Meet Our Donors
Dr. Charles Schleifer
Dr. Chuck - A Doer for His Patients
Two things that patients immediately sensed about Dr. Charles "Chuck" Schleifer when they were in his presence: his love of medicine and patients and his love of life and laughter. His sense of humor comes from his late father, a self-employed "jobber" and a real jokester. Now retired, Chuck looks back on his younger years and the decisions he made that led him to become a physician at Lankenau Medical Center.
He was a double for Ernie Kovacs ("looked just like him with his mustache") and often appeared on his TV show. When his father threw parties, he would have Chuck take the men's hats upstairs and stuff the brims with newspaper. Later, when the men went to put on their hats they wouldn't fit and they would grumble and curse, much to the glee of Chuck and his father.
This sense of theatrics was also evident in Chuck's older sister, an actress, who lived for many years in England and performed under the stage name, Elaine Ives-Cameron. She was also quite a character according to Chuck - "flew a plane and had a home in Mexico." Sadly, pancreatic cancer took her life in 2006.
As for medicine, Chuck knew from an early age that he wanted to be a doctor, although he also had thoughts of being a garbage man. "I wanted to be a doctor on weekdays and a garbage man on weekends," he chuckled. A Philly native, Chuck graduated from Central High School (then for boys) and went on to do pre-med at Albright College and then got a masters in physiology from Rutgers at night while working at Squibb during the day. Eventually he would return to Philadelphia to attend medical school at Jefferson. And it was while he was doing a surgical internship there that he discovered what he enjoyed doing best - simply caring for patients.
Following his internship in 1971 he applied and was accepted to Lankenau's residency program. "There were only four residents then," Chuck said. He fondly recalls the Saturday morning meetings they had with Dr. Frank Gray, a pulmonologist who was also Chief of Medicine. There they would present and discuss their cases over cookies and coffee. "Those were really great sessions," commented Chuck.
But it was a doctor's suggestion that he do a two-year fellowship in nephrology at Lankenau that brought him over to the renal side. Eventually he would become board certified in nephrology and spend the greater part of his career caring and advocating for patients with kidney disease. "I think of myself as a doer for my patients," Chuck reflected.
Chuck is also a strong advocate of Lankenau. "Our Medical Center has a wonderful reputation locally, throughout the region and nationally," he said. And he is especially proud of his time chairing the Bioethics committee that addressed end of life issues that helped family and medical staff to resolve differences in how to care for a loved one who was slipping away. Chuck considers the policy they drafted, which became part of the Medical Center bylaws, to be the crowning achievement of his career at Lankenau - the place he describes as his medical and philosophical home. It was only natural then that Chuck and his wife would make a provision for Lankenau in their estate plans. It's their way of giving back and they wish that more people would do the same.
These days, Chuck and his wife, Martha, a former professor of music at Temple University and an accomplished author, enjoy ballroom dancing and playing golf. They also relish spending time at their summer home in Loveladies on Long Beach Island. "As soon as you cross over the causeway it's another world", commented Chuck. But the world that involves caring and advocating for patients will always hold a special place in his heart.