Meredith Vieira Hosts Hospital for Special Surgery Dinner

More than 1,000 guests attended the 29th Annual Tribute Dinner for Manhattan’s Hospital for Special Surgery. The black-tie affair at the Waldorf-Astoria raised approximately $2.6 million, an unprecedented amount in the history of HSS’s fundraisers. 
Meredith Vieira, host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and an NBC News special correspondent, served as toastmaster. Ronnie P. Barnes, senior vice president of medical services for the New York Giants, and Giants rookie running back David Wilson, joined Vieira. William C. Weldon, chairman of Johnson & Johnson, was honored at the event, and Torsten N. Wiesel, MD, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who serves on the HSS Board of Trustees, received the Distinguished Service Award. Renowned spine surgeon and former chief of spine service at HSS, Patrick F. O’Leary, MD, was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Also in attendance: celebrated sculptor Richard Serra; actor Peter Jacobson from House; actor David McCallum from NCIS; and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.