Although Joseph \u201cJoe\u201d and Roseanne \u201cPenny\u201d Beidler spent their lives traveling the world, nothing was more important to them than helping to make quality health care available to members of their own community. Upon their deaths, their estate gift of $1.5 million to St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network (SLUHN) is now helping to ensure that graduate students and clinical leaders can begin, and sustain, their medical education.<\/p>\n
The Joseph and Roseanne \u201cPenny\u201d Beidler Endowed Scholarship Fund<\/strong>\u00a0provides $1 million for scholarships to students attending Temple\/St. Luke’s School of Medicine and other academic programs or affiliations created by the school\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to the generosity of the Beidlers, we can address the high cost of tuition and loan debt our students experience by supporting them financially through their medical journey,\u201d\u00a0said Shaden T. Eldakar-Hein, MD,\u00a0MS, Senior Associate Dean, Temple\/St. Luke\u2019s School of Medicine.\u00a0 \u201cThis also provides access to students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to attend and inspires other students of similar backgrounds to aspire to become physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n A gift of $500,000 established\u00a0The Joseph R. & Roseanne Y. Beidler Medical Education Lecture Endowment Fund<\/strong>\u00a0to support periodic talks, seminars and workshops for students and practicing clinicians given by noted clinical leaders and visiting scholars. It will help stimulate advances in care across numerous specialties by supporting the professional development of current residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Beidlers truly understood the value of medical education that keeps our students and care providers current and stimulated, and that keeps the best providers at SLUHN who bring their advanced knowledge directly to their patients,\u201d said James P. Orlando, Ed.D, Chief Graduate Medical Education Officer. \u201cSt. Luke\u2019s is dedicated to quality medical education training in a patient-centered and technologically sophisticated teaching environment. More than 500 residents and fellows are currently completing their education at St. Luke\u2019s, and this generous gift will allow the Network to continue its reputation as a preferred clinical learning environment of choice and as a nationally recognized Top Teaching Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe and Penny were married for 59 years, had no children, and visited 102 countries on all continents except Antarctica. Yet, the Lehigh Valley was always home and investing there was personal. Joe retired from the P.B. & N.E. Railroad of Bethlehem Steel and Penny as vice president of human resources for First Valley Bank of Bethlehem and resided at Moravian Village until their deaths.<\/p>\n They selected several local charities to include in their estate plan but, according to Penny, \u201cit was important to us that St. Luke\u2019s continue to receive our support when we are no longer around so they can continue to do the excellent work they do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHelping others should be a priority for all of us,\u201d added Penny. \u201cMy legacy is not what I accomplished during my career, or the number of countries I visited, it is the difference I made in the lives of others. I am humbled and honored that I can help St. Luke\u2019s and other charities through my estate plan.\u201d<\/p>\n About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 1872,\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites.\u00a0 With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network\u2019s 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\u2019s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school campus.\u00a0 It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke\u2019s, a member of the Children\u2019s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.<\/p>\n SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s\u00a0five-star<\/em>\u00a0ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.\u00a0 It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades\u00a0Top Hospital<\/em>\u00a0and a Newsweek World\u2019s\u00a0Best Hospital<\/em>.\u00a0 The Network\u2019s flagship University Hospital has earned the\u00a0100 Top Major Teaching Hospital<\/em>\u00a0designation from Fortune\/PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0 In 2021, St. Luke\u2019s was identified as one of the\u00a015 Top Health Systems<\/em>\u00a0nationally.\u00a0 Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the\u00a0Most Wired<\/em>\u00a0award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. \u00a0The Network is also recognized as one of the state\u2019s lowest-cost providers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: Although Joseph \u201cJoe\u201d and Roseanne \u201cPenny\u201d Beidler spent their lives traveling the world, nothing was more important to them than helping to make quality health care available to members of … Continue reading Beidler Estate Gift Ensures a Legacy of Medical Education<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"