Retired Bassett Clinician Receives Major Award

COOPERSTOWN—Last month, retired Bassett Heathcare Network clinician Dr. Douglas DeLong, MD, MACP was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians.

“I’m truly humbled by this honor,” said Dr. DeLong, “but in reality I received much more personal benefit from my years of affiliation with NYACP than any contributions I may have made.”

In addition to holding many leadership positions within NYACP and the national ACP over the years, Dr. DeLong’s nomination praises his decades as a clinician, teacher, and advocate at Bassett Healthcare Network as an essential reason for his award.

“Doug has been a tireless champion for primary care internal medicine in rural Upstate New York,” explained his nominator, “caring for patients and teaching countless medical students and resident learners.”

Dr. DeLong served as chief of the division of general internal medicine at Prime Care in Cooperstown for 18 years until his retirement from practice in January 2022. He currently teaches Bassett residents one day a week in internal medicine during their outpatient clinic rotations. He is an associate clinical professor of Medicine in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He is also an alternate delegate of the Senior Physician Section to the American Medical Association.

Above all, this award recognizes Dr. DeLong as a moral leader, officials said.

“I have known many physicians with deeply-held beliefs,” the nominator also said. “Though few who are able—as he is—to articulate them with integrity, clarity, conviction, credibility and passion. He is sincere, supportive and eminently likable.”

Dr. DeLong resides in Cherry Valley with his wife, Lynn Marsh.