Leader is expert in long-term care for people with memory disorders and medical education in memory care and geriatrics

(WILMINGTON, Del. – February 26, 2024)

Steven Huege, M.D., MSEd, has been named The Swank Foundation Endowed Chair in Memory Care and Geriatrics at ChristianaCare. The chair is made possible by a $2.5 million gift from the Swank Foundation which is dedicated to transforming care for people with memory issues.

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“Dr. Huege is a leader in geriatric psychiatry who has committed his career to expert, compassionate care for individuals with memory care disorders and advancing the field of geriatrics,” said Bradley Sandella, D.O., clinical director of medical subspecialities. “His stewardship will strengthen the Swank Center for Memory Care and Geriatric Consultation in its support of the growing number of people who are coping with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders and those who love them.”

Huege will lead ChristianaCare’s Swank Center for Memory Care and Geriatric Consultation, a unique resource in Delaware and the region for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders, founded in 2011 with a $1.25 million grant from the Howard W. Swank, Alma K. Swank and Richard Kemper Swank Foundation. At the Swank Memory Care Center, a team that includes geriatricians, nurses, social workers and others, the staff works with patients and families to provide support, education and guidance from diagnosis through treatment.

The need for expert memory care has never been greater. The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to top 82 million in 2050 — an increase of 47% from 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means millions more Americans will likely need access to memory disorder treatment and resources in the coming decades.

Huege joins ChristianaCare from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, most recently as clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry. His administrative appointments included interim associate vice chair of continuing medical education.

At UC San Diego, Huege was also program director for the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program, director of wellness for graduate medical education, and chair of the Health Physician Well-being Committee. He served as a staff psychiatrist in the Department of Behavioral Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego, California.

Huege earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, completed his residency in psychiatry at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and took his clinical fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a master’s degree in medical education from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. He is board certified in psychiatry with added qualifications in geriatric psychiatry.

His research has focused on long-term care for people with memory disorders and the education of medical professionals about memory care and geriatric mental health.

Among his many honors, in 2022 Huege was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and is its secretary/treasurer-elect.

About the Swank Center for Memory Care and Geriatric Consultation
The Swank Center for Memory Care and Geriatric Consultation at ChristianaCare is Delaware’s first and most comprehensive outpatient service for patients with memory disorders and their families. The Swank Center for Memory Care and Geriatric Consultation offers these patients and their families essential support, education and guidance from diagnosis through treatment. A multidisciplinary team includes a psychiatrist, neurologist, social worker and community educator working in collaboration with primary care clinicians and other specialists for continuity of care.

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About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,430 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as the 2nd best health system for diversity and inclusion, and the 29th best health system to work for in the United States, and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.

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