Beyond the "Waiting Room" — Unique and Innovative Center to Provide Patients with Health-Care Library and Customer Service
Reception Celebrates Generosity of Arthur and Myra Mahon; Combined Gifts Total $9 Million
NEW YORK (February 28, 2007) — A reception was held today to dedicate the new Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center in the new Weill Greenberg Center, Weill Cornell Medical College's new ambulatory care and medical education building. The building, at 1305 York Ave., was itself dedicated on Jan. 26.
The Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center was made possible by a $9 million consortium gift from the Arthur and Myra Mahon Foundation, the Adrian and Jessie Archbold Charitable Trust and the Dean's Challenge matching funds.
"Patient education has long been my passion. Fear and mystery of the unknown often makes being a patient frightening and very difficult. Information is the key to providing comfort and, many times, acceptance of treatment," says Myra Mahon. "An informed patient is almost always a healthier patient with a better chance for a favorable outcome."
Prominently located on the second floor of the Weill Greenberg Center, the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center will be the first stop for most patients and their families as they enter the building, providing them a comfortable, quiet area to rest between appointments, and access to library medical information, computer workstations, and other special patient amenities. There are also several rooms to accommodate private meetings of doctors and their patients. Approximately 200 patients and their families are expected to visit the Center on a daily basis.
The unique and innovative Center is dedicated to enabling patients and their families to make informed health-care decisions by providing them with authoritative and current health information. It also aims to give patients, their families and caregivers a positive and uncomplicated patient experience by providing patient-physician private conference rooms and assistance with billing, insurance and all other related inquiries.
Sanford I. Weill, chairman of the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College, says: "Both Myra and Arthur have led the way at Weill Cornell by setting an example and motivating others to get involved. Myra Mahon, alongside her husband, Arthur, a former chairman of our Board of Overseers, has been a champion of Weill Cornell's mission for more than 20 years. Her commitment to medicine, education and health care is exemplary, and thus, it is a fitting tribute to name the Patient Resource Center, a focal point of Weill Cornell's new ambulatory care facility, in her honor."
Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, says: "This ambitious and worthy endeavor was made possible by the Mahons' vision and generosity. Always sympathetic to the needs and concerns of patients, Myra and Arthur Mahon saw a need at Weill Cornell and were determined to meet it. As patients increasingly seek to inform and educate themselves, the new Center will help ensure this is done in the most accurate and up-to-date manner. The Center will also help make the whole patient experience as easy and enjoyable as possible."
The Jessie Archbold Library within the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center provides comprehensive information on specific ailments compiled and constantly updated by a full-time librarian. Materials selected for the library files, based on the physician's recommendations, include relevant Internet resources and easily understood medical journal articles. The Adrian Archbold Reading Room provides a comfortable place for respite within the Center and is furnished to allow for intimate discussions among family members and/or personal consultations with physicians and other professional staff.
Patients and their families, working in concert with their health-care providers, can call on the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center for timely personalized information tailored to their specific health concerns. Expert staff is available both in person and electronically.
The 13-story, 330,000-square-foot, $230 million Weill Greenberg Center serves as the new focus for patient care and education at the Medical College, as well as the flagship building for Cornell University in New York City. A comfortable, modern and aesthetically pleasing environment designed to make the ambulatory patient experience pleasant and efficient, the building houses numerous specialty clinical programs, as well as world-class research and medical education. The facility is the first clinical building in Weill Cornell's 109-year history.
Arthur and Myra Mahon
Arthur Mahon, a practicing attorney since 1958, is presently counsel to the law firm McDermott Will & Emery. Mr. Mahon has served as a Weill Cornell Overseer since 1986, including three years as chairman and 14 years as vice chairman, and has been a trustee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital since 1994. Myra Mahon earned her master's degree in social work. She is the former executive vice president of the Tri-State United Way, former director of development for the New York Archdiocese and a fund-raising consultant. She serves as a member of the Executive Committee of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Lying-In Hospital and as co-chair of the Women's Health Symposium.
For more information, patients may call (866) 697-6397.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College — located in New York City — is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in such areas as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, AIDS, obesity, cancer and psychiatry — and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions that result in serious medical disorders. Weill Cornell Medical College is the birthplace of many medical advances — from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., and most recently, the world's first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. Weill Cornell's Physician Organization includes 650 clinical faculty, who provide the highest quality of care to their patients.
Lezlie Greenberg
leg2003@med.cornell.edu