About Dr. Saelinger

Dr. Donald Saelinger is a physician group consultant and board-certified Gastroenterologist. His goal is to help physician groups become high-quality provider organizations with excellent clinical and financial performance, through improved governance, management, and leadership. Additionally, he is also a practicing, gastroenterologist.

CV: Donald Saelinger, MD DAS final.jpg

Updated: 8/20/2025 Donald Saelinger, MD

DONALD A SAELINGER, MD

Cincinnati, Ohio

Mobile: 513-543-9049

E-mail: dsaelinger@icloud.com

Web: www.donaldsaelinger.com

PERSONAL HISTORY

Date of Birth: March 29, 1947

Place of Birth: Melbourne, Kentucky, USA

Family Status:

Married: Dee O’Grady Saelinger

Children:

Erin O’Grady Ca

CV: Donald Saelinger, MD DAS final.jpg

Updated: 8/20/2025 Donald Saelinger, MD

DONALD A SAELINGER, MD

Cincinnati, Ohio

Mobile: 513-543-9049

E-mail: dsaelinger@icloud.com

Web: www.donaldsaelinger.com

PERSONAL HISTORY

Date of Birth: March 29, 1947

Place of Birth: Melbourne, Kentucky, USA

Family Status:

Married: Dee O’Grady Saelinger

Children:

Erin O’Grady Carroll, 1968; attorney; (Husband: Scott Carroll; child: Grace)

Michael O’Grady, 1972; attorney; (wife: Kate: children; Jack, Dan)

Sarah Rimicci, 1977; teacher; (husband: Dr. Anthony; children: Will, Matthew, Ellie, Ben)

Donald H. Saelinger, 1978, attorney; (wife: Katherine; children Nathan, Hazel)

The oldest member of the family of 10 (parents: William and Marcella Saelinger)

Business:

CEO and Board Chairman, Physician Associates, LLC. (Retired Jan 2010)

CEO, Patient First Physicians Group (retired Jan 2010) *see below about PFPG

Internist and Gastroenterologist (PFPG) (retired April 2010)

Sr. Vice President, St. Elizabeth Medical Center (retired Jan 2010)

Chief Gastroenterology Section, Straub Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii (Jan 2014 to September 1, 2018)

Chief Medical Officer, Hawaii Pacific Health, Honolulu, Hawaii

(Jan 2016 to September 1, 2018)

Donald Saelinger, MD, health care consulting, locum tenens gastroenterology

2010-2025)

EDUCATION:

1954 – 1959 St Philip Elementary School, Melbourne, Ky.

1959- 1963 Covington Latin School, Covington, Kentucky.

1963 - 1967 Thomas More College, Covington, Ky. Bachelor of Arts, Biology

1967 - 1969 University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati; Master of Science, Microbiology

9/11969 –6/30/1973 University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

MD, With the Highest Honors, Ranked first in class of 1973

POSTGRADUATE TRAINING:

07/01/1973 – 06/30/1974 Intern, Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati

07/01/1974 – 06/30/1975 Junior Resident, Internal Medicine, Univ. of Cincinnati

07/01/1975 – 06/301976 Senior Resident, Internal Medicine, Univ. Cincinnati

07/01/1976 - 06/30/1977 Fellow in Gastroenterology, University of Cincinnati.

07/01/1977 – 06/30/1978 Chief Med Resident, Instructor IM, Univ. Cinti.

07/01/1978 - 06/30/1979 Fellow in Gastroenterology, University Cinti.

1989 - Business school, Xavier University Business School

CURRENT AND PREVIOUS POSITIONS:

7/1/1977- 6/30/1990

Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine

Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

7/1/1976-3/1/2010

Private practice of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology

Patient First Physicians Group, 525 Alexandria Pike, Southgate, Kentucky 41071

7/1/1976-1/2010

Chief Executive Officer

Chairman, Board of Directors

Patient First Physicians Group

9/2/2006 –1/2010

Sr VP, St Elizabeth Medical Center, Edgewood, Kentucky

5/1/2010 –8/11/2010:

Locum Tenens Gastroenterology, CompHealth

Indiana University Health, Lafayette, Indiana Gastroenterology

09/01/2010- 11/01/2010:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, Hawaii Pacific Healthcare, Straub Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

01/01/2011 – 03/05/2011:

Locum Tenens Gastroenterology, CompHealth, Indiana University Health, Lafayette, Indiana, Gastroenterology

04/04/2011 – 06/03/2011:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, Hawaii Pacific Healthcare, Straub Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

6/13/2011-7/15/2011

Locum Tenens Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL.

08/1/2011 – 12/15/2011;

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, Susquehanna Health, Williamsport, Penn.

1//3/2012 - 5/15/2012:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology

Hawaii Pacific Healthcare, Straub Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

4/1/2012 – 8/20/2012:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, Susquehanna Health, Williamsport, Penn.

12/20/2012 – 3/29/2013:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology Associates of Penn Medical Group, Lehighton, Penn

4/1/2013 – 5/30/2013:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, Maine Mid Coast Hospital Brunswick, Maine

6/1/2013- 9/30/2013:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology, St Joseph Hospital Bangor Maine

10/21/2013- 12/6/2013:

Locum Tenens, Gastroenterology, Hassan Gastroenterology Associates, Lehighton Penn

1/6/2014- 3/30/2014:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology

Hawaii Pacific Healthcare, Straub Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

5/30/2014 – 8/1/2014:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology

Wilcox Memorial Hospital/ Kauai Medical Clinic, Lihue Kauai, Hawaii

8/18/2014 – 9/8/2014:

Locum Tenens, Comphealth, Gastroenterology St Joseph Hospital Bangor Maine

11/1/2014 - 9/1/2018

Hawaii Pacific Health, Straub Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Chief Gastroenterology Section, Straub Medical Center

Chairman, Medical Subspecialty Section, Straub Medical Center

10/8/2018- 11/5/2018

Locum tenens, Weatherby, Gastroenterology, T.J. Samson Community Hospital,

Glasgow, Ky.

