Bruce Mosler, Chairman, Cushman & Wakefield; Joshua Muss, Principal, Muss Development; and author Peter Blauner.

Addressing the audience of more than 840 guests, Brooklyn Hospital President and CEO Richard B. Becker, MD, praised co-chairs Brett Yormark and Robert Catell for helping raise the largest amount of money in a single night for The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

“One out of every three Brooklyn residents—about one-million people—rely on Medicaid for their health insurance. The Brooklyn Hospital Center is leading the way to create a health delivery system that will improve the health of borough residents,” he said, adding that the hospital’s ER was built to manage 45,000 visits per year and is on track to serve 70,000 patients in 2013. “Our ER modernization initiative will transform this ER into the state- of- the- art facility that Brooklyn needs and deserves.”

Dr. Becker presented Dr. Yeh with the Walter E. Reed Medal, calling him, “a physician who emulates the character and accomplishments of Walter E. Reed, the great physician who set his sights on improving our nation’s public health while working at the Brooklyn Hospital Center.”

He then presented “physician, business man and philanthropist” Dr. Moskow with the 2013 Brooklyn Without Borders Award for his work in developing effective methods to reduce medical costs and increase efficiency.

Catell and Yormark, who played an integral part in developing the partnership between Barclays Center and The Brooklyn Hospital Center, also addressed the audience.

“We’re proud to call The Brooklyn Hospital Center ‘the official hometown hospital of Barclays Center,’ and I am honored to work with Richard Becker, who is leading his dedicated team in making a difference in the lives of Brooklynites,” said Yormark. “Our partnership with Brooklyn Hospital is about keeping Brooklyn healthy. Our goal is to increase awareness of the hospital and support its mission in serving Brooklyn residents. Tonight’s gala launches an initiative to raise $10 million to modernize the hospital emergency department. This borough can’t be a center for great sports, entertainment, restaurants, business and education without essential infrastructure, and we’re here tonight to support this effort.

Yormark then presented Gilmartin with The Brooklyn Hospital Foundation’s Founders Medal. Gilmartin, who along with Forest City Ratner Companies Executive Chairman Bruce Ratner, was instrumental in the development of Barclays Center, was honored for her dedication to the borough and its people.

In accepting the award, Gilmartin noted that she and her family are moving back to Brooklyn–near Barclays Center. She applauded the doctors, nurses, staff and trustees of The Brooklyn Hospital Center, calling it “one of our borough’s most important institutions. The emergency department is the front door to a hospital we hope we will never need to visit, but we are more confident knowing that it is there and that it will welcome and care for tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors.”

Founded as the borough’s first voluntary hospital, The Brooklyn Hospital Center (TBHC) has been keeping Brooklyn healthy since 1845. Today, it is a 464-bed teaching hospital, offering primary and specialized medical care, sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic services, cutting-edge technology, and specialized surgery to nearly 300,000 patients annually. Located in the heart of Brooklyn’s downtown revitalization district, TBHC is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and the Brooklyn academic and clinical affiliate of Weill Medical College of Cornell University. TBHC has fully accredited, independent residency programs in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, General Dentistry and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and trains more than 250 physicians each year.