Friends, family celebrate retirement of Dr. Somnath Naik
Dec. 2—LUMBERTON — Family, friends and colleagues of Pulmonology and Sleep specialist Dr. Somnath Naik gathered Nov. 22 in the UNC Health Southeastern cafeteria for a long-awaited retirement celebration originally scheduled for 2020 but postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNC Health Southeastern Vice President/Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joe Roberts presented Naik with a crystal tower engraved with his years of service to the medical staff, 1982-2019, as a gift from the UNC Health Southeastern board of trustees. Roberts, along with Naik's children, also unveiled a portrait of Naik that is now displayed in the medical center's main corridor as a gift from the UNC Health Southeastern Medical Staff.
"We are thrilled to be able to celebrate with Dr. Naik and his family tonight," said Dr. Roberts. "He was an outstanding physician who was known for his kind demeanor and thoroughness in the care he provided to patients in both the hospital and clinic settings."
A native of India, Naik earned a medical degree from G.S. Medical College in Mumbai, India, in 1976. He completed residencies at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Long Island, N.Y., in 1978 and Catholic Medical Center in Jamaica, N.Y., in 1980. He also completed a pulmonary diseases fellowship at Veterans Administration Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1982. That same year, he moved to Lumberton and joined the UNC Health Southeastern medical staff. Naik is certified in internal medicine, sleep medicine and pulmonary disease. He is also a Fellow of the College of Chest Physicians.
