Page 7 - Calvert Health Magazine

celebrating

Physicians Advance Hospital’s Progress

“Collectively, our current medical staff has 3,125 years of combined service to
CalvertHealth – that’s a lot to be proud of,” said Teague. “I believe this longevity
of service is one of the things that make our medical community so strong.”

This tradition of dedicated service dates back to the early 1900s in Calvert when four
physicians covered the entire county for decades. Dr. Roberto De Villarreal practiced for 30
years in St. Leonard, accepting whatever payment his patients could give before his career was
tragically cut short in a fatal car accident. Dr. Hugh Ward of Dunkirk helped deliver some 5,000
babies and was instrumental in developing the medical center in Owings.
Dr. George Weems, who served in the Army Medical Unit during WWII, started his practice
in Huntingtown in 1938 and continued to make house calls until he retired in the early 1990s. Below left: A bill dated
Dr. Page Jett of Prince Frederick had a deep concern for indigent patients and worked hard for June 1945 from Roberto
state legislation that would later be a model for the national Medicaid program. De Villarreal, MD shows he
“It was a lot different when I came in 1961,” said Dr. Issam (Sam) Damalouji. “I trained as charged Ms. Lillian Brooks
a surgeon but started a family practice to support myself. Back then it was 24/7 for us. I took care $25 to remove the tonsils and
of headaches, heart attacks and hemorrhoids and at the end of the night delivered babies.” adenoids of her daughter.
“I was busy from the get-go,” said Dr. Damalouji, who very quickly became chief of staff, a Courtesy of Marine Thomas
position he held for 36 years, and helped write the first set of medical bylaws. “I charged $5 for Center: Dr. Issam Damalouji
an office visit but that included medicine because we didn’t have a pharmacy.” discusses a case with nurses
Dr. Damalouji said it was his policy to welcome qualified physicians. This approach saw Virginia Bowen (at right)
the introduction of the county’s first specialists in the 1970s in cardiology, internal medicine, and Jane Upole at the
obstetrics, pediatrics and radiology – many of them foreign-born. “I worked very hard with the one-story hospital in the
other physicians to get the first accreditation of the hospital.” 1960s. Courtesy of Dr. Issam
One of these early physicians was general surgeon Dr. Emad Al-Banna, who joined CMH Damalouji
in 1971 and served as chief of staff from 2006-2010. “The county was very small. You called Right: Dr. Raja Hawit (at right)
everyone by their first name,” he said. “The highway stopped at the bowling alley and there was was the first pediatrician in
no bridge in Solomons. Everyone did his or her share to bring the hospital to where it is now.” Calvert. When he opened his
This was followed by a large influx of university-trained physicians who came in the 1980s. practice in 1974, there was an
“We had a new level of expertise and a new level of care,”said cardiologist Dr. Mark Kushner, article on the front page of the
continued on page 8 local newspaper. File Photo

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