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NEW YORK — Dr. Max Gomez, an award-winning journalist and medical reporter for CBS New York, passed away Saturday after a long illness. He was 72.
Dr. Gomez was a medical reporter and health editor for WCBS-TV from 1994-1997 before he returned as our chief medical correspondent in June 2007. He previously served as health and science editor for WNBC-TV, WNEW-TV and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.
Dr. Gomez was deeply loved and respected in our newsroom, by medical professionals he worked with, patients who shared their stories with him and our viewers. He was our in-house consultant for whatever ailed us, eager to help, genuinely concerned and never thought twice about going the extra mile.
His academic track was in health and science, but his depth of medical knowledge and easy, relatable style combined to develop his strong broadcast presence.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Gomez won multiple New York Emmy Awards, Philadelphia Emmys, a UPI honor for Best Documentary for a report on AIDS, and an Excellence in a Time of Crisis Award from the New York City Health Department after 9/11, an honor he cherished.
Dr. Gomez received national television journalism awards from The Marfan Foundation and the Leukemia Society of America for his report on two twin girls from Long Island, suffering from Leukemia, who got bone marrow transplants from their 7-year-old sister.
He was named the American Health Foundation’s Man of the Year and was a NASA Journalist In Space semifinalist in 1986.
There was always great depth to Dr. Gomez’s medical reporting, but never more so than when he candidly shared a number of his own medical challenges with his TV family. He was also a steady voice of reason during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to his medical reports, Dr. Gomez had varied career interests, including co-authoring three health and science books, and working with numerous advisory boards that found him crossing paths with presidents and popes.
Dr. Gomez served on the national board of directors for the American Heart Association, the Princeton Alumni Weekly and the Partnership for Afterschool Education. He also mentored undergraduate journalism and medical students and physicians interested in medical journalism.
Dr. Gomez was born in Cuba before moving with his family to Miami. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University, earned a Ph.D. from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University.
He could converse on anything – sports, travel, current events, the mundane or esoteric. He was a friend, trusted advisor and confidant to us all. It seemed like there wasn’t anything he didn’t know or hadn’t experienced himself.
Dr. Gomez is survived by his children Max Gomez IV and Katie Gomez.
