Media Contact: Betty Olt/Terry Lynam
516-465-2645 /516-465-2640
bolt@nshs.edu/ tlynam@nshs.edu

GREAT NECK, NY – The North Shore-LIJ Health System today announced the creation of a Department of Family Medicine and the appointment of Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, as chair of the new department. In her role, Dr. Iroku-Malize has oversight of the health system’s Department of Family Medicine, which has been established to support North Shore-LIJ hospitals and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine in developing family medicine clinical and teaching programs, such as those that currently exist at Glen Cove, Plainview and Southside hospitals. In addition, the School of Medicine will have a required Family Medicine clerkship organized by this new department.

“In this new position, Dr. Iroku-Malize will collaborate with community-based and the health system’s faculty physicians in delivering patient-centered primary care and preventative services to individuals and family members in our hospitals and outpatient facilities,” said Lawrence G. Smith, MD, North Shore-LIJ’s executive vice president and physician-in-chief. “With recent provisions in healthcare reform law, there will be a greater emphasis of the role of primary care and family physicians, with a renewed focus on prevention and care coordination. As the national spotlight shines on these foundations, Dr. Iroku-Malize, with her clinical expertise, communications skills and a background in team-based learning, will engage physicians and medical students in innovative care delivery models, while ensuring access and providing the highest quality medical care to patients of all ages in the communities we serve.”

Family Medicine is a medical specialty dedicated to providing a full continuum of comprehensive healthcare services to individual family members. It encompasses all ages, both genders, and all diseases affecting all parts of the body. Family medicine physicians partner with community-based and North Shore-LIJ’s full-time physicians – including those working in both our hospital and outpatient care settings -- and other healthcare team members to ensure that patients receive safe, quality care. They also will play a key role in educating medical students and new physicians on the importance of health maintenance, disease prevention and management of chronic disease, work to improve the health and well-being of local residents through community outreach and targeted programs, and participate in relevant research activities.

Dr. Iroku-Malize, who has worked for the health system for more than a decade, has served at Southside Hospital as chief resident, hospitalist, director of the hospitalist program and director of the Family Medicine residency program. She is associate professor of medicine at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine; is a representative for Southside Hospital on the health system’s Diabetes Task Force; and a faculty member of the North Shore-LIJ Patient Safety Institute, with a background in team-based learning and simulation in medical education.

Board certified in Family Medicine as well as Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Dr. Iroku-Malize is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and a Senior Fellow in Hospital Medicine of the Society of Hospital Medicine. She is a member of the AAFP Commission of Continuing Professional Development and the Communications Committee of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors.

Dr. Iroku-Malize received her medical degree from the University of Nigeria and completed her residency in family medicine at Southside Hospital. She earned a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Management from Columbia University’s School of Public Health.