Elton Strauss, M.D., chief of Orthopaedic Trauma and Adult Reconstruction from 1984 to 2013 at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, passed away of complications from T-cell lymphoma on July 8, 2017 at St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, New York. He was 69 years old.
Elton Strauss, Former Chief Ortho Trauma at Mount Sinai, Dies
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In addition to his wife Karen Strauss, son Eric Strauss and daughter Elisa Strauss, Dr. Strauss is survived by his mother, Shirley Strauss, of Brooklyn; sister, Bonnie Strauss Carroll of Montclair, New Jersey; and four grandchildren.
Born April 24, 1948, in Brooklyn, Elton Strauss earned his bachelor of science in biology from Long Island University C.W. Post in 1970, and graduated from medical school at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico in 1974. He completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
His obituary reads, “He would often see nearly 100 patients on a Tuesday and Thursday, operate the rest of the week, and do follow-up rounds early Saturday morning,” said Eric Strauss, 44, of Brooklyn. “My sister and I would tag along occasionally. We saw a man who had great compassion in the room with the families and patients, and wasn’t above giving people a strongly worded pep talk.”
In a letter recommending Dr. Strauss for the Jacobi Medallion, Darwin Chen, M.D. of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai noted, “Elton was always the attending surgeon you could count on to do the right thing for the patient, regardless of the time of day, insurance status, or social standing. He set the standard for us not only on how to behave as orthopaedic surgeons, but also how to act as human beings.”
Michael Hausman, M.D., Lippmann Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Mount Sinai, added, “Elton has never, ever shirked from a challenge or a risk. He has always ‘been there’ for the house staff and for his patients. He has tackled unfashionable challenges, such as the orthopedic clinic, and made them work for the residents and patients alike. In the case of Sinai, the resident clinic, usually the unacknowledged orphan of education, was transformed under Dr. Strauss’ aegis into a popular and outstanding component of our residency that makes Sinai’s program unique and desirable. The system he helped organize has become a model for a number of programs across the nation.”
At Dr. Strauss’ request, the song “We Are the Champions” by Queen was played at his private family service held July 16, 2017.
Mount Sinai Health System held a memorial service in memory of Dr. Strauss on Wednesday, August 9, 2017.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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