Joan Tisch Community Prize Ceremony

Recipients of the fourth annual Joan H. Tisch Community Health Prize were formally recognized at a ceremony on May 29th hosted by Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab at Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. This year’s recipients are Sandra Hagan, former executive director and current senior advisor at The Child Center of NYin Queens; and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in Chelsea. Sandra Hagen was executive director for nearly 28 years, expanding the organization’s scope from strictly outpatient children’s mental health to a continuum of services, increasing the number of families served each year from 850 to 18,000, and increasing the budget from $3 million to $36 million. Callen-Lorde Community Health Center has been providing quality, sensitive medical and related services to LGBT New Yorkers, regardless of ability to pay; 41% have incomes at or below the federal poverty level, 36% are uninsured and 8% are homeless or unstably housed. The prize recipients were selected from dozens of nominations submitted by leaders in the public health field.

The awards were presented by President Raab, Laurie Tisch, Roosevelt House Interim Director Jonathan Fanton, and Tom Farley, former NYC Commissioner of Health and current Joan H. Tisch Fellow at Hunter College. Attendees included several previous Health Prize Winners such as Robert Cordero of BOOM!Health, Robina Niaz of Turning Point for Women and Families, David Nocenti of Union Settlement Association, and Randye Retkin of LegalHealth.