Speaker Dr. Benjamin P. Sachs MB.BS; DPH
- Dean University Virgin Islands School of Medicine (May 2014-)
- Senior Vice President of Tulane University and Dean, School of Medicine James R. Doty Distinguished Professor and Chair (2007- 2013)
- President of the Beth Israel-Deaconess Physician Organization (1999-2007)
- The Rosenfield Professor Harvard Medical School & Harvard School of public Health (1997-2007)
- Chair of department Obstetrics & Gynecology- Beth Israel-Deaconess & HMS (1989-2007)
He was born in London UK and received my medical degree (MB.BS) from Imperial College (St. Mary’s) London. I received a degree in public health from the University of Toronto and completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital (HMS). In addition, I was a visiting scientist at the Centers for Disease Control in 1980 and completed the PMD program (business management) at the Harvard Business School in 1987.
In November of 2007, after 29 years at Harvard, drawn by the post-Katrina challenges, I joined Tulane University as SVP and Dean of the School of Medicine. My goals were to help the recovery of the university and to take advantage of the post storm crisis to fundamentally, redesign the medical school and the city’s healthcare system. Hurricane Katrina caused $900m in damages to Tulane University and Tulane University Hospital. Tulane was forced to declare financial exigency and in 2006 one-third of the medical school faculty left. Today, both Tulane and healthcare in New Orleans have experienced major turnarounds because of the dedicated and courageous faculty and administrators who returned after the storm and a new leadership team. In 2013, all three missions, the school of medicine are much stronger than pre-Katrina. Furthermore, the school has led a revolution in access and quality of care in the region.
In 2010, Kathleen Sebelius (secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services) wrote, “This week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services entered into a partnership with Louisiana and New Orleans that will place the city on the cutting edge of a new health care delivery system. It seems fitting that New Orleans and its people, who have shown the nation how to survive unthinkable tragedy, can now set an example for strengthening the nation's health care system into the future” (Times Picayune 9.23.10).
Harvard Medical School (1978-2007)
Before joining Tulane University, I held several senior administrative positions at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), including Department Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology at BIDMC - HMS, the Harold H. Rosenfield Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, and professor at the Harvard School of Public Health (1989-2007). I was also the elected President of the BIDMC Physician Organization, an organization of 1,500 physicians for three terms, six years (1999-2007).
- Governor Massachusetts: Community Service Award health program for minority women (1996)
- CJP Greater Boston (philanthropic organization): Circle of Excellence Award (1999)
- CJP Greater Boston (philanthropic organization): Lewis Millender Community of Excellence Award (2000)
- President State of Israel: Recognition Award (2002)
- USA Department of Defense: Award of Excellence (2004)
- Meltzer Leadership Award BIDMC: “Leading Constructive Lasting and All Embracing Change” (2004)
- Hadassah: Humanitarian Award (2004)
- Dnieperpetrovsk Medical Academy Ukraine: Honorary membership (2007)
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Excellence Award (2007)
- The Joint Commission Eisenberg national award for patient safety innovation (2007)
- The Rex Organization Pro Bono Publica (2008-)
- Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
- AAMC Spencer Forman Award – Tulane School of Medicine (2010)
- AAMC Council of Deans Administrative Board (2011-2013)
- Society of Medical Administrators (SOMA) membership (2011-)
- New Orleans Council for Community and Justice: Weiss Awards (2011)
- Louisiana Cancer Research Center – board chair: Funded by the state, a new 32,000sq of laboratory building opened in 2012, funded by the state. (2008-13)
- New Orleans Bio- Innovation Center – board chair: A technology business incubator for bioscience entrepreneurship in the New Orleans area. (2010-2013)
- AAMC Board of Directors (2012-14)
**The University of the Virgin Islands named Dr. Benjamin Sachs the dean for a medical school it is developing. Dr. Sachs is engaged in the early stages of preparing the University for Medical Education, the medical school accreditation organization for the United States and Canada, and developing the organizational structure of the medical school.
UVI announced plans to develop a medical school in the Virgin Islands in April, along with the receipt of a $30 million gift from New Generation Power and its chairman, Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, to fund the school’s development stage. The UVI Medical School would be the only English-speaking medical school in the Caribbean accredited by the LCME if the plan passes muster. The plans include using both campus' on St. Thomas and St. Croix. This would include a training Lab in St. Croix.
“This in an exciting time for UVI and the Virgin Islands,” as said by UVI President David Hall. “A medical school in the Virgin Islands would provide expanded health professional opportunities for VI residents, enhance the quality of clinical care in the territory, increase the academic offerings of the university in the health professions, provide more health care research in the Virgin Islands and encourage economic development in the territory.”
Sachs said, “I’m excited to be involved in the formative stages of this medical school that holds such promise – for both the young people of the Virgin Islands and wider Caribbean who want to become physicians and for the potential of greatly improved health care delivery in the region.”
“I’ve had nothing but outstanding and really warm receptions from the physicians on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John,” Sachs said, adding that he’s met with the Health commissioner and with the heads of the health centers and hospitals over the last six weeks to get their support, which he called “critical to the success of this project.”
According to the initial announcement, securing additional development and operational funding remains a primary goal for the medical school project and a critical component needed to support’s Sachs’ efforts to secure accreditation. An estimated $10 million from local and national donors is still needed to make the medical school a reality and allow UVI to enroll its first class in 2016-2017.**
**This information is from an article on the
