UConn Health

December 5, 2011 | Christopher DeFrancesco '95 (CLAS) - UConn Health

Dr. Bruce Gould Recognized for Serving Underserved

His commitment to enabling access to care has earned him the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative’s Howard I. Mark Advocate for Oral Health Award.

Dr. Bruce Gould is the 2011 winner of the Howard I. Mark Advocate for Oral Health Award from the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative.

Dr. Bruce Gould’s commitment to enabling access to care has earned him another honor. The Connecticut Oral Health Initiative has chosen Gould the 2011 winner of its Howard I. Mark Advocate for Oral Health Award.

“Bruce Gould epitomizes what many believe to be the dedicated, concerned, involved, and altruistic primary care physician,” says Dr. Howard Mark, president of the COHI Board of Directors, for whom the award is named. “His long term interest in helping those who need it the most and teaching others to follow his lead is legendary, noting the numerous awards he has been given for this by so many disparate organizations. Oral health has played a role in his teachings and outreach programming, recognizing the intimate relationship between the state of oral health and general health that many fail to appreciate.”

In addition to serving as associate dean for primary care at the UConn School of Medicine, Gould is director of the Connecticut Area Health Education Center Program, medical director of Hartford’s Department of Health and Human Services, and medical director of the Burgdorf Health Center, a community clinic serving the underserved population in Hartford’s north end in collaboration with Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. He also is the founder of and an adviser to the Mobile Free Migrant Farmworker Clinic, which has served Connecticut’s migrant farm worker population since 1998.

“This is a great, yet unexpected honor for me,” Gould says. “I have always considered oral health as an integral part of the comprehensive care of individual patients but especially the care of populations in our journey toward better health status for all our citizens. The award reflects the collaborative work, both in education and clinical care delivery, of my colleagues and partners at UConn, especially the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the CT AHEC Program, the Burgdorf Health Center, the Hartford Health Department and the community.  I accept this for all of us.”

COHI will present Gould with the award at its annual meeting Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 5:30 p.m. at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville. Those interested in attending should call 860-246-2644.

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