Lillian Vitanza Ney, MD '64

Lillian Vitanza Ney, MD '64

Dr. Lillian Vitanza Ney is a retired Cardiologist and former Medical Director and Vice-President of WCA Hospital. She also was the coordinator of Jamestown Area Medical Association, and was an interim acting Medical Director of Heritage Park Health Care Center. She also stepped in to serve a short term as Acting County Health Commissioner for the Chautauqua County Health Department in 1975.

Ney was appointed to the Board of Health in 2014 and served as President in 2022-2023. During her tenure, she enthusiastically supported the Board’s purpose to promulgate, adopt, and publish rules, regulations, orders and directives for the security of life and health in Chautauqua County. Notably on May 17, 2016, Chautauqua County became the first county in New York State (NYS) to increase the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, more than three years before NYS implemented the statewide Tobacco 21 Law.

In addition to serving on the Board of Health, Ney has been active on many boards and commissions within the community including the Chautauqua County Government’s County Charter and Administrative Code Review Commission, Jamestown Community College Board of Trustees, the Gebbie Foundation, Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, Jamestown City Center Development Corporation,  James Prendergast Library Association, Chautauqua Institution, American Heart Association, Family Services of Jamestown, Jamestown City Council serving a term as President, and Co-chair of Strategic Planning Commission,  City of Jamestown Health Care Action Team, Reg Lenna Civic Center, and Roger Tory Peterson Institute.  She continues to work with the Healthy Housing Coalition, Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Health Network’s Physician’s Leadership Group, and Strong Starts Chautauqua.

As a model physician, community activist, exemplary mentor for women, and great humanitarian. Her dedication to improving the quality of healthcare has had a profound impact on Jamestown, the surrounding community, and the entire Western New York region. As our 2024 Distinguished Medical Alumna, we recognize her career at the WCA Hospital and her many professional achievements, her long-standing dedication to community service, and her commitment to numerous community boards, committees, and organizations as well as to the Jacobs School.