March 04, 2020
In Memoriam: Fay A. Rozovsky, J.D. ’73, ’08Hon.; former alumni president, renowned health care consultant
Fay A. (Frank) Rozovsky, J.D. ’73, ’08Hon., former president of the Providence College National Alumni Association Council and a health care risk management consultant recognized for her advocacy for patient rights, died on March 4, 2020, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Mrs. Rozovsky, who grew up in Cranston and Pawtucket, R.I., arrived at PC in 1971 as one of the first women to attend the college as a full-time day student. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, graduating summa cum laude, then attained a law degree from Boston College Law School and, later, a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University.
With the support of her husband, the late Lorne E. Rozovsky, she built a law career that focused on the rights of medical patients. Mrs. Rozovsky provided guidance not only to patients and medical professionals, but to colleagues in the field of law as well.
She wrote or co-wrote more than 20 books and approximately 600 articles. Several of her books — including Consent to Treatment: A Practical Guide, which she updated four times — were cited by the Supreme Court in the United States and in Canada, and in legal journals and academic publications. Even up to the time of her passing, Mrs. Rozovsky remained president of The Rozovsky Group, a consulting business that provides guidance to health care professionals on issues of patient safety and consent.
Outside of her professional responsibilities, Mrs. Rozovsky was a devoted lifelong fan of the New York Yankees, a passion fueled by her father, who grew up in the Bronx. Her dream of being “called up” by the Yankees was fulfilled in 2015 when she took part in the team’s three-day fantasy camp for women in Tampa, Fla. She left the experience with a personalized, official Yankees uniform and a baseball card detailing her Yankees exploits.
Less than two months before she died, she was “knocked out” by a phone call from New York’s general manager, Brian Cashman, who invited her back to the camp or to visit Yankee Stadium.
As a well-known legal mind, law teacher, advocate, and author, Mrs. Rozovsky traveled all over North America. She taught at Dalhousie schools of medicine and law and at Mount St. Vincent University, all in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in Virginia at the College of William & Mary law school and the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University.
A distinguished fellow of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, she received awards for exceptional service and lifetime achievement in that field from the society, which she served as president.
Mrs. Rozovsky still found plenty of time to give back to PC. From 2009-2012, she served on the NAA Board of Governors (now the NAA Council), holding the post of vice president from 2009-2010 and then as president for two years.
That position overlapped with her membership on the College’s Health Policy Management Advisory Council, a group she served from 2011-2014. Mrs. Rozovsky, whose parents established the Fay A. Rozovsky Scholarship Fund at PC in her name, was honored by her alma mater with the awarding of an honorary doctor of public health degree in 2008.
Mrs. Rozovsky is survived by two sons, Joshua I. Rozovsky ’06SCE and Rabbi Aaron A. Rozovsky ’08 and his wife, Eliza, and a sister, Dr. Ann Frank Goldstein ’75, and her husband, Gerald.
Her funeral was held on March 20 at Temple Beth-El, Providence. Burial was in Lincoln Park Cemetery, Warwick.
Contributions in her name may be made to the Fay A. Rozovsky Scholarship Fund or the Jewish-Catholic Theological Exchange, in care of Providence College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 1 Cunningham Square, Harkins Hall 412, Providence, RI 02918-0001, or to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
