Was crusader for helping people in need and reducing health disparities
A key University of Nebraska Medical Center administrator, Rubens Pamies, M.D., died Saturday morning at his sister’s home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, of an apparent heart attack.
Dr. Pamies, 52, has served as UNMC’s vice chancellor of academic affairs and dean for graduate studies for more than eight years.
A native of Haiti, Dr. Pamies’ death was a shock to UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., and his wife, Beverly.
“It is a real tragedy,” Dr. Maurer said. “He had so much more to contribute to health care and the greater community world. He was a champion for great causes. He became a close and loyal friend and confidant. Beverly and I will miss him very much. It is a great loss to UNMC and humanity.
“Rubens was a nationally renowned academic educator. He was an expert on health disparities. He was there to help rescue Haiti from the devastation of the 2010 earthquake. He led the volunteer effort for UNMC and subsequently published a gut-wrenching book (Help and Hope for Haiti) on this tragedy.”
Dr. Maurer saluted Dr. Pamies for his work on numerous initiatives, including:
· Creating the first online pre-matriculation program for first-year medical students;
· Founding the Virginia-Nebraska Alliance to attract minorities to health professions; and
· Promoting diversity and interprofessional education with the support of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Two of Dr. Pamies’ closest friends and mentors were David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., former U.S. Surgeon General, and Louis Sullivan, M.D., president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Satcher combined with Dr. Pamies to co-author “Multicultural Medicine and Health Disparities,” the first book to take a comprehensive look at health care disparities.
Dr. Sullivan worked with Dr. Pamies on the Virginia-Nebraska Alliance, a unique program involving five Historically Black Colleges and Universities and a leading community college in Virginia along with UNMC and Virginia Commonwealth University. The alliance provides a multitude of academic and research opportunities for minority undergraduate students and faculty.
“Rubens had a very strong commitment to addressing the health needs of the poor regardless of their race or ethnicity,” Dr. Sullivan said. “He worked tirelessly to accomplish that goal. He was a very strong person with a big heart full of compassion for others.”
Dr. Maurer said, “Rubens was a global player in education – in Washington, D.C., as a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners, and in China, where he helped provide new educational exchanges for students and faculty.”
An ardent baseball fan and devoted Husker supporter, Dr. Pamies befriended many professional athletes over the years. One of his closest friends was Jose Mesa, a relief pitcher for nine different major league teams. In 2007, working with Mesa’s foundation, Dr. Pamies was able to bring a five-year-old boy from the Dominican Republic to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center to undergo a life-saving heart operation.
Locally, Dr. Pamies worked closely with Building Bright Futures to identify educational opportunities for low income children in Douglas and Sarpy County.
In 2007, he was honored by Omaha’s new Gershom Empowerment Center with its inaugural award for his lifetime commitment to medicine and reducing health disparities.
The son of Haitian immigrants, Dr. Pamies moved to Queens, N.Y., at the age of six. He earned his undergraduate degree from St. John’s University in New York in 1981 and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Medicine, in 1986.
Dr. Pamies was involved in academic medicine for 22 years, working at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa from 1989 to 1992, at Case Western University School of Medicine in Cleveland from 1992 to 2000, and at Meharry Medical College in Nashville from 2000 to 2002.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Georges and Liliane. Survivors include: his wife, Michelle Austin Pamies; sister, Linda Boucard (husband Bernard); and his five children, Ben (wife Amanda and their son Corben), Christina, Rachel, Robert and Michael.
A funeral mass will be held for Dr. Pamies at 9 a.m., March 12, at St. Boniface Catholic Church, 631 Elmont Road, Elmont, N.Y. Visitation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on March 11 at Edward F. Lieber
Funeral Homes, 266 N. Central Ave., Valley Stream, N.Y. Burial will be at Plain Lawn Cemetery, 279 W. Old Country Rd., Hicksville, N.Y.
A memorial service will be held in Omaha at 10 a.m. on March 14 at Witherspoon Hall in Joslyn Art Museum.
Memorials should be made to two funds through the University of Nebraska Foundation — the Rubens Pamies, M.D., Haitian Relief Outreach Fund #11614 and the Rubens Pamies, M.D.,
Lectureship to Eliminate Health Disparities #12030.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.
Link to photo of Dr. Rubens Pamies: