43
Alliance names Berny as its gem of year
Photo
Mahoning County Medical Alliance and Society had a joint dinner meeting March 27 at Fellows Riverside Gardens and named Susan Berny the 2009 Gem of the Year.
The award was created in 1993 to honor an active member of the medical alliance who is equally giving to the community.
Berny served as president of the alliance in 1995, and fundraising efforts during her term brought in $11,500 for the Sojourner House Battered Women’s Shelter.
Since she founded the Survivor’s Tea and the Youngstown Coalition of the Race for the Cure in 1994, the Mahoning Valley has received $1.45 million in grants from the Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio Race for the Cure.
Berny is in her second year of a two-year term with the Youngstown Symphony Guild. During her presidency, the guild raised $65,000 for the symphony last year.
She has been a Junior League member since 1991 and serves on the board as a Sustainer Representative 2008-2009. She was Angels of Easter Seals president in 2005-2006, is a member of the board of trustees for Easter Seals and is a YWCA and Community Bible Study board member.
Past volunteerism in the community includes Children’s Museum of the Valley, Hospice of the Valley, Todd Squad, Boardman PTA and Kidstown Boardman Park.
Other honors Berny has been selected for include: The BMW Ultimate Drive for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Local Hero; USA Today Local Hero; YWCA Woman of the Year in the health category; and Jemmy Award from the Junior League of Youngstown for volunteering for Race for the Cure.
Berny earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin and attended graduate school at YSU in the school nurse licensure program. She was a captain in the Army Nurse Corps at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for five years of active duty. In 1981, she was selected as an inaugural nurse for President Ronald Reagan.
Berny resides in Boardman and is married to James Berny M.D., chairman of the Columbia Anesthesiology Consultants. They have four daughters, Meghan, Kathleen, Colleen and Lauren.