Article from the Rochester Business Journal

Health Care HEROES 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 

Dr. David Kluge 

FOUNDER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBER, STEP COUNCIL OF THE GENESEE REGION 

In his recommendation letter, Michael E. Pollack calls Dr. David Kluge "a Renaissance man." After taking a look at the man's career, it's hard not to 

come to the same conclusion. 

"(Kluge) has been an example, since his youth, of the type of citizen we all want in our society, taking on tasks to make this community a better place,' Pollack says. "He is willing to share what he has learned to make our city a community of excellence in medicine." 

Pollack sits on the board of directors of the STEP (Society for Total Emergency Programs) Council of the Genesee Region. 

STEP was Kluge's brainchild, as he wanted a regional organization that blended together doctors, nurses, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, fire, and emergency medical services (EMS). 

"He envisioned all disciplines training and working together as a team," Pollack adds. 

Kluge began his long career after receiving his medical degree from the University of Rochester in 1954. After a residency in Buffalo, he served in the Navy before returning to Rochester as a general surgeon at Genesee Hospital and as an associate professor of surgery at the UR. 

Pollack and others use the term 'Kluged' to describe the good doctor's charisma and ability to interest 

people into working on projects for him. 

"To those in the Rochester emergency medicine and EMS community, it means that Dr. Kluge saw potential in an individual and felt they could contribute to one of his projects to provide better patient care," he explains. 

"There is a long list of knowledgeable people who have been 'Kluged."" 

His example of being 'Kluged' was running into Kluge at STEP conferences over 20 years ago; eventually, the doctor convinced Pollack to contribute to a regional EMS directory that is published annually. 

"We had a copy of it in the Brighton Volunteer Ambulance dispatch office and all of our ambulances," Pollack says. "It was the directory we used to verify with patients which hospital their doctors had admitting privileges." 

The directory was so successful that Kluge partnered with the Rochester Institute of Technology College of Computer Science to create similar directories nationwide. 

"Throughout his Life, he has always been a giver, not a taker. Dr. Kluge has shared his resources to improve patient care," Pollack insists. "He will be turning 93 years young and is still an active, vibrant contributor to our organization and EMS in general."