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An esteemed cardiologist and pioneering advocate for the benefits of information technology in medicine, Dr. Joseph G. Hayes has been named the recipient of the 27th annual Maurice R. Greenberg Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center on a member of its professional staff.

The award, which recognizes Dr. Hayes' 44 years of outstanding service to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College, consists of a $50,000 grant made possible through an endowment from Maurice R. Greenberg. The formal award presentation was made at a gala dinner on May 3 at the Pierre Hotel.

Dr. Hayes is the Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine and associate dean of billing compliance at Weill Cornell Medical College and medical director of clinical information systems and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell.

"In addition to serving our medical center as an outstanding and dedicated cardiologist for more than four decades, Dr. Hayes played an instrumental role in implementing one of the nation's first electronic medical systems, helping to improve quality and safety for our patients," says Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "Thanks to his pioneering efforts, we remain a model for organizations leveraging the power of information technology in health care."

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Dr. Hayes led the team that installed Eclipsys, the inpatient electronic medical record system that links clinical data from disparate areas such as from the laboratory, radiology, pharmacy and billing.

"Dr. Hayes is also a superlative teacher, greatly revered by residents, medical students and colleagues – as evidenced by his numerous awards in this area," says Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College.

"I am deeply honored to be selected for this special award, not least because it bears the name of one of America's greatest philanthropists. The true reward has been the past 44 years of working with my talented colleagues and friends," says Dr. Hayes, who plans on retiring in May of this year.

Dr. Joseph G. Hayes

After graduating cum laude and alpha omega alpha from Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Hayes came to the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell (then New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center) as an intern in internal medicine. He went on to complete a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology, and was appointed chief medical resident. After serving as a major in the USAF at Eglin Air Force Base, Dr. Hayes returned to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell as the director of the cardiac graphics laboratory, where he introduced and started the second graded exercise testing laboratory in New York. He later joined R.A. Rees Pritchett, himself a Greenberg award recipient, in private practice while still a member and teacher in the Cardiac Graphics Laboratory. In 1988, he returned to the full-time faculty as vice chairman and the first program director in internal medicine. In 1997, he was asked to be the clinical leader for the upcoming computerization of the Medical Center, and shortly thereafter to be the associate dean. As an elected member of the Caduceus Society, Dr. Hayes is an honorary alumnus Weill Cornell Medical College.

Throughout the past 37 years, Dr. Hayes has maintained a busy practice in internal medicine and cardiology while continuing to teach the house staff on both the inpatient and outpatient services. He has received numerous awards and honors, including several teaching awards: the J.J. Smith Award for excellence in teaching and scholarships (1996); and the Weill Cornell Medical College senior list of 15 most influential teachers by the classes of 1994 and 1996; and the Weill Cornell Medical College Award for Teaching Excellence. He has published on arrhythmias, exercise testing, and later, house-staff training, student teaching and the regulatory environment. In addition to being a dedicated teacher and clinician, Dr. Hayes participates in numerous Hospital committees.

Dr. Hayes has been active in numerous professional organizations: the American Heart Association (AHA), where he was president of the New York Affiliate from 1994 to 1996 and served on the National Board of Directors from 1994 to 1995. The AHA's first instructor-trainer course in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) was developed and given at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Dr. Hayes was a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC) original task force for graduate medical education as well as a member of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) task force for graduate medical education, and was the first chairman of the resulting committee. In 1996, he was elected a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

The Maurice R. Greenberg Distinguished Service Award

Since 1981, the Maurice R. Greenberg Distinguished Service Award has been presented annually to a senior member of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's medical staff for exceptional and longstanding service. The Award was established in 1980 by one of the Medical Center's most generous benefactors, Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a member of Weill Cornell Medical College's Board of Overseers, and by Dr. Peter Guida, associate professor of surgery and associate attending surgeon, who has been affiliated with the Medical Center for more than 50 years. Based on the notion that the greatness of an institution is derived from the people behind it, the Greenberg Award was conceived as a way to identify and celebrate in perpetuity those individuals who make NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College a pre-eminent partnership in academic medicine in New York City and beyond.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, located in New York City, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world, comprising the teaching hospital NewYork-Presbyterian and its academic partner, Weill Cornell Medical College. NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine, and is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. NewYork-Presbyterian, which is ranked sixth on U.S.News & World Report's list of top hospitals, also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.