{"id":151321,"date":"2026-10-14T22:02:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T02:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=151321"},"modified":"2026-10-14T22:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T02:02:44","slug":"dare-family-establishes-st-lukes-first-endowed-chair-for-medical-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=151321","title":{"rendered":"DaRe Family Establishes St. Luke\u2019s First Endowed Chair for Medical Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo caption: From left – Tony DaRe; Adrienne DaRe; Robert Wax; Shaden Eldakar-Hein, MD; and Adam Stauffer, St. Luke\u2019s Associate Vice President of Development.(Provided courtesy of SLUHN)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network is pleased to announce that Tony and Adrienne DaRe have established the DaRe Family Chair for Medical Education, the Network\u2019s first endowed chair specifically for medical education.<\/p>\n

The chair will support the Temple\/St. Luke\u2019s School of Medicine, helping to create opportunities for future physicians and develop the health care workforce that will serve local families and communities for generations to come.<\/p>\n

Income generated by the fund supporting the endowed chair will advance the medical school\u2019s academic priorities, including student financial aid, faculty development and educational innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdrienne and I have always believed that education is one of the most meaningful investments we can make in people and in the future of our communities,\u201d said Tony DaRe, who leads BSI Corporate Benefits in Bethlehem. \u201cThat starts long before medical school. It means creating opportunities for students at every level, removing barriers where we can, and making sure talent and potential are not limited by circumstance. This endowed chair is another way we can invest in people who will ultimately come back and serve our communities for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation can change the trajectory of a person, a family, and ultimately an entire community,\u201d added Adrienne DaRe. \u201cWe have been fortunate to support students and educational institutions in many of the communities we care deeply about, and this is a continuation of that commitment. For students who dream of becoming physicians, financial barriers should not determine whether that dream is possible. We hope this investment helps create opportunity, strengthens medical education, and allows more exceptional students to pursue a calling to care for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Tony and Adrienne, the endowment is the latest expression of their longstanding belief in investing in people. Their support extends to nearly 30 colleges, universities, public schools and early-education organizations, reflecting a commitment to education at every stage of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DaRe family\u2019s generosity represents a significant investment in the future of medical education in the Lehigh Valley,\u201d said Robert Wax, St. Luke\u2019s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. \u201cBy establishing this endowed chair, they are creating a lasting legacy that will expand opportunities for students, strengthen our academic programs, and help ensure that exceptional physician talent continues to be trained here in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaden Eldakar-Hein, MD, has been appointed the inaugural DaRe Family Chair for Medical Education. She became Chief Academic Officer on December 1, 2025, and she continues to serve as Senior Associate Dean of the Temple\/St. Luke\u2019s School of Medicine, a position she has held since 2020.<\/p>\n

Dr. Eldakar-Hein successfully guided the medical school\u2019s expansion into a full four-year campus, increased enrollment by 33%, helped grow its endowment to more than $30 million and strengthened the local physician workforce pipeline. Approximately 30% of graduates remain at St. Luke\u2019s for residency training each year. Under her leadership, the school has achieved top-percentile student satisfaction rankings and continues to place graduates in some of the nation\u2019s most prestigious residency programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply grateful for the DaRe family support and honored to serve as the inaugural DaRe Family Chair for Medical Education,\u201d said Dr. Eldakar-Hein. \u201cThe DaRe\u2019s remarkable commitment will help us promote innovation in medical education so that we can continue building an exceptional environment for educating future physicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DaRe\u2019s personify the concept of \u2018giving back to the community.\u2019 Their example is a gift and inspiration to our medical students, who will pay it forward, putting their skills into practice by providing a range of volunteer support services throughout our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 1872, St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of $5 billion. With 24,000 employees at 16 hospital campuses and 400+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley\u2019s biggest employer.<\/p>\n

The Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.<\/p>\n

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 550+ residents and fellows. Additionally, the St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences opened in 2026.<\/p>\n

In a 2025 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, St. Luke\u2019s received the highest quality score of the nation\u2019s recognized three highest performing health systems. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirms St. Luke\u2019s preeminent position as THE BEST OF THE BEST among the most respected health care systems in the United States.<\/p>\n

St. Luke\u2019s has been named a Leapfrog Group Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. In 2026, all of the Network\u2019s eligible hospital campuses were awarded Medicare\u2019s highest ratings for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. The Network also earned straight A\u2019s for safety from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 12 years in a row, including in 2026 when the Network was identified as THE #1 MEDIUM-SIZE HEALTH SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo caption: From left – Tony DaRe; Adrienne DaRe; Robert Wax; Shaden Eldakar-Hein, MD; and Adam Stauffer, St. Luke\u2019s Associate Vice President of Development.(Provided courtesy of SLUHN) St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network is pleased to announce that Tony and Adrienne DaRe have established the DaRe Family Chair for Medical Education, the Network\u2019s first endowed chair … Continue reading DaRe Family Establishes St. Luke\u2019s First Endowed Chair for Medical Education<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\r\n\r\n{excerpt}\r\n\r\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DaRe-Endowed-Chair.jpg?fit=672%2C372&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151323,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151321\/revisions\/151323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/151322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}