2024 Commissioner’s Award to Emil Nigro, MD, FACEP

Emil Nigro, MD, FACEP, is the 2024 recipient of the Commissioner’s Award.

Dr. Nigro is being recognized for his dedication to emergency medicine and the training of emergency service workers throughout Westchester and beyond.

After graduating from Fordham University College of Pharmacy, Dr. Nigro taught high school biology and other sciences in Manhattan while working as a part-time pharmacist before attending medical school. Following a residency in internal medicine at Westchester Medical Center, Dr. Nigro joined Phelps Hospital as an Emergency Medicine Physician in 1979. He served as medical director of the Emergency Department at Phelps from 1984 until 2017.

While directing the Emergency Department, Dr. Nigro recognized that emergency responders needed further education and training. With funding and support from the Hoch family, Dr. Nigro was the driving force behind the design and construction of the new Phelps Hospital Emergency Department and the Hoch Center for Emergency Education, which opened in 2008. Each year, the Hoch Center trains hundreds of clinicians, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, firefighters and police officers in first aid, CPR, advanced emergency medicine and other lifesaving techniques. The Center served as an international model, and hosted visitors from Bhutan, Japan, Australia and China, who were interested in its training methods. During the pandemic, the Center tested and vaccinated thousands of residents, especially homebound seniors.

In 2018, he was elected chairman of the Phelps Medical Board and President of its Medical Staff, and he served in those roles until this year. Dr. Nigro currently serves as the medical director of the Hoch Center for Emergency Education at Phelps Hospital Northwell Health in Sleepy Hollow.