Obituary: William I. Cohen / Compassionate doctor began Down Syndrome Center at UPMC Children's
Share with others:
Dr. William I. Cohen spent 19 years heading the Down Syndrome Center of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, creating a loving, family-centered environment where parents with developmentally disabled children found unexpected reassurance.
He had titles as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and professor of pediatrics and psychiatry, but his personal touch meant far more. Most of the 2,000 families who have visited the center since its creation in 1989 spent hours with Dr. Cohen.
After a visit to the center's office on Fifth Avenue near Children's Hospital, they appreciated him as not just a skilled doctor, but a compassionate listener who helped parents see a positive future caring for a child with Down syndrome.
"He treated me with such care at a time of life when you just don't know what you're in for," said Michelle Zeff of Greenfield, mother of a 1-year-old son who has been a patient. "There's a lot of explanation, a lot of time, a lot of care, a lot of love ... from the minute he came in with his big smile and his handshake that turned into a big hug."
Dr. Cohen had been a passionate in-line skater for years, as part of a vigorous lifestyle that also included rowing, singing, cooking and theater-going at age 62. But on the first day of a vacation to Miami, Fla., on Friday, he collapsed while skating with others. He died instantly of a heart attack.
The death of the South Side resident -- he loved the neighborhood so much his Honda bore a vanity license plate lettered "S SIDE" -- stunned colleagues, his families and people far beyond Pittsburgh who knew of his work here with Down syndrome patients.
"The world will continue to change positively because of Dr. Cohen's lasting impressions," said a statement from the National Down Syndrome Society, with which he worked. It noted "his earnest belief that all people with Down syndrome deserve the best from their medical providers and society, at large."
His work with the special needs population wasn't anything Dr. Cohen initially planned. He had bachelor's and master's degrees in Russian linguistics and literature, respectively, before entering medical school at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He arrived in Pittsburgh in the late 1970s for an internship, residency and fellowship at Children's Hospital and never left.
Before becoming director of the Down Syndrome Center, Dr. Cohen worked in family therapy. Throughout his career, he treated children with attention deficits, autism, other disorders and life-threatening diseases. He used "Sesame Street" puppets -- including any of about 20 Grovers -- plus hypnosis and other innovative techniques to put young people at ease.
On the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he led training of aspiring doctors in how to communicate effectively with their patients. Colleagues saw the same warm sensitivity that he offered to parents and children.
"He was all about expertise, which all physicians are, but he was really very connected with the heart of medicine," said Dr. Dena Hofkosh, the pediatric residency program director at UPMC Children's.
Dr. Cohen took over the Down Syndrome Center a year after a group of local parents in need of help and services helped fund its creation. Its work and his philosophy became a model for other centers that subsequently developed around the country. He co-founded the Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group, a network for clinicians and researchers around the world to communicate with one another easily for the first time.
Dr. Brian Skotko, a Children's Hospital Boston physician who is chairman of the clinical advisory board of the National Down Syndrome Society, said Dr. Cohen established the guidelines now used by other doctors on what symptoms to look for among children with the diagnosis as they age. They also learned from him how to set up a comprehensive program covering the broad physical, mental and emotional issues that the youngsters and their families face.
Dr. Cohen himself went through a dramatic personal evolution. He married when young and had two children before recognizing his homosexuality. He was open as a gay man at UPMC and Pitt, and mentored numerous young and aspiring physicians who had their own concerns about their sexual orientation while joining the profession.
He lived with his partner, Donald Arnheim, and they had planned to exchange vows at Rodef Shalom Temple this July. Mr. Arnheim and others noted the irony in Dr. Cohen dying while skating. He had become a fitness zealot relatively late in life, dropping about 50 pounds years ago, and joined members of the Pittsburgh Inline Skating Club on their rolls through different neighborhoods four times a week.
"He had a life of passions," Mr. Arnheim said.
In addition to Mr. Arnheim, he is survived by his mother, Ethel Cohen, of Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; a daughter, Sarah Cohen, of Los Angeles; a son, Benjamin Cohen, of Washington, D.C.; and a brother, Alan Cohen, of Hoboken, N.J.
Friends will be received from 1:30 p.m. today in the Aaron Courtyard of Rodem Shalom Temple, 4905 Fifth Ave., Oakland, until the start of a 3 p.m. service in the temple sanctuary. A graveside service will be held for family and friends at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom.
An additional memorial service will be held Sunday at Temple Israel in Northern Westchester, N.Y.
Memorial donations may be made to Down syndrome causes at either www.ndss.org, www.dsrtf.org or www.dsapgh.org.
Arrangements are by the Burton L. Hirsch Funeral Home.
First Published February 10, 2009 12:00 am
