FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Myrna Manners
Phone: (212) 821-0560
Fax: 212-821-0576
E-mail: mmanners@med.cornell.edu

DR. HERBERT PARDES CHOSEN TO HEAD
NEWYORK-PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL

New York, NY (December 16, 1999)--Dr. Herbert Pardes has been elected President and Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital by a unanimous action of its Board of Trustees, it was announced today by Daniel B. Burke and John F. McGillicuddy, Co-Chairs of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Board of Trustees.  Dr. Pardes was also elected Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, Inc.

Dr. Pardes is currently Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, a post he has held since 1989.

The selection of Dr. Pardes follows a national search begun last April by a committee of the Board of Trustees.  Dr. Pardes will succeed Dr. David B. Skinner, who has been Chief Executive Officer of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and its Healthcare System since the merger of the two hospitals, and who served in a similar capacity for New York Hospital for the decade prior to the merger.  Dr. Skinner was given the title President Emeritus by the Board.  Dr. Pardes will take up his duties on January 1, 2000.

"Dr. Pardes has a truly distinguished background in medicine as well as a long history in medical administration at one of the nation's premier medical centers.  He is an outstanding choice to head NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and its Healthcare System," said Mr. Burke and Mr. McGillicuddy. "He has been a major figure in the affairs of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital since its highly successful merger and will be able to assume his new responsibilities and duties smoothly and quickly.  He understands intimately both the huge opportunities and substantial challenges of the hospital and the medical schools with which it is affiliated.  We are banking on his superb leadership in the years ahead," the co-chairs added.

"Dr. Pardes, since 1984, has also been the Director of the Psychiatry Service at Presbyterian Hospital.  From 1978 to 1984, he was director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service."

Dr. Pardes said, "NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the world's great healthcare systems.  The partnership of the System with the two great medical schools of Columbia and Cornell creates one of the strongest and finest centers of outstanding clinical care, cutting edge research, and high quality education that exists anywhere.  I look forward to the opportunity to lead this pre-eminent institution in meeting the challenges of the next century."

"Herb Pardes is a terrific leader and a wonderful colleague," said George Rupp, President of Columbia University.  "I am pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Pardes at Columbia and look forward to working with him in the future.  His appointment to head NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital will provide a wonderful opportunity for new collaborations between NewYork-Presbyterian and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons."

Mr. Burke and Mr. McGillicuddy, in making the announcement, paid tribute to the extraordinary service rendered by Dr. Skinner during his 13-year tenure.

"Dr. Skinner has not only served NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the entire medical community with great distinction, he has been the chief architect of the Network assembled under the umbrella of NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, Inc.," Mr. Burke and Mr. McGillicuddy said.  "We have been privileged to have been associated with him and are pleased that he will continue to be available to work with  Dr. Pardes after Dr. Skinner's retirement from his post as Chief Executive Officer."

About NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital -- created from the merger between The New York Hospital and The Presbyterian Hospital -- provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers:  New York Weill Cornell Center (at East 68th Street on the Upper East Side), Columbia Presbyterian Center (at West 168th St. in Washington Heights), Babies & Children's Hospital, The Allen Pavilion, and the Westchester Division.  One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service.  NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's full-service Network -- which includes acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, home-health agencies, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutions -- ensures high-quality, cost-effective, and conveniently accessible care to communities throughout the tri-state metropolitan region.  The Network serves nearly 25 percent of the patients in the New York metropolitan area.  The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the country's leading medical colleges:  Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.

Biography of Herbert Pardes, M.D.

A photo of Dr. Pardes can be downloaded at:
http://www.nycornell.org/news/press/1999/pardesphoto.html

Herbert Pardes, M.D., who has been elected President and Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and its Healthcare System, has held a number of leadership positions in clinical and academic medicine at the national level.

He served as U.S. Assistant Surgeon General and Director of the National Institute of Mental Health during the Carter and Reagan Administrations (1978-84).  Since 1989, he has served as Vice President for Health Sciences for Columbia University and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons, positions that he has held concurrently with his position as Chairman of Columbia's Department of Psychiatry, which he assumed in 1984.  While serving as Chairman of Psychiatry, he has also held the corresponding positions of Director of the Psychiatry Service at The Presbyterian Hospital (now the Columbia Presbyterian Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital) and Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

As Dean of Columbia's Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Pardes has overseen major changes in the education of physicians, enhanced clinical and basic science research, and assumed a national role as an advocate for education, health care reimbursement reform, and support of biomedical research.

He served as Chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for 1995-96 and was Chairman of the AAMC's Council of Deans for 1994-95.  He served two two-year terms as Chairman of the New York Association of Medical Schools.  In 1997, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Pardes has had a distinguished career in the field of psychiatry. He has served as chairman of the psychiatry departments at the State University of New York, Downstate; the University of Colorado Medical Center; and Columbia. He served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for 1989-90 and as Chairman of the APA's Council on Research (1990-94). In 1986, he served as Chairman of the Association of Chairmen of Departments of Psychiatry.

Dr. Pardes is on the editorial boards of numerous medical and psychiatric journals and has written over one hundred articles and chapters on diverse topics in mental health.   He has created, conducted and negotiated many international collaborations, working with governments in India, China, Egypt, Israel and the former Soviet Union.

Dr. Pardes graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University in 1956 and received his medical degree from the State University of New York, College of Medicine (Brooklyn), in 1960. He did his internship and residency in psychiatry at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. He completed his psychoanalytic training at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

A photo of Dr. Pardes can be downloaded at:
http://www.nycornell.org/news/press/1999/pardesphoto.html