Studer Community Institute

Founding physician retires from The Children’s Hospital

April 2, 2015
/ Staff Reports
/ early-learning

One of the founding physicians of The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart has retired from medicine after 52 years of service. Dr. Edward Westmark graduated from medical school at the University of Florida and served in private pediatric practices in Jay and Pensacola. Along with Dr. Reed Bell and Dr. John Whitcomb, Dr. Westmark was among the group of community pediatricians who first proposed to convert a former nursing school dormitory into the area’s only hospital dedicated solely to the care of children. This vision became a reality under the administration of the Daughters of Charity, and The Children’s Hospital opened at Sacred Heart in 1969, with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) soon following. Dr. Westmark served as the founding medical director for neonatology at The Children’s Hospital, and in 1975, he became the first board-certified neonatologist in Northwest Florida when he passed the first certification exam offered for neonatology. In addition to caring for under- and uninsured children at Sacred Heart’s Pediatric Care Center up until his retirement, Dr. Westmark instructed resident physicians through Sacred Heart’s pediatric residency program. A Pensacola native, Dr. Westmark graduated from Pensacola High School and received his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University. He spent four years as a pilot and instructor for the U.S. Air Force before attending medical school, and he remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserves for eight years while in medical school and beginning his early practice. He has been a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and has participated in professional organizations such as the Escambia County Medical Society, the Florida Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the Florida Society of Neonatal Perinatologists. Considered a mentor, friend and teacher and referred to affectionately by his staff as "Uncle Ed," Dr. Westmark will be greatly missed at Sacred Heart Hospital. His colleagues would like to thank him for his service to the hospital and to families and communities across Northwest Florida.

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Founding physician retires from The Children’s Hospital

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