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Thomas Jefferson University Hospital will honor surgeon Francis E. Rosato, M.D., and philanthropist Dorrance H. “Dodo” Hamilton for their dedication to Jefferson at the hospital’s 127th anniversary gala.

The Anniversary Gala will take place Thursday evening, Oct. 6, at the Park Hyatt Hotel at the Bellevue in Philadelphia.

Dr. Rosato, past chair of Surgery at Jefferson, will receive the hospital’s Achievement Award in Medicine and Mrs. Hamilton will receive the hospital’s Award of Merit.

One hundred twenty-seventh anniversary dinner co-chairs are: Alix and John Estey; Anne and Matt Hamilton; Kathleen and Jim Fox, M.D., Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest; Arlene and Jim Stratton; Nancy and Bill Giles; and Margo and Don Polett.

“Both of these individuals in their own way have helped to make Jefferson a leader in medical care, education and research,” said Anne Hamilton, one of the dinner co-chairs. “They deserve our praise and respect.”

Proceeds from the event will go to the newly planned Jefferson Breast Care Center. The Breast Care Center will consolidate breast imaging and treatment options into a patient-centered facility that is personalized and private, and offers state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained clinicians. The Center itself will be the gateway to Jefferson’s vast cancer resources, practitioners and clinical departments and a focal point for clinical research.

The Achievement Award in Medicine being presented to Dr. Rosato was created to honor an individual who has attained excellence in their profession and who has actively contributed to the growth and development of their field.

“Frank’s widely recognized skill, experience and leadership have earned him this honor,” said dinner co-chair Dr. Jim Fox, clinical professor of Surgery, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. “I congratulate him on this lifetime achievement.”

Dr. Rosato was the Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery and former chair of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

He earned his bachelor’s degree at St. Joseph’s University in 1955 and his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College in 1959. He completed his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and his residency in General Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he served as Chief Resident from 1964-1965. 

Dr. Rosato was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania from 1962 to 1963.

During his distinguished career in surgery, he rose rapidly through the academic ranks from assistant instructor in Surgery in 1960 to professor of Surgery at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1972. During this period he was chief of the hospital’s solid tumor program and co-director of the Neoplastic Chemotherapy Clinic. He established the Department of Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and in 1975 he was appointed professor and chair of the department.  In 1978, Dr. Rosato was appointed the Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Dr. Rosato was co-author of Post Mastectomy Breast Reconstruction and Atlas of General Surgical Technique and co-editor of Surgery of the Breast. He has also served as editor-in-chief of Contemporary Surgery for Residents.

His numerous awards for contributions to surgery include the Pittsburgh Surgical Society Annual Award for “Recognition of Outstanding Contributions as a Physician, Scientist, Dedicated Teacher and Leader in the Treatment of Cancer.” He was twice recognized with the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching:  in 1968 at the University of Pennsylvania when he was only 34 years old, and in 1983 at Jefferson Medical College.

He has served locally as president of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery and the Philadelphia County Medical Society.  Nationally he has been a governor of the American College of Surgeons and chair of its Committee on Continuing Education, and chair of the Test Committee of the National Board of Medical Examiners. 

The Award of Merit, being presented to Mrs. Hamilton, recognizes accomplished Philadelphians who have enhanced the medical experience through leadership, contribution and innovation.

“Dodo Hamilton has long been a philanthropic champion and her generosity and dedication to worthy causes should be acknowledged,” said Anne Hamilton, who is Dorrance Hamilton’s daughter-in-law.

Her record of service to Jefferson includes membership of Thomas Jefferson University's Board of Trustees since 1972 and membership of the Women's Board of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital since 1957.  

Mrs. Hamilton has generously contributed at least $50 million to Jefferson and other institutions.

Most recently, a landmark gift of $25 million from Mrs. Hamilton will allow Thomas Jefferson University to literally transform its campus with the construction of a campus green and medical education building--the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building.

Mrs. Hamilton’s gift, the largest donation ever made to Jefferson, will help Jefferson to define the future of clinical care.

Among her many achievements, Mrs. Hamilton served as chair of Jefferson's capital campaign, the Jefferson 2000 Fund. To aid the campaign, Mrs. Hamilton presented Jefferson with a $5 million gift to the Department of Medicine to support laboratory renovations and two professorships.

In 1998, a charitable income trust established by Mrs. Hamilton provided $2.2 million to expand key medical oncology and surgical programs at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. This generosity enhanced Jefferson's efforts to recruit leading oncologists who specialize in such major areas of cancer treatment as lung, breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary oncology, hematological malignancies, and head and neck cancer. The gift also supported physicians' use of new methods and techniques for patient care developed at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center.

Mrs. Hamilton has received many regional honors including a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania Award from the Governor of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Distinguished Achievement Medal, and was named an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts.

Mrs. Hamilton, who resides in Florida and Wayne, Pa., is director of 218 Enterprises in Wayne and operates the Little House Shop and Valley Forge Flowers. She is also responsible for the establishment of the Spread Eagle Village shopping center in Strafford.

During the 1980s, Mrs. Hamilton served on the board of the Campbell Soup Company, which was founded by her grandfather, John T. Dorrance.

She also serves on the board of the University of the Arts, the Winterthur Museum's Board of Trustees in Wilmington and the New Jersey State Aquarium.

An enthusiastic gardener, Mrs. Hamilton is a member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and has won the Mrs. Lammot DuPont Copeland Horticultural Sweepstakes Trophy ten years in a row. She is also a three-time winner of the Philadelphia Flower Show's top trophy and was a co-founder of the Newport Flower Show. At the Morris Arboretum, Mrs. Hamilton serves as a member of the  advisory board.

Although Jefferson physicians were treating patients as early as 1825, it wasn’t until September 17, 1877, that Jefferson Medical College Hospital, later known as Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, opened as a stand-alone facility.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has major programs for heart disease, cancer treatment, neuroscience, high-risk childbirth, genetics, radiology, orthopaedics, digestive diseases and many other areas of medicine and surgery. It is one of only a few hospitals in the United States that is both a Level I Trauma Center and a federally designated regional spinal cord injury center. Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center is designated as a clinical cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.

U.S.News and World Report has consistently ranked many of Jefferson's services as among the best in the nation. These include rehabilitation, cardiology/cardiac surgery,  orthopaedics, digestive disorders (gastroenterology), geriatrics, gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, which are both based at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, otolaryngology - head and neck surgery, and urology.

In addition, Jefferson physicians have been named among the best doctors by Philadelphia Magazine and by Best Doctors in America.
Jefferson has been ranked among “The Top Hospitals In America” by Modern Maturity, AARP’s magazine for people over 50.

For eight years in a row, Jefferson University Hospital has been awarded the Consumer Choice Award by the National Research Corporation (NRC), for being an innovator and leader in health care in Philadelphia. In addition, Jefferson University Hospital was the recipient of the HealthGrades 2004 Distinguished Hospital Award for excellence.™

For information about reservations for the Jefferson University Hospital 127th Anniversary Celebration, call 215-955-9100 or e-mail: events@jefferson.edu.