Hartford Hospital Doctor Receives Citizen Award From Police Department

Avital Porat, MD, medical director of quality and safety at Hartford Hospital, was recognized Thursday by the West Hartford Police Department at an awards ceremony, where other citizens and officers were commended for their actions.

Town Manager Richard Ledwith said he was honored to be able to recognize citizens who saw something, said something, and did something to help in their community.

“I was very honored, it is what I do, who I am,” Dr. Porat said of the recognition.

She received the award because of her actions last winter, when she encountered a woman in a car who was feeling faint.

The woman was semi-conscious, weak, pale and initially confused. The woman’s adult daughter had pulled into the parking lot at Veterans Memorial Skating Rink, and was asking for help. Dr. Porat was going in to the skating rink with her three young children when she saw them.

Read what happened next on Hartford HealthCare's NewsHub here.