In Memoriam: Philip W. Brickner, MD

Abstract

Dr. Philip W. Brickner, the founding editor of the Journal of Long Term Home Health Care and immediate past editor of Care Management Journals, a pioneering figure in the field of community medicine for the homeless and homebound elderly, a prolific writer, and a charismatic mentor to countless trainees in medicine and social sciences, died on March 24, 2014, at his home in Riverdale, New York.Brickner received many awards from various organizations for his work at St. Vincent's Hospital and, notably, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians Network. He was the author of more than 100 scientific papers, six books, 25 chapters, and many other letters and publications. His latest focus had been on the use of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on air systems for the control of tuberculosis (TB) transmission. This work has been supported by a $7 million grant for the Tuberculosis Ultraviolet Shelter Study. This work is now helping developing countries prevent airborne transmission of tuberculosis.Dr. Brickner was a graduate of the Swarthmore College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a proud alumnus of the Bellevue Hospital medicine training program in late 1950s under the famed director, Dickenson W. Richards, MD. After his training and early positions, Phil was poised to apply his deep convictions of care to the indigent in what was then the perfect medium of charitable medical endeavors, St. Vincent's Hospital. From the start, his passion resonated with the mission of the hospital's founders, The Sisters of Charity, as they had forged it in the 1800s.From its inception in 1968, the Department of Community Medicine at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village was led by Dr. Brickner. He saw the great need of the many who suffered in the interstices of a flawed health care system. As a colleague reflected to me upon the news of Phil's passing, still remember my internship interview with Phil as I was graduating from Cornell Medical School when he told me that, 'St. Vincent's is a place where you can walk into the president's office and propose a plan to help a forgotten group, have no plan as to how to make money from it, and they won't kick you out of the office!' At that interview, the colleague chose St. Vincent's and has gone on to a distinguished career in geriatrics. Similar stories abound: personal accounts of physicians, nurses, health educators, social workers, and others all serving as testimony to Brickner's charisma and beliefs. To those who shared his sense of mission and devotion to the sick poor, he imparted the wisdom that they too would be rewarded by personal growth in their discipline, ability to write, and teach those who follow.Dr. Brickner and his colleagues started a hands-on health care service at homeless shelters. At the time, no such direct-care programs existed in New York City for this population. The indigent men (and women) served here were the start of the St. Vincent's single-room occupancy program who quickly grew to bring teams of physicians, nurses, and social workers to many of the singleroom occupancy hotels in the area at that time. In 1983, Brickner was chosen to direct the Health Care for the Homeless demonstration program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Pew Memorial Trust, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. With his team from St. Vincent's Hospital, he helped develop projects in 19 cities and oversaw the implementation of multidisciplinary primary care efforts, which were based on the work in New York City. The program is regarded as an extraordinarily successful demonstration, having been replicated with the 1987 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act and now including 249 federally funded homeless health care projects nationally.In 1969, Brickner and colleagues began service to the frail homebound aged in Greenwich Village and Chelsea. It became known as the Chelsea-Village program and later grew to include many monolingual Chinese-speaking patients. …