Deane Tsuei, MD, Ph.D.
Deane Tsuei, MD, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Medicine
NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler
A Coler Legend
Dr. Deane Tsuei is practically an institution himself at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler. After 36 years as an internist and associate director of medicine at the nursing care center on Roosevelt Island, Dr. Tsuei is recognized by his colleagues as an extraordinary physician and known for his indefatigable dedication, abundant patience, humility and unflagging readiness, even past 80, to deliver help to patients and colleagues whenever and wherever it’s needed.
When Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, Dr. Tsuei stayed at Coler for several days and nights, helping move patients to other facilities and care for those who remained as Roosevelt Island flooded and power shut down. He’s a calm and assuring presence in any emergency, and if he’s complimented on his many contributions, his impulse is to deflect credit to his colleagues.
Dr. Tsuei began his career as a medical researcher, earning a graduate degree in biochemistry in Taiwan and then emigrating to the United States for a Ph.D. in microbiology at UC-Davis in the late 1960s. After a decade as a cancer researcher, he decided he wanted to help people more directly and came to New York to attend Albert Einstein College of Medicine, from which he graduated in 1983.
He joined Coler in 1986 and never wanted to leave. “Coler is part of my family,” he says. One thing he’s come to love is that the facility never fails to be interesting and invigorating. He appreciates being able to help people in new ways and learn things he didn’t know, even after nearly four decades of practice. He and his colleagues recently found themselves providing care for a woman in her 30s with a rare neurovascular disease called moyamoya.
“We had all read about it in textbooks and journal articles, but now we had a young lady who came to us,” he said. “Because we have a unique population of patients from all kinds of ethnic groups and backgrounds, I am fortunate to be able to be in a setting where I can help people and at the same time expand my knowledge. After so many years, I can still learn.”