Gail M. Whitaker, Esq., has long recognized the connection between the health of a community and its chances for success.
“A healthy community is a very necessary thing,” says Ms. Whitaker, a lawyer in private practice who has served on Crozer-Keystone Health System’s Health Services Board since 2000. “If the people in a community are healthy, than the community has a wonderful chance to grow and thrive. I am constantly amazed at the dedication of the health care workers who are committed to achieving that goal by ensuring the health of the residents of Delaware County.”
Ms. Whitaker has been involved in health care since the 1960s, serving as a board member of Carelink Community Support Services, a Delaware County organization that helps people with disabilities live in their communities with dignity and independence; the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health; and the former Community Nursing Services of Chester and Vicinity.
Her service to those organizations prompted a request from Crozer-Keystone to join the Health Services Board, which she fulfilled in 2000.
“Since I’ve been on the board, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time learning and helping to continue the amazing things Crozer-Keystone is doing,” Ms. Whitaker says. “It is truly an incredible operation.”
Ms. Whitaker cites Crozer-Keystone’s commitment to its community as a compelling reason to remain with the Health Services Board for more than half a decade.
“I recently read an article about cuts to medical assistance services in one state that resulted in the termination of health care for more than 200,000 patients,” she says. “As I was reading, it occurred to me that if our community were faced with such a dramatic cut in funding, Crozer-Keystone would seek ways to provide basic care. CKHS and its employees are very much committed to the health the residents of the Delaware Valley.”
In addition to her work with CKHS, Ms. Whitaker serves on the Board of Directors of the Delaware County Bar Association and as a Media Borough councilwoman. A 1975 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law, she is a lawyer in private practice in Media.