As a longtime member of the Taylor Hospital family, Arthur G. Baker Jr., M.D., realized just how important the facility was to its employees, patients and visitors.

“Taylor Hospital is a terrific place to work, and I have the highest admiration and fondness for its physicians, administrators and employees,” says Dr. Baker, a vascular surgeon who performed countless procedures at Taylor during his 33-year career. “It’s a special place for many people, and I’m happy to see it continue to thrive in its community.”

When Taylor Hospital was incorporated into Crozer-Keystone Health System in 1997, some employees and patients wondered if it would lose its identity as a friendly community hospital. So when Dr. Baker was invited to join the Board of Directors at Crozer-Keystone Health System shortly after the merger, he was happy to accept the offer, knowing it would bring benefits to the facility.

“During the merger, one of the goals of Crozer-Keystone was to bring Taylor into the system as smoothly as possible, preserving the individuality and personality of the hospital,” Dr. Baker says. “Thanks to the hard work and excellent management of our administrators, physicians and employees, that has been successfully accomplished.”

Dr. Baker retired from Baker Erb Cronin P.C. in 2001. During his three decades in practice, he served a 22-year term as chief of the Department of Surgery at Taylor Hospital and worked as a member of the hospital’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Joint Policy Committee at Taylor Hospital.

“I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to gain a lot of experience with medical staff affairs,” he says. “Serving on the Board of Directors has given me a chance to draw on the experiences I’ve had over the year with those issues.”

As a member of the Board of Directors, Dr. Baker serves on the Governance Committee and is co-chair of the Quality of Care Committee. Among the committees’ recent achievements are a collaboration with Crozer-Keystone’s ongoing evidence-based medicine initiatives and a campaign to educate the community about the warning signs of stroke, as well as streamline and clearly define the system’s stroke treatment program.

“It’s very exciting to be involved with these great projects,” Dr. Baker says. “It’s allowed me the opportunity to stay in touch with what’s happening with our physicians and to stay in tune with the profession.”

A graduate of Denison University, Dr. Baker earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and surgical residencies at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia General Hospital. Dr. Baker also completed a fellowship in vascular surgery at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He served as a surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1966 to 1968.

Board-certified in general and vascular surgery, Dr. Baker is a member of the International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery and the Philadelphia Academy of Surgeons and is a founding member of the Delaware Valley Vascular Society.

In addition to his work with Crozer-Keystone, Dr. Baker is involved with the Rotary Club of Swarthmore, volunteering to read with fourth-grade students in the Chester-Upland School District.

Dr. Baker and his wife, Margie, live in Swarthmore, Pa. They have three grown children.