More than a hundred friends of Weill Cornell Medical College and members of the Medical College's Board of Overseers celebrated the opening of the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center on Feb. 28, located at the recently opened Weill Greenberg Center at 70th Street and York Avenue.
Dean Gotto (left) extending his thanks to the generosity of Arthur and Myra Mahon at the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center dedication, Feb. 28.
"We are very proud of this building and the opportunity to recognize Myra and Arthur Mahon, who have been strong supporters of Weill Cornell Medical College for several decades," said Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. "This Patient Resource Center is a wonderful way for patients to get information and take care of the many small things, such as getting billing and insurance information or scheduling future appointments, which matter when a patient is dealing with a medical issue."
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 with a comfortable, quiet area to rest between appointments, as well as access to library medical information, computer workstations, and other special patient amenities. There are also several rooms to accommodate private consultations with doctors and their patients. Approximately 200 patients and their families are expected to visit the center on a daily basis.
"This medical center has always been a big part of our lives—I had my first child here many years ago—and I would like to thank the Medical College and Dean Gotto for the opportunity to create this center," said Myra Mahon, who is a member of the executive committee of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's Lying-In Hospital. "As a former social worker, I know the anxiety and anguish when a patient doesn't know exactly what is going on with their condition. This center will be a great step toward helping patients."
Patients and their families, working in concert with their health-care providers, will be able to use the Patient Resource Center for timely personalized information tailored to their specific health concerns. The center includes the Jessie Archbold Library, which provides comprehensive information on specific ailments compiled and is constantly updated by a full-time librarian.
The Jessie Archbold Library and Adrian Archbold Reading Room
"I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to Myra and Arthur Mahon for building a real connection between the Medical College's Board of Overseers and the physicians and other people that realize these goals," said Sanford I. Weill, the chairman of the Weill Cornell Medical College Board of Overseers. Arthur Mahon preceded Mr. Weill as chairman of the Board of Overseers and is currently vice chairman; he has been a member of the Board of Overseers since 1986.
Both the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center and the Weill Greenberg Center in which it resides were realized through direct and long-standing involvement from the namesake donors, Dean Gotto said. "The wonderful thing about donors like Myra and Arthur Mahon, and Sandy Weill and Hank Greenberg, is that they don't just give and walk away," Dean Gotto said. "They remain involved—it's an enlightened form of philanthropy; I like to call it 'participatory philanthropy.'"
Photography by Jason Green. --------