Dr. Burton Grebin, President and CEO of St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children, passed away on Sunday, January 24.
When Grebin took the reins, St. Mary’s was a 40-bed nursing home for children in Bayside. In a 36-year career, he transformed it into a $100 million health care system – the region’s largest provider of post-acute care for children, serving more than 4,000 children in the hospital or in their homes every day.
A former board member of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), Grebin was remembered as “A true leader whose devotion to children in need and their families redefined compassionate care,” by GNYHA chair Linda Brady, M.D.
“His vision, talent and kindness earned him the respect and admiration of countless peers both in New York and nationally,” said Brady, joined by GNYHA President Kenneth Raske and Executive Vice-President Lee Perlman.
Under his leadership, St. Mary’s established the first palliative care program for children in the nation; the first long-term home care program for children in New York State and New York City’s first certified Traumatic Brain Injury and Coma Recovery program for children.
Grebin was also instrumental in creating the state’s first and largest home care program for children and families with HIV/AIDS and one of only nine inter-disciplinary feeding disorder programs in the country, at St. Mary’s.
Colleagues and co-workers were stunned by the loss. “Children’s health care has suffered a great loss with Burt’s passing,” said Jeffrey Frerichs, St. Mary’s chair. “There is no one who has done more for children with special needs in the world today than Burt Grebin,” he continued.
Grebin is survived by his sons Perry and Jason; daughter-in-law Lorie; grandchildren Lucy, Zoë, and Millie; his nephew Scott Cholewa; and his partner Susan Gold.
Services were held at Riverside Memorial Chapel in Manhattan on Wednesday, January 27; interment followed at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale
The family has requested that donations in honor of Burton Grebin, M.D. be made to St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children, 29-01 216th Street, Bayside, NY 11360, by calling 718-281-8890, or online at www.stmaryskids.org.
