New York City-based surgeon on the frontlines

Dr. Gary Gwertzman ’87 performing a surgery

Gary Gwertzman ’87 is a New York City-based vascular surgeon with the Mount Sinai Health Care System in New York City. Because of the pandemic, he and many other specialists have had to shift gears. For weeks, he has been using his surgical skills to help COVID-19 patients at Mount Sinai Hospital Brooklyn. Recently, New York Magazine featured him in one of its “Diary of a Hospital” daily dispatches from the hospital’s medical staff.

In the article, Dr. Gwertzman describes a day in his life and says, “Here, at every level, we’re working on PPE [Personal Protective Equipment], we’re working on all these things. Sure, there’s a lot more intensive care and a lot more codes, but if you walked into our hospital right now, you would see order. Everyone is strained, but we’ve risen to the challenge. We were looking into the valley of chaos, but we found order.”

After the article published, the University of Rochester reached out to Dr. Gwertzman who underscored, simply and emphatically, that it’s been “a rough month.” One saving grace: the lifelong friendships with his college fraternity brothers. “We are in constant touch,” he says. “They have been supporting the hospital staff with meals and encouragement. Their support spans 30 years and means more to me than anything.”

Read the original New York Magazine article here.