Chief of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC)
Since 2011, Dr. Diaz has worked as an intensivist and consulting pulmonologist at RUMC, and he serves as director of the hospital’s lung screening program. He is also part of the medical leadership team overseeing multiple clinical specialists treating patients in their long-term and short-term recovery from COVID-19 at RUMC’s Post COVID-19 Care Center.
A graduate of Ross University School of Medicine and lifelong Staten Island resident, Dr. Diaz completed his residency in internal medicine on Staten Island at then-St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center. He then completed additional training in surgical critical care medicine at Mount Sinai, followed by a pulmonary/critical care fellowship at Stony Brook University Medical Center. His efforts as a teacher earned him the designation of “Attending of the Year” for the 2018-2019 academic year. In addition to his roles at RUMC, Dr. Diaz is also a medical specialist for the Fire Department of the City of New York, helping firefighters recover from 9/11-related diseases.
Dr. Diaz helped to create RUMC’s lung screening program, one of the most advanced in New York City. Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Found in their earliest stages however, 90 percent of lung cancers are curable. A lung screening involves the use of a low dose computed tomography (CT) scan, which produces cross-section images of the lungs. The patient is asked to hold their breath for five to ten seconds during which time the CT scan is able to take an X-ray of the entire chest.
In June of 2021, RUMC opened its comprehensive Post COVID-19 Care Center, which features a team of multi-disciplinary experts focused on assisting recovering COVID-19 patients with their short-term and long-term healthcare needs. Dr. Diaz has been part of the leadership team at RUMC’s Post COVID-19 Care Center since the center opened in June 2020 and was also part of the development team that designed the center and its services. The center features experts in pulmonary care, cardiology, infectious disease, psychiatry, behavioral health, physiatry, and additional areas of healthcare. Since March, Richmond University Medical Center has treated and discharged over 1,500 COVID-19 patients. Over 100 people have been cared for at the Post COVID-19 Center since its opening.
