Leadership

Peter A Grisafi has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Damian Family Care Centers, Inc. since October 2013. Mr. Grisafi was a founding board member of Damian when it started in 1999. He also served on the finance committee during his tenure on the board. Mr. Grisafi has an extensive experience with substance abuse treatment and healthcare organizations. From his days working as an auditor and then manager in a CPA firm that had numerous audit clients in the substance abuse and healthcare fields he developed a true understanding and respect for the services these organizations provide day in and day out. In 1988 Mr. Grisafi became Director of Finance of Samaritan Village, Inc. one of the largest substance abuse providers in the nation. He became Sr. Vice President of Finance and Administration, Chief Financial Officer in 1993 and served in that capacity until 2007. As CFO, Mr. Grisafi led Samaritan to becoming one of the most financially solid organizations in the substance abuse treatment field.

In 2007, Mr. Grisafi became Sr. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at The Institute of Family Health, a national leader in healthcare and one of the most complex Federally Qualified Health Centers, in the United States. Mr. Grisafi was hired to stabilize The Institute’s various departments in its recent growth. Doubling in size, and expanding from NYC to the Hudson Valley, Mr. Grisafi was responsible for maintaining the stability and fine reputation of support systems The Institute was known for. Mr. Grisafi also led a team through a $30 Million project that secured New Market Tax Credits and grants to build a 35,000 sq. ft., state of the art health care facility in Harlem, NY.

As the CEO of Damian Family Care Centers, Inc. Mr. Grisafi has lead the organization to incredible growth and financial stability. Damian tripled in size in the first three years Mr. Grisafi took over leadership. This growth comes not only from Damian’s reputation of providing quality health care to individuals in substance abuse treatment, but also to the general communities in which Damian has its health centers. This includes a 30,000 sq. ft. health center in the South Bronx that brought comprehensive quality health care to adults and children in a medically underserved community. In addition, quality care initiatives have increased every year from an already impressive performance level under his guidance. Mr. Grisafi also served a Board of Education board member for 16 years, 4 years as President, for the Herricks Union Free School District located on Long Island, NY.

Dr. Gilbert Ross has been a practicing physician since 1973.  He was trained at NYU-Bellevue, Jabobi and Montefiore Hospitals in the 1970s after graduating from NYU School of Medicine in 1972.  He is Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, and practiced on Long Island over the next 25 years. He left medical practice to become the medical director of a public health non-profit in New York City until 2016, and joined the Damian Family Care Centers in 2017. He became the Chief Medical Officer of Damian in March of 2019, and has been both a practicing physician and administrator since then, working at the Headquarters in Jamaica, as well as several of the DFCC clinical sites. He is a New Yorker, born and raised, and currently resides on the Upper East Side. 

Philip Gunraj joined the Damian team in March of 2023, he has more than 23 years of experience in the not-for-profit healthcare and FQHC world. Prior to joining Damian, Mr. Gunraj worked at one of the largest FQHC in the country, he has a bachelor’s degree and an MBA with a finance concentration. Philip is a powerful force in the workplace and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Philip is an experienced finance leader who uses a proactive approach and leverages the power of technology to make informed decisions. Philip is inspired by his wife and three kids. His ultimate goal is to ensure that Damian remains financially stable and continues to grow and maintain its mission to serve our communities.

Sadia Choudhury is responsible for leading vision, strategy and implementation of Corporate Compliance, Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement, Patient Safety, Risk Management and Regulatory/Accreditation activities for the entire Damian network of 14 Federally Qualified Health Centers. As the head of the Corporate Compliance and Quality department, Ms. Choudhury has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring the organization is adhering to all federal, and state laws and regulations, evidence based quality standards and as well as with Damian’s internal Corporate Compliance Program.