Mount Sinai’s Veronica Rivera, MD, Named Clinician of the Year by the American Geriatrics Society
Honor recognizes her leadership in caring for older adults, advancing geriatrics education, and improving dementia care
Veronica Rivera, MD, Associate Professor, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was named the 2026 Clinician of the Year by the American Geriatrics Society
Veronica Rivera, MD, Associate Professor, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was named the 2026 Clinician of the Year by the American Geriatrics Society.
The award is one of the nation’s highest honors in geriatrics, recognizing excellence in the clinical care of older adults and highlighting the role of the geriatrician in our health care system. The AGS chose to honor Dr. Rivera in light of her “exceptional clinical career dedicated to strengthening community-based health programs, leveraging technology to improve the care of older adults, and integrating age-friendly principles beyond specialty settings.”
Dr. Rivera, who joined the faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine in 2012, serves as Director of the Coffey Geriatrics Practice at the Martha Stewart Center for Living at The Mount Sinai Hospital. She also provides primary care and geriatrics consultation at the Family Health Center of Harlem, part of the Institute for Family Health, which is the home of a family medicine residency program affiliated with Mount Sinai. Dr. Rivera oversees the geriatrics education program for residents in family medicine.
“We are absolutely thrilled that the American Geriatrics Society has chosen Dr. Rivera for this incredible honor. While she has earned great respect from colleagues and trainees alike, her combination of superb communication, expert clinical skills and judgment, and compassion has earned the deepest admiration from her patients,” said R. Sean Morrison, MD, the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System.
Dr. Rivera’s recognition marks another significant milestone for the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, said Dr. Morrison. The Brookdale Department’s Joyce F. Fogel, MD, received the honor in 2024.
Since 2019, Dr. Rivera has served with distinction as Director of the Martha Stewart Center for Living ambulatory practice, which cares for more than 4,500 patients. The Martha Stewart Center for Living provides comprehensive clinical care, physician training, and coordination of research into healthy aging across Mount Sinai.
“Dr. Rivera’s leadership has made the Martha Stewart Center a model for geriatric primary and specialty care in our urban academic system,” said Audrey Chun, MD, Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Vice Chair of Outpatient Clinical Services in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Chun noted numerous professional development accomplishments throughout Dr. Rivera’s career. “Her sustained commitment to growth has made her an exceptional clinician, educator, and leader,” said Dr. Chun.
Dr. Rivera has pursued extensive training through several high-profile programs. Among many educational endeavors, she was selected in 2012 as a Faculty Scholar by the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs and as a faculty scholar by the Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence. She completed the Harvard-Macy Program for Educators in Health Professions and the Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging Program.
Dr. Rivera has distinguished herself through her care of patients living with dementia, who often must navigate a fragmented network of community services while dealing with the multiplicity of medical, functional, and psychological needs that go hand in hand with cognitive decline. She serves as one of Mount Sinai’s designated clinical leads for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ “Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience” GUIDE Model, which was launched in 2024.
With her rare combination of administrative and clinical expertise, she helps lead the development of standardized dementia-care processes, delivers coordinated medical and social support services, and integrates much-needed community partnerships.
“I’m so pleased to have been honored by the American Geriatrics Society with this recognition. The opportunity to serve Mount Sinai and older adults in our neighboring communities as a primary care geriatrician has been the highest privilege and joy for me. I’m truly touched by this acknowledgement,” said Dr. Rivera.
About the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the seven member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to New York City’s large and diverse patient population.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, MD-PhD, and master’s degree programs, with enrollment of more than 1,200 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,700 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers 12 degree-granting programs, conducts innovative basic and translational research, and trains more than 470 postdoctoral research fellows.
Ranked 11th nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is among the 90th percentile of U.S. private medical schools in Sponsored Programs Direct Expenditures per Principal Investigator, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. More than 6,900 scientists, educators, and clinicians work within and across dozens of academic departments and multidisciplinary institutes with an emphasis on translational research and therapeutics. Through Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), the Health System facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of medical breakthroughs made at Mount Sinai.
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* Mount Sinai Health System member hospitals: The Mount Sinai Hospital; Mount Sinai Brooklyn; Mount Sinai Morningside; Mount Sinai Queens; Mount Sinai South Nassau; Mount Sinai West; and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
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 approximately 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and leading schools 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 from conception 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 more than 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 10 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’s 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 2025-2026.
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