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A Legacy of Health, History and Progress: Protecting Public Health Through Policy

I am writing you today because you understand the impact the health community can have on advancing solutions to promote health and well-being, and your loyal support over the years has been critical to the continued work of the Academy to do just that.

We depend on support from generous people like you to not only “keep the lights on,” but to identify and respond to emerging challenges and make a difference in health outcomes for people in New York City and around the world.

In December 1846, a group of 14 New York City-based physicians gathered to discuss elevating the practice of medicine to improve the health conditions of the city. Just six months later, the founding Fellows were addressing critical public health issues to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers. The New York Academy of Medicine was born.

Since then, you have helped us lead the charge in so many important ways. You have helped us create standardized healthcodes that have saved thousands of lives and manage outbreaks of large-scale disease. You have helped us reframe the conversation on addiction—from an issue of criminality to one about public health.You helped us be one the first to study the physical and psychological effects of 9/11 so that first responders and military could be properly treated.

And we need your help once again.

Now more than ever, the Academy needs your support to continue our important work. Membership dues and endowment funds alone are not sufficient to sustain our vital research and programs.

Will you please consider a gift today? Every dollar will help move our 2018 initiatives forward and allow us to focus on what matters: advancing policies and developing programs that improve health outcomes for all people.

In 2018, the Academy’s work is—in many ways—a continuation of what the organization did in its earliest days, serving as a convener to solve problems, using influence and reputation to make change and promote health.

Today, with your help, we will continue to bring government, experts, and low-resource communities together to move solutions to critical issues forward—like affordable housing, mental health, and addiction.

We will continue to evaluate programs in many severely underserved communities to advise health care systems and community organizations addressing diabetes, asthma, and other barriers to safe and effective treatment. We are in it for the long haul, to make fundamental change so that it sticks.

The Academy and its world-class Library continue to be a storehouse of knowledge. Your gift will empower our vision to ensure that the Academy and its Library modernize and continue to be a valuable resource for the city and beyond. 

Thank you in advance for your support—together we can make sure that everyone has the opportunity for a healthy life.

Warmest Regards,

Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS

Continue the Legacy