The annual Physicians' Gold and White Ball will take place Saturday, Dec. 9, at Palms Court Harborview Hotel, with Dr. Leighmin Lu as this year's honoree.
Lu, the chief psychiatrist at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, has been on St. Thomas hospital staffs for 29 years and has been practicing psychiatry in the Virgin Islands for 38 years.
The ball will feature "music by the Seabreeze band, a silent auction, and Dr. Alfred Heath as master of ceremonies," committee member Marilyn Ayala said. Things will get under way with a cocktail sip at 7 p.m., followed by the program at 8, with dinner and dancing afterward, she said.
Sponsored by the V.I. Medical Society, the Schneider Hospital and the V.I. Medical Institute, the ball is open to the public. Tickets are $100 per person, with proceeds to benefit the Medical Society Scholarship Fund, which assists local students pursuing studies toward careers in medicine.
Dr. Frank Odlum, president of the hospital medical staff, said the sponsoring entities will be grateful for the community's support "in assisting us to raise scholarships for deserving Virgin Islands medical students."
Lu practiced at the Knud Hansen Hospital and later at St. Thomas Hospital, which was subsequently renamed the Schneider Hospital. He serves as a consultant to the V.I. Justice Department and its Bureau of Corrections. Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, he is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association and the American Geriatric Society.
To reserve and arrange for the purchase of ticketsm or to obtain further information, call Ayala at 776-8311, ext. 2317.