Brooklyn was in the house and took over Manhattan’s famed Waldorf Astoria’s Grand Ballroom to honor retiring Maimonides Medical Center President and CEO Pamela Brier on Wednesday night.
Brier first came to Maimonides in 1995 as the Chief Operating Officer after an extensive executive career as an administrator in the medical field including stints as president at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and the Bellevue Medical Center in Manhattan.
Since coming on board and Maimonides she grew the medical center from a $500 million community hospital to the billion-dollar tertiary hub that it is today.
Under Brier’s leadership Maimonides has gained a national reputation for outstanding clinical care outcomes, placing it among the top 10 hospitals in the country for heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia treatment.
Among those honoring Brier were Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, First Lady Chirlane McCray who gave Brier a plaque announcing that the Maimonides main lobby would be named in her honor.
Before becoming mayor, de Blasio represented Maimonides as part of his district when he was a Brooklyn City Councilman and McRay worked under her in the Maimonides marketing department.
Also honoring Brier with plaques and words of love and recognition were Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Public Advocate Letitia James.
However, a who’s who of Brooklyn elected officials were also on the honorary committee including Congress members Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries and Jerrold Nadler; Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Bay Ridge State Sen. Marty Golden, Assembly Members Peter Abbate, Steven Cymbrowitz and Felix Ortiz, and City Council Members Mathieu Eugene, David Greenfield and Brad Lander.
However, besides Brier being honored, the Manhattan night clearly belonged to over a thousand Brooklynites including many doctors and workers from the medical community, Brooklyn civic and business leaders and everyday people who came to celebrate a one-of-a-kind woman who has given to much to the borough in her professional, civic and charitable capacity.
