The Abramowitz Legacy.

The retrospective on the life and career of Paul W. Abramowitz included in this issue of AJHP offers the assessment that he has left ASHP “. . . strong, highly respected, financially sound, and ready to continue its mission of service to ASHP’s members and their patients. . . .” That record alone should command our gratitude and would be a sufficient capstone for any career. However, Dr. Abramowitz’s accomplishments encompass more than his tenure as the ASHP chief executive officer. To get a full sense of Paul’s professional contributions, we need to examine the totality of the programs he established and led in health systems over the course of his career, his volunteerism, and the lives he touched. Many of Paul’s accomplishments, which are succinctly documented in this issue, have been described previously on the pages of this journal. Those programs improved the lives and health outcomes of countless numbers of patients who received their care in the organizations —the University of Chicago Hospitals, the University of Minesota Hospitals and Clinics, the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University), and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics—where Paul practiced and led.