Frantz Medard, MD
Frantz Medard, MD
Attending Physician
NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services
A Calming Force in Correctional Health
As a child, Frantz Medard would accompany his father, who was a doctor, during his Sunday morning housecalls through some of the poorest neighborhoods in Haiti.
“I always admired his dedication, compassion and knowledge,” said Dr. Medard, who is now an Attending Physician for Correctional Health Services on Rikers Island. “By the time I was an adolescent I knew that I wanted to become a doctor.”
His commitment to underserved populations hasn’t always been easy, as when he contracted tuberculosis during his residency.
“We are all well aware that correctional health is among the most challenging settings to render care, and we all have our good days and bad. Days we find patience and resiliency, and days when the weight of what we do can overwhelm,” said Luis Cintron, Assistant Chief of Service for Medicine at Correctional Health Services.
“Dr. Medard is that unique soul that seems to rise above all that is difficult and finds grace and calm in all that he does and with whomever he works with or cares for.”
He is known as a savvy clinician, a committed health care provider, an empathetic humanitarian, a gentleman and a scholar who brings out the very best in others. He also serves as a role model for the younger clinicians on staff where he shares not only a keen medical mind but a warm and caring spirit.
“My job as a physician is to take care of my patients,” Dr. Medard said. “I don’t know – and I don’t want to know – why they are detained.”
He’ll spend his day fielding sick calls like migraines, chronic illness including diabetes and hypertension, and emergencies that might include falls or difficulty breathing.
“During COVID-19, inmates couldn’t receive any visitors – not even family – for over two years,” he said. “So often we would hear about the difficulties; they would talk with me. There are times physicians remember. And those times I will always remember.”
While there is no such thing as a perfect physician, his Correctional Health colleagues says that Dr. Medard comes close to the mark.