Anthony DiMarco, D.O., was elected to a two-year term as president of Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s Medical and Dental Staff, effective July 1, 2010.

DiMarco is a family practice physician based at the Crozer Medical Plaza at Brinton Lake in Glen Mills. He has been a member of Crozer’s medical staff since 1989, and he has been part of the Crozer-Keystone Health Network since 1992.

A graduate of LaSalle University and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), DiMarco completed his internship and residency at Metropolitan Hospital (now Springfield Hospital). He is a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and currently serves as vice speaker of the House of Delegates for the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association. Board-certified as an independent medical examiner, DiMarco is also an adjunct faculty member at PCOM, a utilization review physician for the Elwyn Institute and the school physician for the Glen Mills Schools.

DiMarco succeeds Frank Giammattei, M.D., chief of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Crozer, as president. In addition to the election of DiMarco, Olesh Babiak, M.D., was elected as the new vice president; and C. Nathan Okechukwu, M.D., was elected as the new secretary/treasurer. Babiak is the chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Crozer, while Okechukwu is a nephrologist.

DiMarco says that he was inspired to consider medical staff leadership by his oldest brother Carlo DiMarco, D.O., an ophthalmologist who recently served as president of the American Osteopathic Association.

“When I first went into practice, I would complain to him about various problems in medicine. His response was to stop complaining, get involved and try and make a difference. I got involved with the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association in numerous areas and I also got involved on various committees at Crozer. Eventually over 18 years, it has led to being president of the medical staff, which is a great honor,”he says. “I hope to serve as well as Dr. Giammattei, who always conducted himself as a gentleman and was fair on the many issues that came before him.”

Giammattei adds, “It has been an honor and privilege to serve as president. I want to thank all of my colleagues for their assistance, and I offer my best wishes to Dr. DiMarco. I know that the medical staff shares my confidence and enthusiasm for the tenure of Dr. DiMarco, Dr. Babiak and Dr. Okechukwu.”

Joan K. Richards, president and chief executive officer of Crozer-Keystone Health System, adds, “Dr. DiMarco is well-respected among the medical staff at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. He has demonstrated his leadership ability both within Crozer-Keystone and outside the health system. I congratulate him on being elected president and look forward to working with him in this new role.”

DiMarco feels that the biggest strength of Crozer’s medical staff “is and will be its ability to work together to deal with the health care changes that are coming. The staff is already looking at the medical home practice model and other various cooperatives based on how we will be reimbursed in the future. I know that we are ahead of many other systems in that regard.”

He adds that “The staff is simply made up of a lot of good people who also happen to be good physicians. That’s what you look for and need in a medical staff.”

Crozer-Chester Medical Center is a 343-bed tertiary care hospital that admits nearly 23,000 patients, treats approximately 53,000 Emergency Department patients, and delivers more than 2,000 babies a year. For more information about Crozer-Chester Medical Center or the Crozer-Keystone Health System, visit www.crozer.org.