Come Home to Sinai

“From Generation to generation.” That was the guiding principle of an extraordinary virtual gathering recently called Come Home to Sinai. The idea to celebrate Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and its exceptional history began about a year-and-a-half earlier when a group of distinguished retired physicians was reminiscing about the hospital’s storied past.

The Homecoming Committee, as members call themselves, came up with a goal to bring Sinai’s history to life. Then they added two more goals. They wanted to host a social gathering for past and current physicians, residents and medical students. They also planned to contribute encouragement and monetary support to medical students. Mentoring has always been a crucial component at Sinai.

For the historical goal, the Homecoming Committee decided to create a digital archive of Sinai’s remarkable 154 year history with interviews of retired and present-day doctors, nurses and other medical professionals so they could share their own unique experiences as well as the groundbreaking medical achievements that have made the hospital what it is today. The video archive took several months to complete. Scott Wendler did the videography and editing. As Dr. Edward Wolfe explained, “We wanted to make sure Sinai’s historical importance, medical excellence, scientific innovation and teaching would be preserved forever.”

The second objective was to host a one-of-a-kind in-person gathering where individuals from different decades could meet and talk as an official launch to the project. However, COVID-19 changed that so committee members decided to have a virtual event this year and host an in-person gathering next June 2021.

This year’s virtual event was a rousing success! It was a Who’s Who of Sinai’s past, present and future with more than 80 people attending.

President and CEO of LifeBridge Health Neil Meltzer, also a past president of Sinai, began the festivities with an overview of some of the amazing accomplishments pioneered at Sinai for more than a century. Then he turned the evening over to the master of ceremonies, Dr. Jerry Reichmister who kept things moving with reflections and humor.

World-renown speakers with strong ties to Sinai were called upon to share their experiences and some of Sinai’s major accomplishments. Among them were Dr. Debra Counts, Dr. Raphael David, Dr. Leonard Lichtenfeld, Dr. Morton Mower, Dr. Edward Wolf and Dr. Donald Abrams. Their topics spanned decades and marked the firsts at Sinai, innovative programs, research, the development of life-changing medical devices and the residency program. The Jewish values upon which Sinai Hospital was founded were also front and center.

The third equally vital and compelling goal was to make sure the hospital’s current and future team members have the tools, support and inspiration they need to be successful and to provide the best care to patients.

Retired Sinai pediatrician Dr. Raphael David and his wife Irene David stepped up in a big way. Their incredible generosity established the Harry Gordon Medical Alumni Society with a $100,000 gift. The Davids said that they wanted to facilitate a deeper connection with Sinai’s resident alumni while enhancing the experiences of current and future residents through lectures and other programs. Their gift inspired the establishment of The Fund for the Future of Medicine to benefit the resident education experience. Several retired physicians, as well as the Sinai Medical Staff provided seed gifts to launch the fund.

Members of the Homecoming Committee who helped to organize everything are Dr. Stanley Brull, Dr. Raymond Caplan, Dr. Gary Cohen, Dr. Juan Juanteguy, Dr. Mel Kopilnick, Dr. Mickey Levin, Dr. Marc Lowen, Dr. Clara Pio Roda, Dr. Jerry Reichmister, Dr. Sidney Seidman, Dr. Allen Schwartz, Dr. Ed Soriano, Dr. Harry Walen and Dr. Edward Wolf. Coordinators are Susan Weikers, Ellen Lumsden and Laurie Wallace.

The Homecoming Committee has said all along that the Come Home to Sinai project is a labor of love, and that’s just the beginning. Everyone is already looking forward to the in-person gathering on June 27 and 28, 2021! See you then!