22 Oct Sommer Gripper, MD: A 2025 Unsung Hero

Overnights in the emergency department can be challenging for many reasons. For greater than ten years, Dr Sommer Gripper has been undeterred in delivering quality care to the patients of the Bronx as a nocturnist. She enters each shift with great alacrity, physically rounding on all her sign outs and then efficiently evaluating any patients waiting to be seen. This exuberant vigor has a ripple effect through the clinical staff, positively increasing overall team morale and propelling everyone to elevate the level of care rendered.  She has been a teacher and mentor to learners at all levels including pre-medical students, medical students, physician assistant students, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and emergency medicine residents.

In 2020, Dr Gripper became the Chief Nocturnist for our emergency department, bringing her indefatigable energy into an administrative role. As Chief Nocturnist at one of the nation’s busiest emergency departments, she exemplifies tenacity, compassion, and strategic acumen in leading a diverse and dynamic team. Her leadership embodies the medical center’s mission to heal, to teach, to discover and to advance the health of the communities we serve.

Recipient Bio:
Dr Sommer Gripper is the chief nocturnist at the Weiler/Einstein Emergency Department of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr Gripper received her medical degree from East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine. She went on to complete her residency in Emergency Medicine at John Hopkins Hospital Baltimore, MD, where she was a chief resident. Dr. Sommer Gripper is a radiant force within our Bronx Community, whose dedication and brilliance continue to inspire and uplift all those se serves.

– Deborah White, MD