Sunset Park

Lutheran Family Health Centers board elects new chairman

March 11, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Dr. Gabriel Rincón is the new chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lutheran Family Health Centers, a health care program affiliated with Lutheran Medical Center. Photo courtesy Lutheran Family Health Centers
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A dentist with a passion for helping Brooklyn’s immigrant communities has been tapped to serve as chairman of Lutheran Family Health Centers.

Dr. Gabriel Rincón has been elected chairman of the Board of Trustees, the governing body of the community health center network. He has been a member of the board since 2009 and had been serving as vice chairman since 2013.

Dr. Rincón succeeds Rev. Dr. Samuel Fook Wong who had served as chairman since 2009.

“Dr. Rincón has a passion for serving immigrant populations and is fiercely devoted to improving health outcomes in our neighborhoods,” said Larry K. McReynolds, president of Lutheran Family Health Centers. “Through his community work, his volunteerism, and his advocacy, he is perfectly suited to help guide the Lutheran Family Health Centers and help raise critical awareness for our network. It’s important that our local community knows that Lutheran is positioned strongly and will continue to increase community access to high quality primary care services throughout Brooklyn.”

Headquartered in Sunset Park, Lutheran Family Health Centers is a community-based ambulatory health care system affiliated with Lutheran HealthCare, the umbrella organization that also oversees Lutheran Medical Center, the hospital at 150 55th St.

Lutheran Family Health Centers is one of the largest health center networks in the country serving southwest Brooklyn for more than 45 years. It has nine full-time community health centers, 29 school-based health centers and several community programs, including WIC programs, adult and family literacy programs, child care centers and a family wellness center. The network is the primary medical provider for more than 100,000 people.

Dr. Rincón earned his D.D.S. degree from the New York University College of Dentistry in 1991 and completed a fellowship in oral surgery at Bellevue Hospital. He started a dental practice in Sunset Park in 1993.

At around the same time that he founded his dental practice, Dr. Rincón began volunteering his time in the Sunset Park community, focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness, tuberculosis prevention, and lead poisoning reduction.

In 2000, Dr. Rincón and three other community leaders formed Mixteca Organization, Inc., to serve Mexican and Latino immigrants. As president of Mixteca, he extended his outreach to include heart disease, diabetes and decreasing barriers to health care access in new immigrant communities.

In 2011, Dr. Rincón was honored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with the Community Health Leaders Award for his work educating Hispanic populations on HIV/AIDS prevention, diabetes, heart disease and domestic violence.

In 2012, he was named Man of the Year by the organization Casa Puebla New York. That same year, he also received the Robert F. Allen Symbol of H.O.P.E. Award for outstanding contributions to underserved populations.

He was awarded a certificate of recognition by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2013. He has also earned recognition from the Brooklyn Borough President, the Mexican Consul General, the City Council, the Sunset Park Lion’s Club, and the New York City Department of Health for his community efforts.

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