Infectious Diseases/AIDS Program

New York University School of Medicine
Columbia University Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital, Residency, Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease
Columbia University, Master’s, Epidemiology

Inglés

In 2016, Dr. David Ferris was appointed Medical Director, Ambulatory Care and Population Health at BronxCare. His route or career pathway to this medical leadership position is certainly an interesting one. It dates back to 2004 when he first came to BronxCare as an Attending Physician in the Department of Medicine and its Division of Infectious Diseases. There, he cared for HIV/AIDS patients and was instrumental in building a treatment adherence program that helped them overcome their struggles to take the prescribed medications for controlling this disease. In 2011, Dr. Ferris continued to advance his career by accepting a leadership position at the Morningside Clinic and AIDS Services at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital. As Medical Director, he was responsible for a multidisciplinary team of physicians involved in treatment and research. When St. Luke’s became part of the Mt. Sinai Healthcare System, Dr. Ferris took on an expanded role as Chairman of its Quality Improvement Committee. In this capacity, he was responsible for projects at six HIV clinics and four inpatient units.

Dr. Ferris always considered his work at BronxCare as one of the more important career building experiences for him. “It provided me with an understanding of the challenges patients and their families encounter, particularly those with the most serious and often life threatening health problems,” stated Dr. Ferris. When he learned of an opportunity to start a Department of Population Health and work as Associate Medical Director, Ambulatory Care at BronxCare, his return to the facility where he started became an easy decision for him. The choice was further reaffirmed when, eight months later, he was promoted to Medical Director, Ambulatory Care and Population Health. In this position, he is taking the lessons learned from the past and applying them to improve the quality of care for the hospital's extensive BronxCare Network of outpatient practices.

“Caring for patients with HIV taught me how important it is to work in teams and across disciplines in understanding the needs of the community and our patients at both the individual and collective levels,” stated Dr. Ferris.

“In Population Health, we must always keep in mind the individual patient as we build programs that apply to the broader population,” stated Dr. Ferris. And that is exactly what Dr. Ferris is doing as he moves forward on one of his latest projects, establishing the “practice of the future” at the hospital’s BronxCare Third Avenue location.