MEDICAL CENTER WELCOMES NEW CHAIR OF OB-GYN

Edith Gurewitsch Allen, M.D., has joined Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) in Poughkeepsie as the chair of obstetrics and gynecology. Allen is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and fellowship trained in maternal-fetal medicine. She has more than 30 years of experience in the field, having most recently served as interim chair of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

“I am thrilled to join Vassar Brothers Medical Center and be part of a highly skilled team dedicated to supporting our patients, families and community,” said Allen. “My goal is to advance women’s health equity and excellence through clinical, educational and research initiatives, and to leverage my expertise in leadership, management and innovation.”

Allen has a track record for government-funded research in the training and management of obstetric emergencies. Her primary research is on shoulder dystocia, for which she has secured two competitive federal grants. Shoulder dystocia occurs when one or both of a baby’s shoulders get stuck inside the pelvis during childbirth.

She has attained national and international recognition, disseminating her work through more than 130 peer-reviewed publications, as well as book chapters, invited oral presentations and internet instructional formats. She is co-inventor on two patents: a birthing simulator and a brachial plexus simulator.

Allen is committed to the elimination of health disparities, especially for women of color and is a champion of under-represented minorities in medicine. She is a proponent of the Safe Motherhood Initiative that has been working with obstetric hospitals in New York state to develop and implement standard approaches for handling obstetric emergencies associated with maternal mortality and morbidity. She is a staunch advocate of social and reproductive justice.

Allen received her medical degree from the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology and fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at The New York Hospital Cornell University Medical Center in New York City.

To further develop her teaching and administrative skills, Allen earned both a Master of Education of Health Professionals degree and a Master of Business Administration degree in health-care management at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Nuvance Health is a system of award-winning nonprofit hospitals and outpatient health-care services throughout the Hudson Valley and western Connecticut, including Danbury Hospital and its New Milford campus, Norwalk Hospital and Sharon Hospital in Connecticut; Northern Dutchess Hospital, Putnam Hospital and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in New York.

Nuvance Health offers the latest prevention, diagnostic, medical, surgical and rehabilitation services, including through the cancer, digestive health, heart and vascular and neuroscience institutes; and primary and specialty care services through Nuvance Health Medical Practices. Nuvance Health also provides convenient health-care through home care, urgent care and telehealth visits.