Eugene Decker, DO, a family physician with Star Community Health’s Coventry Family Practice in Phillipsburg, NJ, has been recognized by Blood Cancer United for his outstanding commitment to fighting blood cancer and supporting patients and families.
Star Community Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center (“FQHC”) affiliated with the St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Dr. Decker was honored in January at a Blood Cancer United event in Orlando, where he was celebrated for both his clinical care and his extensive fundraising and advocacy efforts.
Over a nearly 40-year career in family medicine, Dr. Decker has diagnosed and cared for more than 175 patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers. He works closely with oncology specialists to support patients from diagnosis through treatment and, in many cases, survivorship.
“These patients became part of me,” Dr. Decker said. “I’ve walked alongside them and their families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. That responsibility stays with you.”
Beyond the exam room, Dr. Decker has mobilized the community to make a difference. With the help of his wife of nearly 45 years, their sons and daughters-in-law, he organizes seven or eight fundraising events throughout the year. They include an annual 5K walk/run, tricky tray, a golf outing and restaurant-based fundraisers.
To date, these efforts have raised more than $200,000 for blood cancer organizations with all proceeds directed toward patient services such as medications, transportation and supportive care. “All of the money we raise goes back to the Lehigh Valley to area patients who might need an Uber ride to an appointment or help with medical bills,” Dr. Decker said.
As Medical Director at the St. Luke’s Warren Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, Dr. Decker also mentors future family physicians, modeling the importance of compassion, continuity of care and community engagement. While he cautions future physicians not to get too close to their patients, he still encourages them “to get involved with them.”
Dr. Decker said the first year he began fundraising for his blood cancer patients, he had four. Unfortunately, he said, his number of patients kept growing. Blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma) are a major cause of cancer-related mortality in the U.S. Blood cancer often ranks as the third or fourth leading cause of cancer deaths, according to Blood Cancer United, formerly known as The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Blood Cancer United’s recognition highlights not only Dr. Decker’s financial impact, but also his lifelong dedication to ensuring that no patient faces blood cancer alone.
About Star Community Health
Star Community Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center (“FQHC”) affiliated with the St. Luke’s University Health Network. Star Community Health provides high-quality, community-based, patient-directed primary care health services to more than 53,170 patients yearly at 16 locations in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Lansford, Ringtown, Tamaqua and Phillipsburg (NJ). Services include primary/family medicine, women’s health, pediatrics, mental health, and dental services and four dental vans treating students in 32 schools. It also assists patients in accessing community health services. As an FQHC, it focuses on meeting the needs of underserved individuals and groups within our community, including uninsured and underinsured people, those experiencing homelessness, agricultural workers, public housing residents and veterans.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley’s biggest employer.
The Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation’s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 550+ residents and fellows.
In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked St. Luke’s #1 – ahead of Houston Methodist and Mayo Clinic, two of the nation’s most prestigious institutions – as the nation’s top health system for quality, safety and patient experience. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirms St. Luke’s preeminent position as THE BEST OF THE BEST among the most respected health care systems in the United States.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A’s from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Gary Blockus
