SUNY Downstate Announces New Department of Family and Community Health Chair

By Office of Communications & Marketing | Jul 1, 2024

Dr. Enitza George will serve as Chief of the Family and Community Medicine Service for Downstate Health, Chief Population Health Officer for UHD, as well as Associate Professor of Clinical Family and Community Medicine at SDHSU

BROOKLYN, NY– SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University announced the appointment of Dr. Enitza George, M.D., MBA, MSAI, as the new Chair of the Department of Family and Community Health, effective July 1. In addition to her role as chair, Dr. George will serve as Chief Population Health Officer at University Hospital at Downstate, and as an Associate Professor of Clinical Family and Community Medicine at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.

Dr. George joins SUNY Downstate from Southcoast Health Network in Massachusetts, where she served as Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Co-Chair of the Health Equity Steering Committee, and as a family physician. Prior to her tenure at Southcoast, George founded “Kiloton Dra. George,” a wellness and running club where she spent 20 years as CEO and attending physician.

“My plan is to focus on value-based care and population health while growing the department’s primary care practice at the new Empire Clinic,” said Dr. George.  Our department’s nine full-time physician faculty, five part-time faculty, and six residents at each training level will continue to provide the best primary care to patients of all ages, including newborns, children, pregnant people, and homebound patients, across our two locations in Central Brooklyn.”

“Throughout her 32 years of clinical experience, Dr. George has proven herself as a renowned leader in family care and healthcare equity,” said SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine Dean F. Charles Brunicardi, M.D., FACS. “We are proud to have her leading Downstate’s Department of Family and Community Health, and we are excited to see how she continues to build on our commitment to producing cutting-edge patient-centered research and educating the next generation of physicians in exceptional family care practices.”

“Dr. George has dedicated her career to providing patients with value-based healthcare through holistic and innovative approaches to treatment,” said University Hospital at Downstate CEO David Berger, M.D., MHCM, FACS.  “We are confident that under her leadership University Hospital at Downstate will further its reputation as a source of world-class primary care for the Brooklyn community.”

Dr. George earned her M.D. from the University of Panama and completed her residency in family medicine at SUNY Downstate, where she served as Chief Resident and also served as Medical Director of Family Practice in Suite B at University Hospital at Downstate. She has since earned multiple graduate degrees, including a Master of Business Administration from the Interamerican University of Panama, a Master of Science in Software Engineering (MS), graduating Summa Cum Laude, at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, AZ, and a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare from the University of Alcala in Spain. 

The Department of Family and Community Medicine, one of the first Family Medicine programs in New York State, has experienced exceptional growth in recent years in its endeavors to promote SUNY Downstate’s core values of innovation and excellence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department added a second family medicine inpatient service team to better serve the Brooklyn community, and introduced an OB Promotion Committee in collaboration with SUNY Downstate’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2020. The Department of Family and Community Medicine’s expansion efforts are in line with those of SUNY Downstate as a whole, which has committed itself to providing the Brooklyn community with outstanding pioneering medical services by cultivating a team of first-class physicians.

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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.

UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.