Dr. Servideo retires after 30 years at Fauquier Hospital

A well-respected leader of the Fauquier medical community is taking a step back from full-time medicine after serving local residents for more than 30 years.

Since moving to Fauquier in 1977, Dr. Joseph Servideo has worked as a family physician, emergency room doctor, and chairman of the hospital’s emergency department, a post he held for 12 years before stepping down at the end of December.

The 67-year-old Pennsylvania native first knew he wanted to be a doctor at the young age of 6.

“I went to my family doctor, and it was something about the things he was doing, it just got a hold of me,” he said.

After completing his education at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where he received his original board certification in family practice, Servideo moved to Fauquier, where he discovered his interest in emergency medicine while moonlighting in the emergency room.

“It’s a challenging place to work...you never know what’s walking through the door, or what kind of seriously ill or injured people you [will be dealing with],” he said.

Servideo switched to full-time emergency medicine in 1982, becoming board certified in 1992.

“It gave me more time to spend with my family,” he said, referring to his wife Ali and sons David, Matthew and Nathan. “Even though I’d work a shift, once I was home I was off, and I didn’t have to worry about the phone ringing.”

Like most children, his sons looked forward to hearing stories about his work.

“I’d come home and the kids would say, ‘What’d you see today, Dad? Did you save anybody?’” he said.

Of the many patients he treated over the years, Servideo feels the first helicopter transport from Fauquier Hospital in 1978 may be one of the most poignant.

He remembers the patient, who had been in an auto accident, had a 1 by 4-foot fence board through his chest and was awake when transported.

“We ended up having to saw the board off on either end so we could put him into the helicopter,” he said.

Servideo admits the experience “scared him to death.”

“Sometimes you come across things that you really don’t know what to do with and things have to start spinning in your head,” he said. “The key word is stabilize the patient.”

During his years in the specialty, Servideo has seen dramatic changes, both in emergency medicine as well as Fauquier’s emergency facilities.

“As the specialty evolved and became much more highly trained and specialized, it’s to the point now where you can’t get a job in emergency medicine without having board certification in it,” he said.

Servideo has watched the emergency department grow from a four-room, six-bed center that served 10,000 patients in 1977, to the 29-bed, state-of-the-art facility that served 35,000 patients last year.

As department chairman, Servideo was responsible for all of the department’s physicians and mid-level providers, such as nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants, as well as managing complaints, and providing part-time patient care.

“[The position] had its downside, having to listen to complaints and things, but I very much enjoyed being a part of everything that’s going on, all the events in the hospital and the interplay between the physicians, nurses, and other departments,” he said.

Those who worked with Servideo are quick to emphasize his integrity, calm personality, and excellent skills as a physician.

“Dr. Servideo is the epitome of a caring, knowledgeable, exceptional physician,” said emergency department Director Ina Bowman, who served under Servideo. “His goal is to make every patient’s visit personalized.”

According to Bowman, patients come to the department and ask specifically for Servideo to treat them, a trend she believes “speaks to the level of care and service he has provided throughout the years.”

While many emergency departments struggle to maintain a high level of patient satisfaction, Fauquier Health System President and CEO Rodger Baker believes the hospital’s positive response from patients is due, in part, to Servideo’s leadership and service.

“I think he’s very open and not a my-way-or-the-highway type of person,” Baker said. “He has a very participative [leadership] style.”

While many believe Servideo is “leaving some big shoes to fill,” the doctor himself is pleased with newly selected chairman Dr. Michael Jenks.

“When you try to build a department over 12 years, you want to make sure you’re turning it over to somebody you really trust and who will continue to do similar types of things and that is the trust I have in Dr. Jenks,” he said. “He’s an excellent physician who has a lot of really good ideas in terms of continuing to make our department [better].”

Now semi-retired, Servideo continues to serve part-time as an emergency physician, and plans to go into biblical counseling, based out of Grace Bible Church in Marshall.

“In family practice, there were a lot of depression and anxiety situations that went along with the physical problems, and it was clear the people needed more than prescriptions,” he said. “They needed to unload and receive counsel and that’s how I got started.”

When he’s not doctoring or counseling, Servideo hopes to indulge in his other hobbies, including vegetable gardening, photography, hiking and camping.

“I would guess in the next couple of years I will stop [working in the emergency room] all together, but I didn’t want to go cold turkey,” he said. “I would miss it.”