Lourdes Health Foundation has chosen Emmanuel Frederick Ashong, MD, MPH, FAAP, as one of two recipients of its 2016 Healing Spirit Award.
The annual award honors a Lourdes physician for his or her compassion, dedication to patients and years of service. Ashong is the director of medical education and medical director of the Osborn Family Health Center at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical
“It means the world to me to win this award,” Ashong said. “The award comes at a personal time. There has been illness in my family, and I’m grateful to say now there is healing. We are healing as a family. And now I’m being recognized for helping my patients heal. The timing is everything. I am really touched.”
A Voorhees resident, Ashong joined Lourdes in 1991. Prior to that, Ashong worked as a pediatrician at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY as well as in the Middle East.
Ashong has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the honorable 2010 March of Dimes’ Born to Shine award, which recognizes top physicians in the fields of maternal and child health. Ashong has also been the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine) Graduate Medical Education Award, its Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching and Teacher of the Year Award.
Board-certified in Pediatrics, Ashong is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University, with a concentration in maternal and child health.
He graduated with distinction from the University of Ghana Medical School and completed his residencies at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana and Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He also completed a clinical fellowship in ambulatory care pediatrics at Kings County Hospital.
Throughout his career, Ashong has actively served his community and hospital. Ashong chairs Lourdes’ CME Committee, Member of the Board Quality Committee, and is past chair of the Infection Control Committee.
He is vice chair of the Committee on Medical Education for the Medical Society of New Jersey and a consultant on CME for the Board of the Institute of Medicine and Public Health of New Jersey. He is a member of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s (now Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine) OPTI Executive and Medical Education committees.