Brooklyn, NY, March. 31, 2025 – Maimonides Health announced today that The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. has awarded $250,000 to the health system, continuing their support of our Advance Illness Management (AIM) and Age-Friendly initiatives that focus on the care of older adults.
The funding, to be disbursed over two years, brings the total granted to Maimonides for AIM and Age-Friendly projects since 2022 to more than $1 million. This new grant will be utilized to enhance our existing program for emergency and admitted patients, assist our skilled nursing facilities in becoming age-friendly, and create a new program to support caregivers of our older adult patients.
Maimonides’ AIM and Age-Friendly Programs were initiated in 2021, significantly improving the hospital’s expertise and capacity to support the unique healthcare needs and challenges of older patients and those with advanced-stage illness. The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation supported the initiation of this program in January 2022. In June 2023, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) recognized Maimonides as an Age-Friendly Health System – Committed to Care Excellence. This achievement recognizes clinical care settings that have implemented and continuously practice evidence-based interventions for all older adults.
“The population of older adults in New York City has grown by more than 50% since 2000, presenting challenges both at the individual patient level and across the broader healthcare system in New York,” said Dr. John Marshall, Chief Medical Officer at Maimonides Health. “We are proud to be part of the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement and to have made significant strides in strengthening our commitment to enhancing patient experiences, improving outcomes, and supporting healthy aging for our community’s older adults.”
“We are grateful for the support of Samuels Foundation. Their investment, along with that of our other grant funders over the past few years, has helped advance our mission to enhance care for older adults,” said Khadeja Kausar, Principal Investigator for the AIM and Age-Friendly projects and Director of Business Intelligence and Value-Based Management at Maimonides Health. “The Health Association of New York’s stipend support from 2022 to 2024 was integral in educating our providers on the ‘What Matters’ conversation. Last year, support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation enabled us to integrate the Advanced Illness Management Program into our Emergency Department. This grant from the Samuels Foundation will not only build upon our previous successes but also allow us to extend this framework to skilled nursing facilities and enhance our care for older adults by providing vital support to their caregivers.”
“The Samuels Foundation is proud to support Maimonides Medical Center in its commitment to Age-Friendly Health Systems,” said Julio A. Urbina, PhD, MPH, Vice President and Director of the Health Aging Program, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation. “By embracing this essential approach, Maimonides is ensuring that older adults receive the highest quality, person-centered care that respects their needs, values, and independence.”
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About The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation is a private philanthropic organization committed to elevating the quality of life for New Yorkers. The foundation’s primary areas of focus are the Performing Arts and Healthy Aging. The foundation provides financial support to performing arts organizations in New York City, fostering artistic excellence, engaging audiences, and ensuring sustainability. Its Healthy Aging program supports initiatives that enhance the well-being of older adults.
Through its grant-making endeavors, the Samuels Foundation continues to honor the legacy of its founders by strengthening communities and improving the lives of individuals across New York City.
Maimonides Health is Brooklyn’s largest healthcare system, serving over 320,000 patients each year through the system’s 3 hospitals, 1,800+ physicians and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers. The system is anchored by Maimonides Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest independent teaching hospitals and home to centers of excellence in numerous specialties and Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (formerly New York Community Hospital), a 130-bed adult medical-surgical hospital; and Maimonides Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn’s only children’s hospital and only pediatric trauma center.
Maimonides’ clinical programs rank among the best in the country for patient outcomes, including its Heart and Vascular Institute, Neurosciences Institute, Bone and Joint Center, and Cancer Center. Maimonides is an affiliate of Northwell Health and a major clinical training site for SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. For additional information, please visit www.maimo.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.