Doctor lived for family, patients
ABQ man died in I-25 pileup
SANTA FE — Friends and family of a New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute psychiatrist who died in an Interstate pileup Monday evening describe the man as constantly dedicated to his patients.
Dr. Nathaniel “Nat” Hurwitz, 52, of Albuquerque split time between a home there and one in Las Vegas, N.M. near the hospital, said his daughter, 21-year-old Ariel Hurwitz. He also had a wife of nearly 20 years, Ivy, and an 18-year-old daughter Leah.
Hurwitz was headed back to Las Vegas at the time of the crashes that involved 20 vehicles, including three semitrailer rigs, and killed one other person, from California. Ice had formed on the interstate from snow and freezing fog.
Hurwitz, who taught psychiatry at Yale University before moving to Albuquerque about a decade ago, would work MondayThursday in Las Vegas and spend weekends with his family. He was driving to Las Vegas on Monday evening because he’d had Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off.
Ariel said her father’s work schedule always varied based on what a patient required. This could sometimes mean 12-to-14-hour days. “He was always conscientious about patient needs,” she said.
John Sanchez, a close friend who previously
worked with him at Central New Mexico Correctional Facility’s Mental Health Treatment Center at Los Lunas, said Hurwitz was always driven to take care of people the best he could and was well-liked by all.
“He was the kind of guy that people’s eyes cheered up when people talked about him,” said Sanchez.
But he could turn off his professional side outside of work, said Sanchez, describing Hurwitz as a “wild and crazy” personality.
Ariel also said her dad was an “easygoing” jokester with an affinity for music and sports like wrestling and martial arts. He sang, played multiple instruments like piano, guitar, bass and drums and built a home studio where he recorded original songs. “He was planning to have an EP out at the end of the year,” she said.
A GoFundMe page for the Hurwitz family at gofundme.com/ dr-nathaniel-hurwitz-memorial was created Wednesday had raised nearly $13,600, exceeding its $10,000 goal, by Thursday afternoon.