Tufts MC True Blue Recipient: Sherry Dong, Director, Community Health Improvement Programs
Nominations from Jack Erban, MD, Clinical Director, Cancer Center/Medicine and John Wong, MD, Chief of the Division of Clinical Decision-making:
Excerpts from Jack Erban, MD’s nomination:
“Sherry has been a tireless advocate for the wonderful community where Tufts MC resides. She has been a champion in providing cultural and linguistic services, which make possible the delivery of outstanding care for our Asian community and all those who need our services. For those in the Cancer Center who serve a very vulnerable population, Sherry's advocacy and community engagement has reduced the fear of confronting this disease for many patients in our community. She has improved our dialogue with our neighbors and now the South Cove Health Center supports us to better serve patients in our neighborhood. Through her efforts, we’ve had opportunities to speak to community groups and provide articles on cancer-related topics to New England's largest bilingual Chinese newspaper.
“Quite simply, there is no stronger advocate for reducing disparities and improving the care for our patients than Sherry Dong. Every day, her efforts make it easier and more likely that a vulnerable patient in our community will get the screening or treatment he or she needs, which for a cancer patient may be the difference between life and death.”
Excerpts from John Wong, MD’s nomination:
“Sherry has been the face of the Medical Center to community leaders. She encourages physicians to attend community dinners. She has convened Asian-speaking physicians to facilitate community outreach and to give talks, which has fostered a sense of community among the physicians.
“Sherry’s presence on transition teams for the new governor and Boston mayor ensured Tufts MC and the Chinatown community had a voice at the tables. Both of these invitations represent quite an honor and recognition of her stature in the broader external community based on her political, community, volunteer and Tufts MC background working with various types of stakeholders and constituencies.”