It is with tremendous sorrow that the Department of Emergency Medicine announces the unexpected passing of our esteemed and beloved colleague and friend, Dr. Jose Fernandez on Saturday, January 30, 2021.
Dr. Fernandez was our most senior faculty member in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He joined the Emergency Department in 1987 as an attending physician when it was located in the basement of the M building in the old New York Hospital. According to Dr. Rahul Sharma, professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine, “Jose was a consummate professional and one of the kindest people that I have ever known. He was an outstanding physician whose skills were equally matched with his humility.”
Throughout his career, Dr. Fernandez provided exceptional medical care to numerous patients and served as mentor and educator of many medical students and residents. His dedication to patient care and patient safety resulted in his selection as one of the “most respected” attendings by medical residents at the then New York Hospital. He also received the New York Hospital Falcon Award for “soaring to the heights of excellence.”
In addition to being a frontline provider during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jose held numerous leadership roles, most recently as the Director of Quality Assurance for the Department. He also served the Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork Presbyterian Hospital community as a member of several administrative and clinical committees including the Formulary and Therapeutics Committee and the Infection Control Sub-Committee.
Dr. Fernandez graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He subsequently completed an internship and residency training in internal medicine at New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Fernandez will be deeply missed by the Department, his colleagues, residents, the ED staff, and friends. An announcement of the formal celebration of Dr. Fernandez’s life and accomplishments will be made at a later date.
