Maimonides has a long history of serving the community and building relationships that help us to reach patients in ways that are most effective for them. This is a priority for the Department of Surgery, and recent initiatives show our commitment to ensuring all patients in Brooklyn have access to cutting-edge, expert care in a comfortable, welcoming setting. 

Promoting Health Care Access 

We have made significant strides in recent years to reach Asian American patients — particularly those closest to us in Sunset Park’s Chinese American community, the largest, fastest growing Chinatown in the United States. In Brooklyn, the population who identified as Asian increased from 10.5% in 2010 to 12.1% by 2021 while the borough population grew by 5.3% during that time. *  In New York City as a whole, the Chinese population makes up the city’s largest Asian ethnic group. ** 

At Maimonides, increasing health care access for the growing AAPI and Chinese American communities is a priority. Nineteen percent of patients at Maimonides are from the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Of our patients who speak a primary language other than English, those speaking Chinese languages make up 34%.  

We have several programs designed to engage these communities and help our patients get the most out of their treatment and experience, including: 

• Multilingual patient representatives, including five representatives from the Coalition of Asian-American Independent Practices Association (CAIPA) in our Emergency Department 

• Mandarin-speaking interpreters on site daily, in addition to 24/7 video and telephone interpreters available in more than 100 languages 

• Health education sessions at community locations, including Chinese language health sessions 

• Free cancer screenings and follow-up for uninsured or underinsured patients 

• Regular community health needs assessments and community participatory research  

Strengthening Expertise, Community Connections to Reach More Patients 

This year, Charlene Chao, MD, an accomplished surgeon with a passion for using the most advanced surgical techniques to help alleviate pain and suffering for patients, joined Maimonides’ Department of Surgery. Dr. Chao is fellowship-trained in general surgery and minimally invasive surgery, also specializing in bariatric surgery, and comes to Maimonides with deep connections to Brooklyn’s Chinese American community, as well as other Chinese community enclaves around the city, such as Manhattan’s Chinatown and Flushing, Queens. Dr. Chao’s roots in Brooklyn are influential to her clinical practice. 

“I was born in China and came to this country at age 16,” she says. “Brooklyn was my first stop. It’s the place I consider my hometown in the United States, and the place I first was introduced to surgery during my education at SUNY Downstate.” 

Early in her career, Dr. Chao began working with CAIPA leaders, primary care providers (PCPs), and other leaders in medical care throughout Brooklyn’s Chinese community who share her passion for expanding expert care for these patients. She saw the need for a general surgeon familiar with the culture and needs of Chinese Americans. Partnering with these PCPs, she built up her surgical practice, increasing volume and activity over the years. She now draws patients from across Brooklyn, Chinatown, and Flushing, to her surgical practice, in addition to patients from many diverse communities in Brooklyn, like Sunset Park’s Hispanic and Latino community.

Extensive Experience in Robotic and Minimally Invasive Techniques 

During her training, Dr. Chao embraced robotic and minimally invasive surgical techniques at an early stage, well ahead of when these began to be more widely available to patients. She values these techniques for their capacity to reduce patients’ pain, scarring, blood loss, risk of infection, recovery time, and need for pain management medications, all markers that set her apart to patients as she built her practice.

“Patients come to my practice because they know that for many procedures, minimally invasive surgery is the best option,” she says. “No one wants to get cut open if they don’t have to, and patients are often well informed now that they don’t have to. Maimonides recognizes this and has these tools readily available and nurses trained with them, making what might elsewhere be a complex surgery much easier and more effective for patients.” 

Maimonides’ Expert Team is Here for the Needs of Brooklyn’s AAPI Community 

As a multispecialty surgeon, Dr. Chao is a go-to choice for referrals for many PCPs with patients needing surgery, especially general and bariatric. For patients she can’t accommodate for any reason, like volume or expertise, being part of Maimonides helps her connect these patients to the timely, expert care they need.  

 For instance, Asian Americans have increased risk for hepatopancreatobiliary diseases and cancers. For these conditions, Dr. Chao can help patients and PCPs connect to Maimonides’ Liver, Bile Duct, and Pancreatic Surgery Program, launched in April, which brings together a highly trained team of hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal surgeons capable of treating hundreds of patients annually.  

For diabetes and other conditions related to bariatric care, patients may present differently in ways related to ethnicity. While Asian patients are less likely to be affected by obesity, according to Dr. Chao, they may be candidates for bariatric care at a lower BMI than patients of other ethnicities, because they often develop comorbid conditions like diabetes at a lower BMI. It’s critical not only for surgical teams to have this knowledge about diverse patient groups, but also for patients’ entire bariatric care teams. Cardiologists, pulmonologists, nutritionists and endocrine specialists are all critical to bariatric surgery success, both pre- and post-operation, and Maimonides has the backing of these dedicated multidisciplinary experts to support patients in attaining the best outcomes.  

Positioned for Success 

For Dr. Chao, the transition to Maimonides is a natural next step to better reach existing and new patients, while continuing her passion for caring for her community in Brooklyn. 

“Maimonides has always been the best institution to care for my patients, because it’s right in the middle of this Chinese community,” she said. “Finally, the time is right, and I think we’re in the perfect setting. My patients have a dedicated surgeon, and now they have a dedicated hospital, too.”

For more information on General Surgery at Maimonides, visit https://maimo.org/treatments-care/general-surgery/. For more information on Bariatric Surgery at Maimonides, visit https://maimo.org/treatments-care/general-surgery/bariatric-surgery/. To refer a patient, call (718)-283-7952.