By Gina Martinez
A Hillcrest doctor, who neighbors and colleagues described as “kind” and “compassionate,” was one of the victims of last week’s Bronx Lebanon Hospital shooting.
Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, 32, was shot and killed by a vengeful ex-empolyee, 45 year-old Dr. Henry Bello, according to Bronx Lebanon hospital.. The NYPD said he gunman opened fire last Friday at 2:55 p.m. on the 16th floor of Bronx Lebanon Hospital, located at 173rd Street and Grand Concourse. Police said the fire alarm system was activated after Bello attempted to set himself on fire.
When officers arrived, they found Bello on the 17th floor dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Tam was found dead on the same floor as well, police said. Six additional shooting victims were discovered on the 16th floor, five of whom were seriously injured, NYPD officials said.
According to her Health Grades profile, Tam graduated from Harlem’s Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2013 and was licensed to practice medicine in New York in December 2015.
Police said Tam was not the intended target of the shooting. Her friend has started a go-fund-me that had already raised $36,544 of its $50,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to the page, Tam worked extra hours without incentive just to hold the hands of patients who were about to die or just to talk to them and listen to their needs. The go-fund-me page said Tam was at Bronx Lebanon covering for another colleague that day. The page, started by her friend Ahmed Rezk , was set up to raise money to help fund Tracy’s funeral costs and expenses.
“Tracy Tam was an exceptional and an extremely compassionate physician,” Rezk wrote. “She touched lives of many. I am a family physician who has worked closely with Dr. Tracy Tam for many years. We went to medical school together and I was her senior in our residency program. At this time, we are attempting to get in touch with the family. Funds will be used for Dr. Tam’s funeral cost and other related expenses to be decided by the family. The funds will be directed toward the family as soon as they are ready to receive it.”
Friends and former colleagues wrote their condolences on the page, remembering Tam as a kind and generous person.
Ankit Shah, who donated $100 to the page, wrote “She was such a sweet and kind person. She will truly be missed. May God rest her soul in peace and give strength and comfort to her family.”
John Hassani, who donated $100, said: “I’m grateful for getting a chance to know her, and receive help from her when I was a resident intern. This is a tragedy. I send my sincere condolences.”
Neighbors also expressed their shock and condolences.
Tam lived with her parents in a two-story home in Hillcrest. Neighbors said the family mostly kept to themselves, but were kind and cordial to everyone on the block. One neighbor, who said he lived next door to the family for a little over 20 years, said he was deeply shocked and the family was not deserving of such a tragedy.
City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) called the doctor’s loss a senseless tragedy for the Hillcrest community and the entire city.
“Dr. Tam was an American success story. The daughter of immigrants, she worked incredibly hard to make her dream of becoming a doctor a reality,” he said. “By all accounts, Dr. Tam established herself at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center as a doctor who would routinely go above and beyond to help her patients and colleagues in need. My thoughts are with Dr. Tam’s friends and family during this extraordinarily difficult time.”
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
