NEW BEGINNINGS

For more than four decades, John J. Gribb, MD, cared for thousands of women in the Doylestown community and, as an honorary member of the Doylestown Hospital Medical Staff, continues a lifetime of generous support for the hospital where he began his distinguished career.

When John Gribb, MD, walks to places in Doylestown, he allows extra time—certainly not because of his age. Now in his nineties, Dr. Gribb gets to the gym multiple times a week. It’s the greetings he inevitably receives from former patients that cause him to slow down. “I always see people I know, and it’s wonderful to see patients from over the years,” said Dr. Gribb.

Born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, Dr. Gribb is the youngest in a family of six sons where learning and education were highly valued. In the fifth grade, when his father asked about his professional aspirations, Dr. Gribb said, “I want to be a baby doctor.” His father replied, “There’s no such thing as a baby doctor.” At that time, a specialty in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) did not exist. Deliveries were performed by mid-wives and family doctors. After graduating from Cornell University, Dr. Gribb completed his M.D. degree at Temple University School of Medicine. During his residency as an OB/GYN, Dr. Gribb worked with the developers of the hysteroscope, the first medical instrument designed to look inside a patient’s uterus and published “Hysteroscopy: A Diagnosis Adjunct” in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. As a result of this work, Dr. Gribb earned an additional degree, Master of Medical Science, from Temple University. “I was then hired by Dr. Robert Wilson, chairman, to teach and do research at Temple,” said Dr. Gribb. “Yet I knew deep down my calling was to care for people personally instead of lecturing behind a podium.”

One day, Dr. Gribb stopped for lunch at the Doylestown Inn on his way to work at Temple. “I was contemplating what I really wanted to do, so I went to the drugstore and asked if there was a hospital in town.” It was 1959, and construction for a new wing was underway at Doylestown Hospital on Belmont Avenue.

Upon arriving unannounced at the hospital, Dr. Gribb met Dr. Brad Green, a surgeon and chief of OB/GYN. He recalls Dr. Green telling him, “We’d love to have you, but you might starve.” Apparently, “Green didn’t think there was enough patient volume to keep the two of us busy,” said Dr. Gribb.

Dr. Gribb’s skills were in high demand as more hospitals began to offer specialty care. However, “I had family and friends in the Philadelphia area and wanted to stay close by,” he said. There was also a lovely nurse anesthetist named Molly, whom Dr. Gribb had recently met while on a case at Temple University Hospital. “So I decided it was Doylestown where I wanted to establish my practice,” said Dr. Gribb.

On October 1, 1959, Dr. Gribb opened his practice with “just about $50 in my pocket. I had a line of credit on everything from the waiting room chairs to my exam room supplies,” he said. “The phone was silent. No one called. “The phone finally rang at midnight on Christmas Eve. “A doctor in Sellersville/Grandview Hospital asked me to assist with a complicated birth,” said Dr. Gribb. “The challenge was I had just been in a skiing accident that morning. My arm was in a sling, and the patient needed a forceps delivery. Fortunately, everything turned out fine,” he recalled.

Word of Dr. Gribb’s expertise traveled, and he began to get busier. He and Molly were married in 1961 and began their family in Doylestown as Dr. Gribb took on new responsibilities at the hospital and completed his board certification in 1963. He led new innovations, such as designing an obstetrical-gynecological-prenatal record, among others, and succeeded Dr. Green as department chief in 1969. During his term as Chairman of Medical Staff development, Dr. Gribb wrote bylaws for physician qualifications that set the foundation for the high-quality, and rigorous requirements that are in place today, including board certification.

As husbands started to join their wives in labor and delivery rooms, Dr. Gribb insisted that they must be educated about the process. At the time, Dr. Gribb and maternity nurses were about to offer the first prenatal classes for expectant parents in the area. “When couples get married, two become one—in good times and bad,” says Dr. Gribb. “It was my view that there was no reason fathers couldn’t be present for the birth of their child. They just had to take the class!”

Willingness to explore new ideas to support patients is just one of the many characteristics Jean Fitzgerald, MD, FACOG, admires about her mentor, Dr. Gribb. “When he interviewed me during my residency, we immediately clicked,” she says. “Dr. Gribb was not stuck in his ways, and he was willing to explore new approaches. I joined a very collaborative practice, and it was a lovely way to start my professional career in obstetrics and gynecology.”

After working side-by-side with Dr. Gribb, Dr. Fitzgerald notes that “throughout his career, John Gribb established a legacy of what it means to be a physician. I have been so fortunate to learn from such a highly skilled surgeon with such deep devotion to his patients.” Dr. Gribb maintained his knowledge of current trends, voluntarily taking the Boards again in 1980. Dr. Gribb and his wife, Molly, were also “deeply involved in our community and always took the time and energy to support the hospital,” says Dr. Fitzgerald.

Supporting the hospital through philanthropic gifts was “important to Molly, too,” said Dr. Gribb. “She was a VIA member and loved being a part of the community.” Reflecting on the reason he provided support for various initiatives, such as Friends of the Heart Institute, Dr. Gribb shares, “My life was dedicated to taking care of people, and the hospital takes care of people. It’s just as simple as that.”

Dr. Gribb’s involvement at Doylestown Hospital has continued to this day and includes “a generous planned gift that will help secure the future of Doylestown Hospital,” says Laura Wortman, Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer at Doylestown Health. “We are deeply grateful to Dr. Gribb and donors like him who are a part of the incredible history of this hospital and who continue to invest in us, strengthening our ability to provide the very best care for our patients.”

“Doylestown Hospital is a success story,” says Dr. Gribb. “There are so many highly trained, good people there, and it’s worthy of our support.” As for being stopped on the street by his former patients, Dr. Gribb welcomes it. “When I get a hug, I know I did a good job.”