Obituary of Gerry E. Goodrich

October 26, 2020

Gerry Elbridge Goodrich

February 9, 1945 – October 26, 2020

A native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Gerry Goodrich moved to New York City in 1982 after serving in the Peace Corps in Kenya and holding rural health positions in West Africa. A graduate of Middlebury College, Boston University School of Law, and the Harvard School of Public Health, he held a number of executive positions in hospital and health care policy and administration in both the private and public sectors in New York, New Jersey, and abroad retiring in 2016 from Weill Cornell Medical College.

In New Jersey, he served as Deputy Commissioner of Health, the CEO of an urban hospital, and as an Executive Vice President of Barnabas Health. In New York, he has held positions in management consulting, group practice management, and at the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. Internationally, he held positions for the Harvard Institute of International Development in Mali, West Africa, and at the China Center for Economic Research at Beijing University.

Highly regarded for his ability to explain complex topics with clarity, Gerry was a member of the faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College and previously taught at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University and in the physician executive education program at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Renowned for his curiosity, exuberant zest for life, love of intrepid travel, and gift for friendships, Gerry thrived on the energy and culture of urban life in New York City but also loved spending as much time as possible in rural Connecticut where he built stone walls, gardened, and golfed. Wherever he was, he welcomed his amazing range of friends to share his passions, his joy in his latest intellectual pursuit, his wine, his family, his life. He will always be missed by his wife Susan Caughman, daughters Hope and Charlotte Goodrich, son-in-law Patrick Whitehead, nephews Peter and Michael Bessey, niece Jennifer Wheeler, as well as many colleagues and friends.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Medicare Rights Center (https://www.medicarerights.org/) an organization dear to his heart.