The award is given to family medicine residency programs that have achieved excellence in clinical practice by developing creative solutions that result in increased immunization rates in their communities. Vasantha Kondamudi, M.D., Chair of TBHC’s Department of Family Medicine and Director of its Residency Program accepted the award, which provides monetary grants and scholarships for residents to attend the AAFP’s National Conference this July in Kansas City, Mo. There, medical students will share ideas with family medicine educators and leaders from across the nation.

“Thanks to immunizations, deadly diseases like smallpox and polio no longer kill or disable millions. Getting our children immunized at the right time protects them and improves the health of our community,” said Richard G. Roberts, M.D., J.D., president of the AAFP Foundation,” who said award winners were chosen for their ability to find and implement team-based solutions that increase immunization rates. “I would like to offer my congratulations to the winners of this year’s awards. We hope the innovative systems put in place by these residency programs will inspire other physicians and their practice teams to improve their immunization efforts, too.”

“Receiving this award from AAFP is truly an honor for our Family Medical Residency Program, which had made a major impact on increasing immunization rates for Brooklyn’s youngest residents,” says hospital President and CEO Richard B. Becker, M.D. “Our goal is to deliver excellent service to everyone, and we are very proud of the efforts of Dr. Kondamudi and her staff.”

“The AAFP Foundation applauds this year’s program winners for their dedication to protecting children from infectious diseases and to raising awareness of the importance of immunizations to a community’s health and well-being,” said Craig M. Doane, executive director of the AAFP Foundation. “We are proud to recognize programs that share our vision of achieving optimal health for everyone.”

TBHC was one of 10 award winners and the only program from New York to be recognized. Other recipients included Family Medicine Residency Programs at Glendale Adventist in Glendale, Calif.; Howard University in Washington, D.C.; Medical College of Wisconsin St. Joseph in Milwaukee, Wis.; RiverStone Health in Billings, Mont.; St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in South Bend, Ind.; St. Louis University Belleville in Belleville, Ill.; University of Alabama in Huntsville, Ala.; the Wesley Family Medicine Residency in Wichita, Kan.; and the Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown, Ohio.