Our department has come a long way since its inception in 1982. Governed by a holistic sense of health and well-being, we believe that medicine must care for both the individual and the community in all aspects of health. Our mission is nothing less than changing the way we look at, think about, and experience aging on a global scale.
Historic Milestones
1909
Mount Sinai physician coined term “geriatrics."
1914
Mount Sinai physician wrote the first American textbook on geriatric medicine.
1943
Began offering a post-graduate course in geriatrics, in conjunction with Columbia University.
1972
Initiated the first nationally recognized geriatrics fellowship (which later became a residency) in the United States at the City Hospital at Elmhurst, a Mount Sinai affiliate.
1979
Created a separate Geriatrics Division within the Department of Medicine.
1982
Established the Gerald and May Ellen Ritter Department, the first academic geriatrics department in the United States.
1982
Robert N. Butler, MD is named Chair of the department.
1983
Opened Coffey Geriatric Outpatient Clinic.
1983
Founded the inpatient Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Center (later renamed the Mobile Acute Care for the Elderly).
1983
Established geriatrics fellowship program.
1984
Created one of the first Alzheimer’s disease research centers in the country, the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and the Bronx Veterans Administration Medical Center.
1985
Graduated our first group of geriatrics fellows.
1990
Inaugurated the U.S. branch of the Internal Leadership Center on Longevity.
1993
The name of the department changed to the Henry L. Schwartz Deptartment of Geriatrics and Adult Development.
1995
Christine K. Cassel, MD, is named Chair of the department.
1996
Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors program is established.
1997
Opened the Laboratory for Neurobiology of Aging.
1999
Dedicated the Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute.
1999
Established a National Program Office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, later to become the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC).
2001
The name of the department changed again to incorporate the Brookdale Foundation.
2002
Albert Siu, MD, is named Chair of the department.
2005
The National Palliative Care Research and Training Center opens.
2007
Opened the Martha Stewart Center for Living, which houses the Coffey Geriatrics Associates primary care practice.
2009
Changed our name from the Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development to Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.
2009
The department name changes from the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development to the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.
2010
Ranked first in the country for geriatrics according to U.S. News and World Report.
2010
Awarded a grant for the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC).
2011
Opened an inpatient palliative care unit.
2012
Through the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai opened a separate emergency room for geriatric patients, the first in New York City.
2012
Received one of the first five advanced hospital certifications from The Joint Commission for Palliative Care.
2013
Announced a two-year, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved, multi-disciplinary fellowship program in Geriatric Dentistry, Psychiatry, and Medicine.
2013
Received the American Hospital Association’s Circle of Life Award in palliative care.
2014
Established the Patty and Jay Baker National Palliative Care Center.
2014
Mobile Acute Care Team (MACT) launches after receiving $9.6 million award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
2015
Merged all geriatrics fellowship programs across the Mount Sinai Health System.