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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER PRESIDENT RECEIVES
IMAGINE AWARD FROM BROOKLYN PSYCHIATRIC CENTERS

BROOKLYN, NY—May 21, 2005—Dr. Pamela Straker, president and CEO of Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers, presented John C. LaRosa with the agency’s Imagine Award at the organization’s Friendraiser held May 17, 2005, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

“Tonight, we are delighted to be honoring Dr. John C. LaRosa, president of SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and presenting him with our Imagine Award,” Dr. Straker said. “Dr. LaRosa is president of the only academic medical center in Brooklyn, is an internationally renowned researcher in the area of heart disease, and is responsible for overseeing the treatment of patients at University Hospital, where he has displayed an unusual sensitivity and concern for Brooklyn’s most vulnerable residents.”

“I’m very honored,” Dr. LaRosa said. “I was very surprised and very pleased to be selected for this award. We all imagine and if you think about Brooklyn, what it is and what it’s become, it’s because it is full of people who imagine. People who pick up from where they are and because they can imagine a better life, come to a place they don’t know, without knowing the language, with little in their pockets, and work very hard.”

In addition to Dr. LaRosa, Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers recognized the following public officials who have supported mental health issues and the agency during the last year: New York State Assembly Members James F. Brennan, Joseph R. Lentol, Clarence Norman, Jr., Peter Rivera, and Helene E. Weinstein, and New York City Council Members Yvette Clarke and Margarita Lopez.

Dr. Straker praised the elected officials who believe providing mental health services are a priority, “They are doing a lot on behalf of the citizens of New York City and of Brooklyn. I want you to understand how important their work has been.”

Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers, which was founded in 1907, provides borough-wide mental health services to Brooklyn’s most vulnerable residents through its clinics in Bushwick, Canarsie, Flastbush-Sheepshead Bay, Williamsburg-Greenpoint, and downtown Brooklyn and the borough’s public schools.  Its diverse staff of more than 100 professionals makes more than 60,000 visits annually to adults, seniors, and their families. Public funding and government contracts comprise 90 percent of Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers’ income, and the remainder is raised from the community.

Dr. Pamela Straker, president and CEO of BPC, and honoree Dr. John C. LaRosa, president of SUNY Downstate Medical Center.