Newtown Neonatologist Honored

In A Celebration Of Immigrants

By Nancy K. Crevier

Dr Eitan S. Kilchevsky, Newtown resident and physician in the neonatal department of Danbury Hospital, was honored at the 14th Annual Immigrant Day at the State Capitol in Hartford, Thursday, April 14. Dr Kilchevsky was one of 19 immigrants living in the state celebrated for their contributions to their communities and professions.

Immigrant Day is hosted each year by the Secretary of the State’s Office, partnering with the Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (CIRC). “This day will showcase the lasting impact that each of our honorees has had on their own community, and highlight the valuable contributions all immigrants have made here in Connecticut. The success our country has experienced has always been indebted to the hard work of immigrants, and we must never cease to forget their tireless contributions,” said Secretary of State Denise Merrill in a press release issued April 1.

The first Dr Kilchevsky heard of the honor was when he was contacted three weeks ago. “I’m not sure who nominated me, maybe someone from the Jewish Federation,” he said, and added that he was pleased to have been selected. “There are so many immigrants who have done so much,” he said.

Dr Kilchevsky was born in Israel and went to medical school there, where he met his wife, a Long Island native. “After that, I applied for and was accepted into a pediatric residency at the Long Island Jewish Hospital. I did my fellowship in newborn medicine at Columbia Presbyterian in New York City,” said Dr Kilchevsky, and it was there that he had the privilege of being introduced to “a lot of deep thinkers. I was in the right place, at the right time.”

He worked at Queens General Hospital, and then for nine years in Pennsylvania. In 1997, he joined the staff at Danbury Hospital as a neonatal specialist, and moved to Newtown.

He believes it is not just one thing, but many aspects of himself as a physician and a human being that led to his being honored this year by the state and CIRC, including his continual desire to challenge himself and continue to grow. “I do not think I always dreamed of being a doctor, but as I grew into my late teens and did my military service in Israel, medicine seemed to me to be a challenging profession,” he said. “Every patient can present a challenge, so it really forces you to think, all the time,” said Dr Kilchevsky.

As he finished up his pediatric residency in the early 1980s, neonatology was a field that had finally started to “grow up. We had new medicines and new equipment and new technology that allowed us to care for the very young infants. It was a very challenging field, and went along with my excitement about the field of medicine,” Dr Kilchevsky said.

“You always have to give back, I believe, so I think it was a combination of a lot of things I’ve done,” he said.

He has accompanied a mission to Cuba to evaluate the health care there; and he is involved with a physician in Ethiopia, helping his colleague to obtain needed medicines and equipment, and caring for children sent to him for special care.

He is working to increase the availability of pediatric subspecialists, such as pediatric surgeons, to Danbury Hospital. The hospital is also in the midst of making the hospital more “baby friendly,” a program supported by the World Health Organization for hospitals that have shown a commitment to supporting breast-feeding. (A new neonatology intensive care unit is scheduled to open at Danbury Hospital in coming weeks.)

As the doctor in charge of the rotation of medical students, he works with affiliated colleges The University of Vermont in Burlington and Ross Medical School in the Dominica to bring qualified medical students into the hospital and give them a positive learning experience. He has been a speaker to various classes at Newtown High School and other schools in the area.

“I am involved with the March of Dimes and Easter Seals, and very involved in helping the department here to develop a program to raise awareness about child abuse and child development,” said the doctor. He has also developed a center to encourage new mothers to breast-feed and to educate the public about the benefits of breast-feeding infants, and is currently completing research on the composition of breast milk. “We hope to have more research projects at the hospital,” Dr Kilchevsky said. “It is important to show interest in new things, to grab them. It makes life more interesting,” he said.

Dr Kilchevsky has reached out to other immigrants, as well. About 30 percent of his patients are Hispanic, Dr Kilchevsky said, “and there is always the talk of the ‘language barrier’ — meaning our patients don’t speak English. But I thought, what if the barrier is that we don’t speak Spanish?”

So he bought a series of Spanish language tapes and for several weeks listened to them and practiced on his drives to and from work. “I have taught myself some very basic Spanish, but it helps, and I think my patients appreciate the effort,” he said. “So you see, I think I received the award, not for one thing, but a combination of things. I was surprised, because you see a need and you do it. It is what you do,” Dr Kilchevsky said.

The recipients at the April 14 ceremony were representative of many countries, he said, and all very interesting. Each person was introduced, and it was nice, he said, to know that the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, and state representatives and senators had taken time to stop what they were doing, sign the certificates, and acknowledge contributions of immigrants.

“It is a big move, to leave your country, family, and friends and go to a new culture,” said Dr Kilchevsky. “You start from scratch, even if you have family here,” he said.

“You always think that people don’t notice what you are doing. It is good to see that the political leadership in our state notices the good things people do. They see that there are people who came to the United States and overcame the difficulties of being absorbed into this culture, and that they are to be recognized. I think,” said Dr Kilchevsky, “that there is a need to encourage people to give back to their communities. [The Immigrant Day award] is a very nice thing.”