On Saturday, May 9, 2015, Dr. James N. Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system, will be among the ninety honorees who will receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations-NECO. The list of honorees will include: Talk Show Host Meredith Vieira, New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera, U.S. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX), twelve members of the U.S. Military and Washington, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier.
The 29th Annual Ellis Island Medal of Honor Ceremony will be held on Ellis Island at 6:30 p.m. The Ceremony will be followed by a Gala Dinner in the historic Great Hall. Emmy-winning Senior Correspondent Marvin Scott and fellow Emmy-winning Nightly News anchor Tamsen Fadal, both of WPIX-11, will be the Masters of Ceremony.
Dr. James N. Weinstein is Chief Executive Officer and President of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system. The $1.6 billion system includes New Hampshire's academic medical center and a network of clinics across Vermont and New Hampshire, serving a patient population of 1.5 million. Under Weinstein’s leadership, Dartmouth-Hitchcock is working to create a "sustainable health system," to improve the lives of the people and communities they serve, for generations to come.
Immediately prior to becoming CEO, Dr. Weinstein served as President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic and Director of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (TDI), home of the Dartmouth Atlas. His dual positions as Clinic President and TDI Director allowed him to build critical linkages between the groundbreaking health services research of TDI and the clinical care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
Dr. Weinstein is a founding member, with Mayo Clinic, Intermountain Health, TDI, and Denver Health, of the national High Value Healthcare Collaborative, a partnership of 17 healthcare delivery systems and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, collectively serving a market of more than 70 million people across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, who have taken on the challenge of improving the quality of care while lowering costs. Dr. Weinstein chairs this national effort and is the principal investigator of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation grant that brings some 40 million records to Dartmouth every quarter for analysis and reporting, representing the most extensive broad-based collaborative in the United States.
Chairman of NECO Nasser J. Kazeminy states, “NECO seeks to inspire America to embrace diversity, tolerance and respect for all of its citizens by celebrating those who have given so much of themselves to the betterment of our nation and our world. Each of these honorees represents traits that I admire in great Americans: the vision of a better world for all, the tenacity to overcome challenges, and the leadership and imagination to blaze their own trail. And most importantly, they have the humility and self-reflection to appreciate the amazing opportunities that America has given them. They inspire me and we honor them so they can inspire others as well.”
The Ellis Island Medals of Honor embody the spirit of America in their celebration of patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity. We recognize individuals who have made it their mission to share with those less fortunate their wealth of knowledge, indomitable courage, boundless compassion, unique talents and selfless generosity; all while maintaining the traditions of their ethnic heritage as they uphold the ideals and spirit of America.
As always, NECO remains dedicated to the maintenance and restoration of America’s greatest symbol of its immigrant history, Ellis Island. Since the Medal was founded in 1986, we have honored such distinguished and diverse Americans including: six Presidents of the United States; Nobel Prize recipient Elie Wiesel, Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell, Hon. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John McCain, Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Walters, Mike Wallace, Quincy Jones and Mia Farrow, all who have distinguished themselves through their significant contributions to this country.
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor ranks among the nation’s most prestigious awards. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have officially recognized the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, and each year the recipients are listed in the Congressional Record.
A complete list of Medal recipients can be found on the website, www.neco.org