Summit, NJ – A $3 million gift from a retired Warren Township physician will enhance care for patients hospitalized at Overlook Medical Center with complex wounds by endowing a position for a specially certified wound healing professional. The gift will also underwrite specialized training for medical and nursing specialists in Overlook’s outpatient wound clinic.
Overlook will recognize the gift by naming its clinic the Carole and Joseph Katz, M.D., Wound Healing Center. The ribbon-cutting ceremony occurred Monday, February 24, at Overlook’s Medical Arts Building II in Summit.
“I spent 30 days last summer in Overlook with my wounds,” said Dr. Joseph Katz, an 80-year-old eye surgeon. “I wanted to ensure that the remarkable level of treatment I received in the wound clinic was also available to anyone hospitalized at Overlook. I know firsthand what a difference a specialist makes in treating wounds.”
Katz, who practiced in Westfield and has been a member of the Overlook medical staff for 50 years, also honored his late wife with the gift.
Founded in 1998, Overlook’s wound clinic now sees 150 patients per week and offers the most advanced care possible with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Because of the center’s success with personalized treatment, it has earned the Gold Seal of Approval™ from The Joint Commission with Disease-Specific Care Certification. The Katz Center’s board-certified physicians and certified wound, ostomy, and continence nurses have achieved a 96.4 percent healing rate and have earned designation as a center of excellence.
“Dr. Katz’s gift will lift our inpatient wound healing efforts to exceptional levels,” said Robert Roland, D.O., medical director of the Carole and Joseph Katz, M.D., Wound Healing Center. “His generosity will touch the lives of hundreds of patients over just a few years and distinguish the Katz Center’s care in a way few other wound clinics will be able to match. We’re excited by the possibilities.
“This gift bears the mark of Dr. Katz’s vision. When you render care to one of your colleagues, it’s very special, and his vision for the gift is special. This is something I have never experienced before and doubt I will ever experience again.”
President of Overlook Medical Center Alan Lieber began the dedication ceremony by admitting, “I cannot say thank you enough to thank Dr. Katz’s for his generosity.”“This gift is born out of the physician and nursing care my father received,” said his son, Rob Katz of Livingston, speaking for his father. “Thank you for all you’ve done for our father.”
Dr. Katz’s daughter, Lori Feldstein of Princeton, concluded matters by reporting to the family, friends, and wound center staff gathered, that her father, a big fan of Star Trek, hoped the Katz Center staff would “live long and prosper.”
At that Dr. Katz smiled and raised his right hand in a Vulcan salute.