Peter Klein has spent his career helping people figure out what to do with their money. On Aug. 3, a Suffolk County healthcare nonprofit will honor him for what he’s done with it.
Long Island Select Healthcare, known as LISH Care, will recognize Klein, a Huntington resident and president of the Claire Friedlander Family Foundation, at its annual golf tournament at Nissequogue Golf Club in Nissequogue. The event marks a milestone year for the organization, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
LISH Care isn’t a typical community health center, and that distinction matters. More than 60% of its 8,500-plus patients have developmental disabilities, autism, or special needs. That population has historically struggled to find doctors, dentists, and specialists who can adapt their methods and communicate effectively with patients who may not respond to a standard clinical approach.
“For many individuals with disabilities and their families, routine medical care has been anything but routine,” CEO Aaron Clark told Long Island Press. “Finding providers with the training, patience and clinical environment to deliver effective care has been an ongoing challenge.”
The organization logged roughly 74,500 patient visits in 2026 across seven locations in Suffolk County. Its headquarters sits in Central Islip, with satellite clinics in Hauppauge, Smithtown, Port Jefferson Station, Manorville, Center Moriches, and Riverhead. About 150 staff members and professional service providers keep that network running.
LISH Care holds dual designations. It’s a 16-specialty Article 28 Federally Qualified Health Center and a New York State Article 16 Rehabilitation Clinic. Fees scale with family income and size. Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance fill out the funding mix. Nobody gets turned away.
“Long Island Select Healthcare serves anyone who walks through its doors, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay,” Clark said.
The organization was built out of necessity. Three Long Island human services agencies, Developmental Disabilities Institute, Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, and United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Suffolk, merged their clinic operations to close a stubborn gap in care access for people with developmental disabilities. The result was an integrated health system that those agencies’ clients couldn’t find anywhere else on Long Island.
Clark put it plainly. LISH Care recruited physicians, dentists, and specialists who understand how to adapt their approach and deliver care that meets patients where they are. That’s harder than it sounds, and it’s rarer than it should be.
Klein’s background makes him a fitting honoree. He’s the founder and chief investment officer of ALINE Wealth, a partner firm at High Tower Advisors in Melville, and serves as president of the Claire Friedlander Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on improving quality of life for Long Islanders. He holds four professional designations: Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, and Chartered SRI Counselor. The philanthropy credential, in particular, reflects work that goes well beyond managing a portfolio.
He’s also an author. Klein wrote “Getting Started in Security Analysis,” published by John Wiley and Sons in 1998 and again in 2009, and co-wrote “A Passion for Giving: Tools and Inspiration for Creating a Charitable Foundation” with Angelica Berrie for Wiley in 2012. Before founding ALINE Wealth, he worked at UBS Financial Services, where he was recognized in 2008 as part of the UBS Global Circle of Excellence.
The golf tournament format is a familiar fundraising vehicle for nonprofits, but LISH Care’s pitch to donors carries unusual weight. As a federally qualified health center, the organization qualifies for federal matching funds, meaning private donations stretch further than they would at a typical nonprofit. The Health Resources and Services Administration governs that designation and the financial benefits that come with it.
For an organization serving a population that often falls between the cracks of the standard healthcare system, that funding structure is more than administrative. It’s what keeps the doors open in seven communities across Suffolk County.
LISH Care’s growth over a decade, from a consolidated clinic network to a system with 8,500 patients and 74,500 annual visits, reflects real demand. Families of children with autism and adults with developmental disabilities don’t always have good options when their primary care physician isn’t equipped to handle their needs. LISH Care’s model was designed specifically around those patients, not as an afterthought.
The Aug. 3 tournament at Nissequogue Golf Club gives the organization a chance to raise money, mark ten years, and put a name and a face to the kind of philanthropic commitment it depends on. Klein fits that role.