ACOG Mourns Passing of Cornelius O. “Skip” Granai III, MD, FACOG

ACOG continues to mourn the passing of Cornelius O. “Skip” Granai III, MD, FACOG, who passed peacefully at home on June 28, 2020, surrounded by his loved ones. I dedicate this Presidential blog to my good friend and the legacy he leaves.

Dr. Granai was a poet, humanitarian, leader, and friend. His achievements are numerous. He founded the Program in Women’s Oncology at the Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, where he was part of the hospital’s family for more than 30 years. He was a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He developed a leading innovative and patient-centered program that emphasized the importance of the arts and the heart in equal parts with medical knowledge in the practice of medicine. 

During times like these, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and issues of systemic racism and discrimination are centered in the national spotlight, it’s critical to keep the heart of Dr. Granai’s work in mind. Dr. Granai’s compassion was at the core of his patient-centered initiatives; his focus on services for patients who are fighting cancer and their caregivers and families in addition to treatment and protocol earned him the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award in 2016. Now more than ever, we must remember that patients are at the heart of everything we do, and that the ways in which we treat our patients aren’t strictly medical: since the impact of our work extends well beyond the exam room, our considerations must go further, too. Dr. Granai exemplified this principle throughout the entirety of his career as he strove to care for his patients to the best of his ability. 

Dr. Granai was a good friend of mine. He reminded us what humanity means and was a frontrunner on avoidance of burnout. He was a superb educator. In memory of Dr. Granai’s spirit and legacy, I challenge all of us to extend compassion to your friends, your family, your patients, and yourself today and every day. We can honor him by doing our best to embody the essence of his work in our own.

Dr. Granai leaves behind a legacy of compassion, conviction, and caring. Read his full obituary for more.