Tribute to George

The entire department of Pediatrics At Elmhurst sends
It’s sympathies and thoughts of compassion to George’s
Family. We are saddened by this loss. We had the great pleasure to get
To know George when he visited our hospital and gave us a brilliant lecture. His enthusiasm, energy and positivity was
Greatly appreciated and we had looked
Forward to working more
Closely with him. Our residents who worked with him in the PICU at Sinai all raved about his teaching and clinical acumen. He
Will be greatly missed.

I met Roxy (George’s nickname) through my best friend Dr Rosemary Orleans-Ansah. He had a clam and kind nature. I fondly remember my doctor friends treating me to dinner at one of the top restaurants in Kumasi at the time when I visited.
Dear Roxy, I was saddened to hear that before we could arrange to sit down to dinner again, you have moved on to enjoy your heavenly banquet.
May your kind and gentle soul rest in peace. 🙏🏾

I will always appreciate and have gratitude for my dear friend and mentor for the past 27 years. As I always called him (an honorary Dominican) Jorge, I was fortunate to have known him both on a personal level and a professional level.
On a professional level, during the start of his career, as part of our staff, he was always helpful to the nurses and compassionate to the patients during the HIV Clinical Trials in the late 90s. He would give up vacation time to volunteer as a camp counselor at the HIV summer camp. He also provided me with the encouragement, guidance, and support I needed to become a pediatric nurse practitioner.
On a personal level, he gave me the confidence to drive all over the country. He always showed my parents, family, and friends love and respect. We were blessed with our son Francis twenty-two years ago, who reminds me so much of him. Whenever I reached for the phone to call him to discuss our son, my heart breaks when I remember I could no longer.
Jorge, many will remember you for your great smile, but I will never forget you for your “healing hands.” You left this world a better place than you found it. You may be gone, but you will remain forever in our hearts. May you rest in eternal peace.
Lourdes M Rodriguez, MSN, APRN, CPNP

On behalf of the Division of Neonatology and our neonatal intensive care services at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) – Albert Einstein College of Medicine, we send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and loved ones of Dr. George Ofori-Amanfo. We were privileged and honored to know and work with George during his time at CHAM when he served as Chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care. Dr. Ofori-Amanfo was a master clinician and educator and a truly gentle, kind man who cherished his patients and his colleagues. He was a staunch advocate for all children and their right to equity and health justice.

In addition to his neonatal colleagues who held George in high regard, our Weiler NICU has several staff members from Ghana who were overjoyed and so very proud of Dr. Ofori-Amanfo and all that he achieved, contributed and represented.

May Dr. George Ofori-Amanfo rest in peace and love, and may his memory be a blessing to all.

I am deeply saddened by the loss of George Ofori-Amanfo. I had the privilege of training in Pediatrics alongside George at Columbia over 20 years ago. He was an incredibly special human; the quintessential doctor; with a smile that seemed able to fix all that is broken and gain trust from just about anyone.

I am heartbroken that he may not have known the profound impact he has had on me. I was comforted in hearing the stories shared by friends and family at the memorial service. While each story may have contained different characters, settings, plots, and resolutions, I was immediately struck by the consistency in the theme and message gleaned from in each remembrance shared, and knew immediately that he touched so many in exactly the same way he touched me. His impact seemed universal to everyone lucky enough to have shared even a sliver of his life.

George showed me the importance of patience and mindfulness in both medicine and in life. I recall one specific story that has stuck with me all these years; an anecdote about George and me in the NICU, that I tell all the time, in which his thoughtful, meaningful approach made all the difference.

I wish I could say he “taught” me patience; I have yet to master this skill and struggle with it every day. On the bright side, since I remain a work in progress, I often find myself rushing through my “to do” lists, checking off boxes, and then smiling while I think of George, see his face in my mind’s eye, and hear his voice telling me to slow down.

While George was many things to many people; physician, mentor, colleague, husband, father, and friend, he was a teacher to us all and his kindness, empathy, mindfulness, and patience will not be lost nor forgotten. He will continue to live through all blessed with knowing him, and I am grateful to have been touched and bettered by his kind, gentle, and compassionate soul. My deepest and most sincere condolences to his family and closest friends.

Tribute to Dr George Ofori-Amanfo (aka Roxy, Zibello)

A friend and cherished colleague

“Grief is like glitter. You can throw a handful of glitter up in the air, but when you try to clean it up, you’ll never get it all. Even long after the event, you will still find glitter tucked into corners… it will always be there. Somewhere.” @Irish_Cuchulainn

In September 1982, a group of medical students started the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. We spent 7 long years together, through difficult times and through very happy times. Seven long years, forming bonds that could never be broken. We graduated in 1989 and went our separate ways.

Amongst our ranks was Dr. George Ofori-Amanfo, whom we called Roxy, Zibello. I don’t know where the name came from but it was the name of this one young man. One very bright, vivacious and engaging young man. Roxy was intelligent, focused and full of life, very jovial and playful. He was a sportsman, always ready to be part of the SMS Team. He always seemed to have answers. Answers to the school work we had, answers to the questions of life, answers to everything. No matter the question you had, Roxy had an answer. Now, we ask why? what happened? why did we not know? could we have helped? And we hear no answer come from Roxy.

Roxy was a great colleague, a man of all, always smiling, always scheming, always helping us to forge the way ahead. With school work, he was brilliant – he would help you with biochemistry, pathology, anatomy, you name it! He would help you make coffee so thick, you had to hold your nose to drink it – just so you could stay awake at night and study. Roxy was kind, even after our school days he continued to help and support whenever you reached out to him. Roxy gave up his New York flat so his class mate had a place to stay when she most needed it. Roxy gave the solution on how to re boil hot water so that your tea tasted just right.

On the work front Roxy, loved his work! He excelled and held several esteemed positions in the USA – in New York, Philadelphia and North Carolina. He became a Professor and Division Chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. Roxy was a compassionate and very thoughtful person. This was most evident in the efforts he made to bring his field of expertise back to his homeland, Ghana and to other developing countries. He organized several medical missions back to Ghana to provide critically needed services in his alma mater, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. He also held virtual workshops to support Paediatric Intensive Care Units in Ghana. His work no doubt having a positive and lasting impact on many lives.

Roxy was a colleague, a friend and an inspiration. Roxy, we the SMS 1989-Year Group will never forget you. Roxy, Zibello, you have completed your work on earth, you did a great job and we salute you! Roxy, Zibello, may the good Lord grant you eternal rest.
Roxy, Da Yie. Ayekoo!!