Harold D. Bornstein Jr., MD, Gives Back Through Gift Annuities

Dr. Bornstein at work in the Winchester Chest Clinic.

Wandering through his greenhouse full of spider plants, pediatrician Harold D. Bornstein Jr., MD, shows his assembly line system for growing two species of the plants so that he usually has one of each to donate for raffle fundraising to his various favorite charities, including YNHH’s annual Hackers for Hearts. Gazing at his “babies,” he confesses, “People call me Spiderman.”

Dr. Bornstein’s commitment to YNHH, of course, goes much deeper than these plant roots. He arrived at Yale in the early 1950s for medical school and has never left. “YNHH is the hospital I was brought up in—I did my residency here, work here and I’ve been a patient here many times. All my sons were born here, too,” Dr. Bornstein proudly recounts. In addition to his private pediatrics practice, which he closed after 41 years in 1997, he has been part of the Winchester Chest Clinic, specializing in pediatric tuberculosis, for more than 50 years. At 90 years of age, he still keeps hours at the clinic twice a month. The Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine has given him a Distinguished Alumni Service Award and he served as its president from 2009 to 2011.

Dr. Bornstein and his wife, Maureen, strongly believe in the importance of giving back to the place that has been so good to them. They started by creating a scholarship fund at Yale Medical School, and the first scholarship was given three years ago. Since then they’ve developed a portfolio of charitable gift annuities. “We want to give back while we are still alive. We feel it is important so we could make our own choices and know how the money will be used. And we get an occasional free lunch!”

This year, Dr. Bornstein directed his planned giving to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, in addition to his annual gift to the Fund for Yale New Haven. He also has several gift annuities that will ultimately benefit the Saint Raphael Campus and the Grimes Center. “I’ve worked with excellent people over the years here, but as important, I’ve felt that the people were always accessible, which is not the case in most hospitals. If you have questions, you can call up and ask. It’s a world-class hospital—a wonderful center for teaching, research, and patient care,” he says.