Health, Dignity, and Human Rights: Dr. Pong Celebrates Health Care Pioneer While Receiving Dr. Jack Geiger Award

Earlier this month, Perry Pong, MD, was presented the Dr. Jack Geiger Award by the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS). Dr. Pong served for 15 years as Chief Medical Officer of the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC) and stepped down from that role in 2024 to become the Health Center’s Medical Director of Education & Training, where he will work to support people pursuing careers in community health. During his tenure as CMO, Dr. Pong helped steer the Health Center’s growth and established it as a national leader in clinical quality metrics, bringing world-class care to more than 54,000 patients CBWCHC serves.

The award he received is named after H. Jack Geiger, a New York physician, civil rights activist, and pioneer of the community health center model in the United States. Early in Dr. Pong’s tenure as CMO, he had an opportunity to meet Dr. Geiger when the famed doctor visited CBWCHC for a tour. Dr. Geiger died in 2020 and CHCANYS created this prestigious award in his honor.

Dr. Pong accepted the Dr. Jack Geiger Award in Albany on March 4, where he gave the following remarks.

“I am deeply honored for this award. Jack Geiger was a beacon of light for us in the medical community, with an unwavering devotion to health, human dignity, and human rights. He was a champion of justice and decency.

This award also belongs to the remarkable founders of the Chinatown Health Clinic more than 50 years ago, and to all the dedicated people who have transformed it into the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center. We take great pride as the health center in New York state that serves the most Asian and Asian-American patients—a very diverse population connected by our shared aspirations for a better future. And without health, there can be no future.

Thank you to CHCANYS for their invaluable support of Federally Qualified Health Centers. Thank you, also, to our sister health centers. Together, we are vital for the care of the most vulnerable. Studies consistently show that access to primary care or, as my patients say, their “family doctor,” not only improves people’s health, but their longevity.

Representation matters. For communities of color and those marginalized in society, seeing someone who understands their language, culture, and experiences significantly improves health outcomes. Let us commit to fostering and supporting aspiring medical professionals from diverse backgrounds who will return to their communities to give the care so desperately needed. In remembering Dr. Geiger, let us also continue to commit to advancing health care equity and access for all. Thank you all.”