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2021 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Laura Iavicoli, M.D.

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A 1989 graduate of HMHS, Dr. Iavicoli lettered in field hockey and track and field, was the Cy Marter Senior Athlete, Colonial Conference Scholar-Athlete, and a member of the National Honor Society. She continued her education at Boston University, earning a BA in Psychology, Summa Cum Laude in 1993.  In 1997, Laura received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Robert Wood Johnson, UMDNJ.  She was a preliminary resident in Internal Medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Phoenix, AZ and later served as resident in Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City from 1998-2001 and Chief Resident from 2001-2002.

A board-certified Emergency Medicine physician with special expertise in Emergency Management, Dr. Iavicoli’s professional career includes twenty years as an emergency room physician at Elmhurst General Hospital in the borough of Queens.  Concurrently, she has served as an Associate Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai while  employed at Elmhurst, a teaching affiliate of Mount Sinai.  She has been responsible for training emergency medicine residents, internal medicine residents, and medical students in Emergency Medicine.  She has also served as an attending physician in several regional hospitals.

Laura’s expertise has led her to assume increasing responsibility for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation that oversees Elmhurst Hospital.  Her leadership responsibilities have included Associate Director of Emergency Management, Senior Assistant Vice President Emergency Management for Health and Hospitals, and most recently, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for NYC Health and Hospitals/Elmhurst.   

 Her service to Elmhurst and the larger profession has included participation on numerous hospital, local and national committees devoted to emergency management issues; with publications, trainings and seminars pertaining to disaster preparedness, including pandemic response, terrorism, mass casualties, blast injuries, psychiatric effects, decontamination, protective equipment, et al. She has been a disaster relief team member for more than 10 years for NYC and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Her service also includes participation on multiple committees of the American College of Emergency Physicians;  Bioterrorism Coordinator, NYC Department of Health; member of the Emergency Management Council for NYC Health and Hospitals; and Senior Medical Advisor, Global Health Center for Special Pathogens, NYC Health and Hospitals.   Since 2017, Dr. Iavicoli has given over 20 invited lectures or presentations on emergency management and authored or co-authored some 17 journal articles related to her field of expertise. 

Dr. Alicia Lu, a physician mentored by Dr. Iavicoli shared this comment.  ““If I had to think of one person who embodies the words leadership, courage, and selflessness, that would hands-down be Dr. Iavicoli.  During my first month of residency training, I was immediately impressed when I learned she responded to the 9/11 emergency by running across Manhattan to go to work in the ER on her day off. Then in 2020, when Covid hit NYC and entirely overwhelmed our hospital at Elmhurst, Dr. Iavicoli was the one person we all looked to for guidance among the chaos. Thankfully, she had already been an expert at emergency management and disaster planning by that point, and there is no doubt that her expertise and leadership skills saved many lives. As a mentor to residents like myself, Dr. Iavicoli is incredibly supportive of new ideas and our professional development. Despite her busy schedule, she somehow makes time for an impromptu phone call, seemingly 24/7. On shift, Dr. Iavicoli is a brilliant teacher, a compassionate physician, and a fierce advocate for patients.  I am truly grateful to have gotten to know Dr. Iavicoli.  I will continue to be inspired by her throughout my career.”

During the peak of the pandemic, Laura worked as an emergency medicine expert on the NYC Health and Hospital COVID-19 action team and on the front lines in the emergency room at Elmhurst General Hospital. She was involved in multiple levels of work that included: coordinating efforts between her own emergency department staff, coordinating efforts for Elmhurst Hospital and for the entire NYC health system as whole. Her emergency medicine experience had previously brought her face to face with several earlier crises including SARS, H1N1, and Ebola but none that matched the scale of Covid-19 pandemic.

The New York Times article entitled, “The Epicenter”, appeared in the print edition on Sunday, December 6thand documents how a corner of the borough of Queens became the epicenter of the coronavirus.  The article features the stories of coronavirus patients and their treatment at Elmhurst Hospital in late March 2020 in compelling detail.  Dr. Iavicoli figures centrally in this narrative.  She describes her safety-net hospital as “the most magical place on earth,” with a skilled, committed staff and a diverse mix of patients who offer fresh challenges every day. At the height of the pandemic, her emergency room was seeing 400 patients per day, double its usual number.  See the link below to read more about what it was like in Elmhurst at the height of the Pandemic. 

Click here if you would like to read more.

Laura’s extraordinary efforts did not go unnoticed. In the past eighteen months, she was “recognized for heroic contributions to the five boroughs during the COVID-19 pandemic with tireless dedication to New York City” and was given the Hometown Hero Essential Worker Award.  Laura was also honored with the Schneps Media Healthcare Heroes Award “for dedication and service to the healthcare community providing healthcare services at Elmhurst Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic” and the NYC Health and Hospitals, Elmhurst Emergency Department, Healthcare Hero Award, was presented to Laura for “dedication and leadership at Elmhurst Hospital during the COVID pandemic”.  

Laura is married to David Allensworth and they have three children, Izzy, 13; Lucy, 12; and Lilia, 11.  She loves travel, New York City, and the beach.  Her passion for being active includes an interest in mixed martial arts, completing three marathons including Boston and New York City  and riding her bike to work from the Upper West Side to Queens.