Pelham Physician Recognized for Haiti Medical Relief Work

Dr. Richard Garvey will receive the prestigious “Spirit of the Red Cross” award on Thursday for the surgery relief he offered in Haiti after last year’s devastating earthquake.

Garvey, 49, a Pelham resident and chief of plastic surgery at Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle and Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, jetted to Haiti after hearing about the mounting death toll. For a week, he closed wounds, completed amputations and removed dirt or dead tissue from victims.

“It must be massive chaos,” Garvey remembers thinking while watching the news reports. “I need to get down there and see if I can help.”

The American Red Cross’ Westchester chapter will recognize Garvey for his life-saving volunteer service at a breakfast on Thursday at the Rye Town Hilton.

“We tried to get people back on their feet, if they had feet,” Garvey said of the medical procedures he performed. “It was a constant source of opportunities to help your fellow man.”

One patient, a boy of about 19, had severe leg trauma with a long section of bone exposed and vascular damage. Dr. Garvey told him, through an interpreter, that he would lose his leg if he stayed Haiti.

“The poor kid just broke down crying,” Garvey noted.

With the help of a nurse, though, Garvey brought the boy to Jacobi Medical Center for surgery.

“We were able to save this kid's leg,” he said. Garvey received a picture of his former patient playing soccer with his newly healed leg. “Not so bad,” he remarked with a smile.

In addition to using his hands to heal, Garvey applies his digits to musical instruments to help those in need. He played at a Red Cross benefit in New Rochelle on Saturday to raise money for the victims of the tornado in Joplin, Mo. Garvey has also performed on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the recent tsunami in Japan.

“In today's era, you need to extend a hand,” he said.

This lesson of altruism came to Garvey early on in life. The youngest of six kids who grew up in the Bronx, he was the frequent caretaker for a sister, Valerie, who suffered from spina bifada.

“Valerie lived on love,” said Garvey, who often measured his sister's medication or would watch with reverence as the family doctor took care of her during a medical crisis.

His sister was a frequent target of taunting bullies, which made the young Garvey sensitive to the pain and suffering that a person's appearance can cause.

“I don't differentiate human suffering,” he noted. “Despite what everyone says, it is incredibly satisfying to making somebody beautiful. Other people think, 'well that's just vanity.' When you change someone's life, you did something good that day.”

In addition to performing cosmetic surgeries like liposuction and facelifts, about one-third of Garvey’s  procedures are reconstructive, especially for survivors of mastectomies. By his own count, he performs up to 600 surgeries per year.

Though Garvey calls practicing medicine a “blessing,” he didn't immediately pursue that path. He took some time to try out acting and rock n' roll, even playing with Roger Daltrey, The Who's lead singer, twice.

Yet, eventually, the desire to alleviate suffering resurfaced. He graduated from Georgetown Medical School, where he served as class president, in 1991. Garvey currently teaches at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and maintains a successful practice in Harrison.

“I don't mind working 20 hours a day, six days a week,” said Garvey, who often leaves work at midnight before appearing in the operating room at 7: 30 the next morning. “In medicine, the more you do, the more you learn.”

But whether he’s operating in a third world country, or in a neighboring town in Westchester, Garvey’s governing medical philosophy holds true.

“I truly believe in what Lennon and McCartney said,” Garvey shared. “'And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.'”