One of the founding leaders of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, John Waldhausen, died May 15 at the age of 82.
Waldhausen was the founding chair of the Department of Surgery at the Medical Center and the College of Medicine and led the department for more than 25 years. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was part of a small group of committed individuals determined to establish a vibrant medical school and academic health center in the middle of a cornfield in Hershey. From 1972-73, he also served as interim provost and dean of the College of Medicine following the departure of the founding dean, George Harrell.
“If not for the contributions of Dr. Waldhausen and those of his enterprising colleagues, Penn State Hershey simply might not be here today,” said Harold L. Paz, Medical Center CEO, Penn State’s senior vice president for health affairs, and dean of the College of Medicine.
Waldhausen was influential in establishing and growing many of the programs that have brought Penn State Hershey regional, national and international recognition. Examples include the Medical Center's Level I trauma program, many of the surgical services that hold departmental status (neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and ophthalmology), and the Division of Artificial Organs. He personally recruited artificial heart pioneer William Pierce to Hershey shortly after the Medical Center’s founding and was actively involved in the development of the artificial heart and assisted circulation programs.
A pioneer in his own right, Waldhausen created a surgical intervention and, with others, developed a combined medical/surgical treatment for managing coarctation of the aorta, a common heart defect in infants. This groundbreaking treatment reduced mortality in infants with the defect from 60 percent to just 3 percent and virtually eliminated recurrence of the disease.
Over the years, he served as a mentor to countless physicians, residents, students and staff during his tenure and remained active in supporting Penn State Hershey through generous philanthropy and volunteer service following his retirement as the John Oswald Professor of Surgery Emeritus in the mid 1990s.
Waldhausen and his late wife Marian were the proud parents of three sons: John, Robert and Gordon.