Renowned expert Allison J. Applebaum, PhD, will lead it
New York, NY, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mount Sinai today announced that it will establish the Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving, a groundbreaking initiative designed to improve how America’s health care system recognizes and supports caregivers.
Allison J. Applebaum, PhD, an expert in the psychological needs of caregivers and a Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will lead the new Center. Dr. Applebaum joined Mount Sinai in early September from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she was the founding director of the Caregivers Clinic, an innovative program providing targeted psychosocial care to family caregivers of patients with cancer, from diagnosis through bereavement.
Her work in the field of psycho-oncology has focused on the development of new approaches to address the psychological needs of caregivers at different points along the illness and caregiving continuum. At Mount Sinai, Dr. Applebaum will expand her focus beyond oncology to address the needs of caregivers of patients with all illnesses and disabilities.
The Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving was established through a visionary founding gift from Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert W. Gottesman in memory of Trudy’s brother, Steven S. Elbaum, who recently passed away at the age of 76.
“Our family’s experience with caregiving during Steve’s illness revealed the profound stress and challenges caregivers face daily. This center will honor his legacy by providing support and resources to caregivers nationwide,” said Judy Elbaum, Steve’s wife.
“Steve’s extraordinary gift was his ability to embrace and nurture those around him. He was a true caregiver—someone who listened deeply, offered wise counsel, and always considered the well-being of others,” said Trudy Elbaum Gottesman.
“We are deeply grateful to Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert Gottesman for their vision and generosity in making this important initiative possible. Caregivers—most often family members, friends and other loved ones—are the unsung heroes of our health care system,” said Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chief Executive Officer and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair of the Mount Sinai Health System. “With the establishment of the Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving, Mount Sinai is committed to setting a new standard in health care by ensuring caregivers receive the training, emotional support, and recognition they deserve.”
Today there are an estimated 53 million caregivers in the United States, a number expected to grow rapidly as the population ages. The Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving will integrate comprehensive caregiver support into the core of American medical practice, recognizing caregivers as essential members of the health care team.
The Center will transform caregiver support through the following key initiatives: pioneering scalable support models for nationwide implementation; pursuing innovative caregiving research; training the next generation of caregiving scientists; and, advocating for policy reforms that recognize caregivers as essential health care partners. The Center’s research will directly inform national guidelines and policy recommendations, fundamentally reshaping how the health care system supports caregivers. The Center will house a Caregivers Clinic, already established at Mount Sinai, to provide targeted psychosocial care to the parents, partners, children, siblings, and friends of patients receiving care at Mount Sinai.
“Caregivers are essential providers of physical, emotional, financial, and practical support to loved ones, but they remain an often-invisible force in American health care. It is time for academic medicine to move beyond acknowledging the problem of caregiver burden to creating effective, scalable care models that can be implemented nationwide to support this under-recognized workforce,” said R. Sean Morrison, MD, Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“At Mount Sinai, Dr. Applebaum will bring innovative approaches to families in the caregiving trenches, while also establishing training programs for pre- and postdoctoral fellows in caregiving science across a wide range of disciplines,” said Dr. Morrison. In addition, said Dr. Morrison, she will bridge partnerships with health care institutions, community organizations, and caregiver advocacy groups to extend the Center’s impact beyond Mount Sinai. And, within the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Center will join together with the Center to Advance Palliative Care to develop and disseminate caregiver support tools and models nationwide, leveraging decades of experience gleaned by the latter center.
“Just as palliative care was two decades ago, recognizing and supporting caregivers is the next urgently needed change in health care,” said Diane E. Meier, MD, Founder and Director Emerita of the Center to Advance Palliative Care. “The Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving will enable us to pursue the multifaceted approach that caregivers deserve.”
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report’s® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.
CONTACT: Mount Sinai Press Office Mount Sinai Press Office newsmedia@mssm.edu
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