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2007 Dennis Clark

SOLAS Award Dinner

Thank you to all of our supporters who helped make the 2007 Dennis Clark SOLAS Award a great success! View slideshow of the event here.

On Monday, November 19th, the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians hosted our 7th annual Dennis Clark SOLAS Award Dinner honoring outstanding leaders in healthcare.

We are proud to honor the following people, who work to increase access to healthcare for a strong workforce and a healthy community:

Pictured left to right: Daniel J. Hilferty, The Honorable Estelle Richman, Dr. Paul Farmer, Anne O'Callaghan (Photo by Mary Heron)

 

Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Partners In Health

Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer is a founding director of Partners In Health, an international charity organization that provides direct health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty.

Dr. Farmer's work primarily focuses on diseases that disproportionately afflict the poor in Haiti, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Malawi and he has pioneered novel, community-based treatment strategies for AIDS and tuberculosis (including multidrug-resistant tuberculosis). Dr. Farmer and his colleagues have successfully challenged the policymakers and critics who claim that quality health care is impossible to deliver in resource-poor settings.

Dr. Farmer is the recipient of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, the Salk Institute Medal for Health and Humanity, the Duke University Humanitarian Award, the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association, the American Medical Association’s Outstanding International Physician (Nathan Davis) Award, and the Heinz Humanitarian Award. In 1993, he was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “genius award” in recognition of his work.

Dr. Farmer received his Bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his M.D. and Ph.D. (in anthropology) from Harvard University. He is the subject of Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World (Random House, 2003).

For more information about Partners In Health, please visit www.pih.org

 

Daniel J. Hilferty

President and Chief Executive Officer, AmeriHealth Mercy

As President and Chief Executive Officer of AmeriHealth Mercy, Daniel J. Hilferty is responsible for the leadership, strategic direction, business development and operations of the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies, including its sister organizations Keystone Mercy Health Plan, the largest Medical Assistance managed health care organization in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, AmeriHealth Mercy and its affiliated health plans comprise the largest family of Medicaid managed care plans in the United States. Through ownership, affiliation or management, AmeriHealth Mercy has more than 2 million members nationwide.

As a leader in the healthcare community, Mr. Hilferty has been recognized throughout the years by a variety of organizations. He has received the Saint Joseph's University Ignatius Award, the Whitney M. Young Award from the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Small Miracles Award from the Center for Autistic Children, the Community Leader of the Year Award from the Arthritis Foundation, the Good Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, and the Moments of Change Award from the Philadelphia Comprehensive Center for Fathers. Most recently, he was inducted into the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Hall of Fame for his many contributions to CYO groups in the parish community, and he was honored at the 35th Anniversary Gala of Cora Services in Philadelphia.

 

The Honorable Estelle Richman,

Secretary of Public Welfare for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Department of Public Welfare Secretary Estelle B. Richman was appointed to the position by Governor Edward G. Rendell on Jan. 12, 2003 and confirmed by the Senate on March 11, 2003.

Secretary Richman's career spans more than 25 years of public service, including her most recent position as the first female Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia, responsible for oversight of 13 city departments. Prior to her appointment as Managing Director, Secretary Richman served as the first Director of Social Services for the City of Philadelphia. Her efforts led to a more integrated and coordinated system of delivery to ensure that health and social services for Philadelphia's children, adults and families are provided in a more effective and efficient way.

A nationally recognized expert on issues of behavioral health and children's services, Secretary Richman has been honored for her advocacy efforts by the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association, among others. She also is the recipient of the 1998 Ford Foundation/Good Housekeeping Award for Women in Government. In addition, the Behavioral Health System was named a winner of the 1999 Innovations in American Government from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

 

ABOUT THE AWARD

  

 “This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds.  It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”*

   *President John F. Kennedy’s radio and television report to the American people on civil rights, June, 1963

The Dennis Clark Solas Award

 

Dennis Clark (1927 - 1993) told the story of immigrants in Philadelphia. He never tired of highlighting the contributions made by immigrants – building infrastructure, contributing their scholarly and literary genius, their inventions to fuel progress and their making the nation a patchwork quilt of vibrant diversity.  Dennis was also an ardent and tireless advocate who tried to end inequality and unfairness wherever he found it.  His life challenges us to see ourselves in others, to reach beyond a narrow sense of self, and to be enlarged and enriched by embracing a common humanity.  This award honors those who do so.  It celebrates the achievements of immigrants to our city and nation and it acknowledges Dennis for showing us the way. 

The award itself takes the form of a bronze sculpture designed and crafted by Robert F. McGovern. 

"As the designer and sculptor of the presentation bronze, I would like to share with you the thoughts that led to its creation.  The base and interior core shapes were inspired by the ancient burial site at Newgrange in Ireland.  Here, on the shortest day, light penetrates the interior.  The outer shape, which enables the sculpture to rise, represents the Pillar of Fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness.  This, for me, is an important energizing symbol for all immigrants and pilgrims seeking a better world.”

 

Welcoming Center's 7th Annual

Dennis Clark SOLAS Award Dinner

 

Sponsored by:                                                                                

Hosted by Pat Ciarrocchi and event media partner: