Doylestown Health Medical Staff

Nearly 170 members of the Hoylestown Health medical staff collectively contributed $2 million, reaching a record-setting philanthropic giving goal as part of ONE VISION: The Campaign for Doylestown Health. Inspired by the outpouring of support from the community, Medical Staff leadership reflects on the importance of this milestone.

In 1907, the women of the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown (VIA) invited local physicians to support their vision for a community hospital. Dr. Frank B. Swartzlander, a well-respected local physician, was named one of the first three hospital fund trustees. Three years later, Dr. Swartzlander sponsored a formal resolution to establish the hospital and it was unanimously endorsed by his peers. So began a tradition of physician involvement and philanthropy that continues today across Doylestown Health.

As initial plans for ONE VISION: The Campaign for Doylestown Health took shape, Mary Ellen Pelletier, MD, Doylestown Health Hospitalist, and Past President, Doylestown Hospital Medical Staff, recalls early discussions of setting a participation goal. “We were cautiously optimistic about what we thought was such a reach for us,” she says. “When we invest in ourselves and our workplace, it’s an investment in the health of our community, too. As we started to see the tangible results of early campaign projects such as the Cardiovascular and Critical Care Pavilion, thanks to extraordinary support from the community, we were inspired to demonstrate that we are just as invested in our future.”

Kieran Cody, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon, Bucks County Orthopedic Specialists, and immediate past President, Doylestown Hospital Medical Staff, served during the global pandemic, one of the most challenging times in Doylestown Health’s nearly 100-year history. “What started as a small community hospital has evolved into a center of excellence that rivals any health system in the country. The care is second to none,” he says. “Fortunately, we were positioned in the best way possible to fight an unknown virus,” he says. “Our colleagues bound together, and it made us all closer,” says Cody. “The pandemic underscored the importance of having a strong healthcare system in the community, and how critical it is for everyone to support it.” On a personal level, “by investing together in Doylestown Health we are creating stronger healthcare for tomorrow. It impacts my family, my neighbors, and my patients, who are often one and the same.”

With 435 members, the Doylestown Health Medical Staff is comprised of physicians in a broad range of specialties and primary care practices. Nearly 170 physicians participated in the Medical Staff Campaign, and a subset made more than one gift. More than 50 physicians are employed by the hospital, including Dr. Pelletier who notes that “as new physicians join us, they see the value and the impact that it will have on their personal practices and patient outcomes.”

In June, the Medical Staff achieved its $2 million goal twelve months sooner than planned. As the current President of the Doylestown Hospital Medical Staff, Brenda Foley, MD, FACEP, Medical Director of the Emergency Department, says “I’m very proud of what we accomplished through the generosity and kindness of the dedicated members of our medical staff.” For Dr. Foley, this milestone is also personally meaningful. “It’s a great feeling to know that I’m a part of something bigger than myself. I see the One Vision campaign as a mutually beneficial endeavor. Our medical staff, through their contributions, become more vested in Doylestown Health, and in turn, the health system becomes more vested in a group of medical professionals that it knows truly care about its independence and vitality. It’s powerful stuff.”

Doylestown Hospital will celebrate a century of care next year and Sean Reinhardt, MD, Cardiologist, Doylestown Health Cardiology, and Medical Staff president-elect, is confident about the future. “It’s gratifying as a physician to see day-to-day improvements and enhancements that we can offer to our patients—from private rooms to innovative new procedures and advanced technology,” he says.

Scott Levy, MD, Chief Medical Officer, says that “I am consistently proud of the dedication of my colleagues. Through their support we continue a long legacy of physician philanthropy at Doylestown Health and join our community in strengthening our future.”

“Philanthropy allows us to do new and exciting things, and even nice things,” says Dr. Reinhardt. “It’s the difference between building a house and a home.”