Michael A.Maffetone, the former Director and C.E.O. of Stony Brook University Hospitaland Vice-President of Hospital affairs passed away January 19, 2003. Followinga prolonged bout with illness, Maffetone, who helped escort University Hospitalto its place among the nation’s 15 Best Major Teaching Hospitals, died inhis Setauket home.

‘?Mike was a dear friend and a central member of the Stony Brookfamily,’ University President Shirley Strum Kenny said. ‘?He wasbright, energetic, witty, creative, and determined to make our hospital thebest.’

Maffetone created Centers of Excellence in the hospital and restructuredcontinuous quality improvement efforts with a new interdisciplinary QualityCouncil.

He also helped develop a provider-sponsored healthmaintenance organization (HMO) for Medicaid, commercial and Medicare products.He also expanded the hospitals network of affiliations and began working withthe Suffolk County Department of Health Services to develop new managed careproducts and increased regional planning.

Maffetone received both his Bachelor’s Degree. in MedicalTechnology and Masters in Immunology from Long Island University-C.W. PostCollege. He also acquired a Doctorate from Catholic University in Washington,D.C.

Maffetone, who began his career at the Community Hospital of Glen Coveand Syosset Hospital, most recently spent 10 years at Rush-Presbyterian-St.Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago as a Senior Associate Vice President andDirector of the Women and Children’s Hospital.

He was a member of the American College of HealthcareExecutives as well as the secretary of the International Clinical LaboratoryManagement Association. He published numerous articles and was a nationallyrecognized speaker on Total Quality Management, automation, computerization andscientific topics.

While at Rush, Maffetone established a number of innovative programssuch as a flexible budgeting system, which was later adopted by the HarvardBusiness School as a case study. He co-founded the West Side Science and MathExcellence Network, which has been nationally recognized for its uniqueapproach to bringing a science and math-mentoring program to Chicago publicschools through an alliance of public and private corporations. He was honoredwith the West Side Science and Math Excellence Network’s Martin LutherKing Humanitarian Award for this effort.

‘?Maffetone cared deeply about the people and worked hard to makesure that everyone who came to the hospital had not only the best of medicalcare, but also the sense of caring that people need when they are sick orinjured,’ Kenny said.

As president of the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fun, Inc.,Maffetone raised more than $1 million for breast cancer research at Stony Brook.He also led University Hospital to become the first hospital in the UnitedStates to voluntarily extend maternity length-of-stay, a policy that receivednational media coverage.

Maffetone is survived by his wife, Dawn, and his children, Elizabeth,Emily and Anthony. His parents, Daniel and Clara, survive him as do hisbrothers, Dan and Stephen. His family requests that anyone intending to sendflowers should instead offer donations in Michael Maffetone’s memory.These should be mailed to Michael A. Maffetone Community Service Award, StonyBrook University Hospital, Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794.