On June 16, the recently acquired St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Fresh Meadows, Queens, was renamed the Dr. Andrew J. Bartilluci Center, in honor of the Dean Emeritus of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Studies at St. John’s University.

Dr. Bartilluci, who attended St. John’s as an undergraduate student, served in the Navy during Word War II before getting his Masters degree and Ph.D. Besides his 34-year career as a professor and dean at St. John’s Bartilluci also was a member of the New York State Board of Pharmacy and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

The current dean of the school, Dr. Robert Mangione, spoke of his colleague at the ceremony. According to a University press release, he said, “As we all know its [St. John’s] core values are truth, love, respect, opportunity, excellence and service.” He went on to note, “And, as we also know, these core values are exemplified by Dr. Andrew J. Bartilluci.”

Bartilluci, who also spoke at the ceremony, said that he was “grateful to God for the satisfying direction my professional life has taken, it being memorialized in this stone and brick edifice.” He explained, “Who would have thought when I was asked to join St. John’s University that it would culminate in this.”

The new Bartilluci Center, located at 175-05 Horace Harding Expressway, will offer a variety of programs, including a four-year Physician’s Assistant degree, a four-year Medical Technology degree, and a four-year Pathologist Assistant degree. All students enrolled in these degree programs must first spend at least two years at St. John’s Queens campus before obtaining the rest of their education from the Bartilluci Center, as well as other hospitals that are affiliated with it.