To John Dallas Bowers, visiting Delaware County Memorial Hospital “is like coming home.”
That’s because Mr. Bowers, a member of the Health Services Board at Crozer-Keystone Health System, is the latest in a long line of Bowers family members with strong connections to the Drexel Hill hospital, beginning with his grandparents, who were involved with the founding of the facility in 1927.
“Some of our oldest family movies are from the late 1940s, when my mother and grandmothers would host garden parties to raise money for the hospital,” he says. “They were involved with the United Auxiliaries for many years.”
That strong family connection with DCMH continued with Mr. Bowers’ father, who served as a member of the hospital’s Board of Directors for nearly 40 years. Seeing his dad’s dedication and deep involvement sparked a desire to continue his good work.
“From the time I was quite young, I remember watching my father pour his heart and soul and time into the hospital,” he says. “Despite the many challenges that he faced, he remained deeply involved, and it was clear to me it was very close to his heart. I’m honored to be able to continue that involvement today.”
Mr. Bowers was elected to the Board of Directors of DCMH in 1986. When the hospital joined with Crozer-Chester Medical Center in 1990, forming Crozer-Keystone Health System, he was invited to serve on the CKHS Health Services Board, which today provides governance for Community Hospital, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Springfield Hospital and Taylor Hospital, as well as the Crozer-Chester Foundation and Delco Memorial Foundation. He also currently serves on the DCMH Joint Policy, Institutional Review and Medical Staff Development boards and the Credentialing Committee.
During his two-decade tenure with CKHS, Mr. Bowers says he has been impressed by the health system’s ability to surmount challenges on many fronts.
“We are in the midst of a very difficult time for medicine and health care in general,” he says. “However, thanks to our dedicated management and staff, we have been able to weather and even thrive in what has become a pretty tough environment. Despite things like shrinking reimbursement and ever-escalating malpractice premiums, CKHS is consistently able to offer top-quality, cutting-edge care for those within our coverage area.
“Crozer-Keystone Health System has never lost sight of the principal reason it is in business: to provide top-notch health care for the people of Delaware County and beyond.”
Mr. Bowers is a communications consultant and president of John Dallas Bowers LLC, a full-service advertising and marketing firm based in Villanova, Pa (www.johndallasbowers.com). A graduate of Lafayette College, he began his career at WFIL Radio & Television, where he served as Director of Advertising, Promotion and Publicity before moving into broadcast sales, and, in 1977, embarking on his own business venture. At John Dallas Bowers LLC, he has created and produced marketing and advertising campaigns for large corporations, nationally renowned law firms, dominate regional businesses, and privately owned, more entrepreneurial enterprises.
In addition to his work with Crozer-Keystone and John Dallas Bowers LLC, Mr. Bowers is president of the Spring Garden Soup Society, an all-volunteer organization that has helped feed the hungry in Philadelphia for 154 years. He is also on the board of Cornerstone Center for Change, a faith-based counseling center in Glenside, Pa., and Radnor Studio 21, a public access channel serving 9,500 Comcast subscribers throughout Radnor Township . He is a member of Church of the Saviour in Wayne and the St. Andrew’s Society.
A resident of Villanova, Mr. Bowers has a grown daughter, Jennifer, who is vice president of Declaration Management & Research, a capital management company based outside Washington, D.C.