Last Updated on September 4, 2023, 6:28 am
Dr. Max, an Award-winning medical reporter for CBS News, passed away at 72, losing a battle to an illness.
Dr. Max Gomez, known as Dr. Max, was a medical reporter and health editor on WCBS-TV from 1994 to 1997 in New York City. He returned to the channel as Chief Medical Correspondent in June 2007. Dr. Max conducted the Health, Science, and Medicine segments on the 5 pm News. He had also worked on WNBC-TV and WNEW-TV in New York and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.
Who was DR. Max?
He was born in Havana, Cuba, on the 7th of July 1951. He moved to the United States with his family, where he graduated cum Lauda from Princeton University in 1973. He gained a Ph.D. from the Wake Forest School of Medicine in 1978. He was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at New York’s Rockefeller University from 1978 to 1980.
He had a strong broadcast presence. His academic career was in health and science, and he had a remarkable knowledge of medicine that he communicated to millions of viewers efficiently and relatablely. Dr. Max was a natural, extremely caring and considerate.
His Achievements and Accolades.
Dr. Max has won multiple awards throughout his career, including the New York Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards in Philadelphia, the UPI honor for Best Documentary for a Report on AIDs, and an Excellence in a Time of Crisis Award from the New York City Health Department honoring his serveries post 9/11. He made a remarkable contribution to the community with his limitless medical knowledge and empathy during crucial times of COVID-19.
He won national television journalism Awards from The Marfan Foundation and the Leukemia Society of America for reporting on twin girls with leukemia who received bone marrow transplants from their seven-year-old sister.
His viewers loved him, but he touched everyone’s heart when sharing his medical struggles. He co-authored three health and science books, “Cells are the New Cure,” “The Healing Cell,” and “the Prostate Health Program”.
He served on the national board of directors for the American Heart Association, the Partnership for Afterschool Education, and the Princeton Alumni Weekly. He mentored undergraduate journalism and medical students and physicians interested in medical journalism.
Tributes and respects
Everyone loved Dr. Max. His colleagues had nothing but love and immense respect for Dr. Max. His eternal withdrawal from the world left a massive void in everyone who had the privilege to know and work with him and his family members, who will forever feel his absence.
The CBS2-TV station paid tribute to the deceased reporter.
“Dr. Gomez was deeply loved and respected in our newsroom, by medical professionals he worked with, patients who shared their stories with him and our viewers,” “He was our in-house consultant for whatever ailed us, eager to help, genuinely concerned and never thought twice about going the extra mile.”
The Anchor Criss Wragge paid his tribute to the beloved doctor by saying,
“He was one of the signature pieces of this place as I like to call him, Certain places have foundational pieces – Dr. Max was just one of those guys that every time you saw him you immediately identified him not only as Dr. Max but CBS 2’s Dr. Max.”
“Max had a way of connecting, to us one-on-one on the set, to the viewer right through that camera lens. He wasn’t speaking medical overall-head mumbo-jumbo stuff, he was speaking to us as human-beings, to our hearts,” another said.
Anchor Kristine Johnson said, “He was in tune with the viewer, in this business, you have to have a connection. If there’s no connection, then there’s no message. Dr. Max mastered that.”
Tony Aiello wrote on his social media,
“ His intelligence, exceeded only by his caring heart. A fount of wisdom during pandemic for viewers and the CBS2 staff. Always on call to help when our loved ones faced health challenges. Maxima, may perpetual light and eternal rest be your reward.”
He left behind his legacy and two children, Max Gomez IV and Katie Gomez.
Dr. Max Gomez was a good man. He was a friend to those he communicated from a TV, though close or millions of miles away, and a family to those who knew him and worked with him over the years. May he rest in peace.
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