12/27/19-2/18/2019

Locum tenens, Gastroenterology, Licking Memorial Hospital, Newark, Ohio

7/1/2019 - 7/21/2019.

Locum tenens, Union Memorial Hospital, Gastroenterology, Terre Haute, Indiana

7/29/2019 – 5/30/2021

Locum tenens, Ball Memorial/Indiana University Hospital, Gastroenterology,

Muncie Indiana

6/10/2021 – 9/11/2021 Mercy Health, Cincinnati locum tenens

3/1/2020 - present. TriHealth Free Clinic. Internal Medicine

9/2021 – 2025. TriHealth Cincinnati, Gastroenterology

HONORS AND AWARDS:

1968 NDEA Fellowship Microbiology

1969 Sigma Xi Honor Society

1971 Mosby Award, Outstanding Performance, Science

1971 Hoffman La Roche Award

1972 Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

1973 Phi Kappa Phi Honor Medical Society

1973 Dean's Award, highest academic performance

Class 1973, University of Louisville

Ranked first in a class of 91 students.

1974 Upjohn "Intern of the Year" Award at the University of Cincinnati Hospital

1997 Outstanding Community Leadership Award, St Luke Hospital Board of Directors

2002 Nominated for Cincinnati Business Courier “Healthcare Hero Award.”

2004 - 2019 Consumers Research Council... “America’s Top Physicians” Award

2007 Patient First Physicians Group: Distinguished leadership award.

2019. Disciplinam Award, Covington Latin School Alumni Association

HOSPITAL STAFF APPOINTMENT:

University of Cincinnati Medical Center Hospital, Courtesy Staff (inactive)

St Luke Hospitals (East and West) (St Luke now part of St Elizabeth, 2009)

Senior attending staff

President of Medical Staff 1983, Chief of Medicine, 1982, and 1988

Chief Gastroenterology Lab. 1979 to April 2010

Board of Trustees, St Luke, 1986 to 2006

St Elizabeth Healthcare, Edgewood, Kentucky (1974 to 2011)

Senior Attending Staff. Chief Medicine, 1984 and 1985

Sr. Vice President Medical Center (2006 to 2010)

Indiana University Health Arnett (2010 to 2011, locum tenens)
P.O. Box 5545 Lafayette, IN 47903-5545

Hawaii Pacific Health, Straub Medical Center (2010 to 2018)

Honolulu Hawaii

Malcolm Randall Veterans Administration Hospital (2011 locum tenens)

Gainesville, Florida

Lehighton Hospital, Lehighton, Penn (2013 locum tenens)

Susquehanna Health Systems, Williamsport, Penn (2011 to 10/30/2012 locum tenens)

Wilcox Memorial Hospital, Lihue, Hawaii (2014 locum tenens)

St Joseph Hospital, Bangor, Maine (2013- 2014 locum tenens)

Maine, Mid-Coast Hospital, Brunswick, Maine (2013 locum tenens)

T.J. Samson Community Hospital, Glasgow, Kentucky. (2018 Locum tenens)

Licking Memorial Hospital, Newark, Ohio. (January 2019. GI locum tenens)

Union Hospital, Terre Haute, Indiana. 2019 to 2020

Ball Memorial Hospital. Muncie Indiana. 2019 to 2021

TriHealth (Bethesda Hospital)- Good Samaritan) 2021 to present

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:

Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

American College of Physicians

American Medical Association

Southwest Ohio Gastroenterology Society

American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

American College of Gastroenterology

Northern Kentucky Medical Society President of Medical Society 1986

National Association of Managed Care Physicians

American Association for Physician Leadership

Crohn's and Colitis Foundation

Cincinnati Academy of Medicine

Hawaii Gastroenterological Society

Catholic Medical Association

MEDICAL LICENSURE:

Ohio

Kentucky

Hawaii

Penn (locum tenens)

Maine (locum tenens)

Indiana (locum tenens)

MEDICAL BOARDS:

1974 National Board of Medical Examiners

1977 American Board of Internal Medicine (certified for life), Meets MOC

2016 American Board of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology

COMMUNITY AND BOARD ACTIVITIES:

1981 -1988 Medical Personnel Pool, Board of Advisors

1983- 1989 American Heart Association, Board of Directors, Kentucky Affiliate Vice President, Northern KY Chapter, 1985

1983-1995 Carmel Manor Nursing Home, Board of Directors

1983-1987 Covington Latin School, Board of Directors

1980-1996 St Charles Nursing Home, Medical Advisory Board, Chairman

1988-1997 Northern Kentucky District Health Board, Chairman of the Board, 1994

1986-2006 St Luke Hospital Board of Trustees

1995-2002 Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors

1990-1998 Choice Care, Board of Directors (Health Plan)

Vice-Chairman of the Board 1994 – 1999

Chairman of the Board 1999

Chairman Medical Committee of the Board 1993 – 1999

1989-1990 Northern Kentucky Committee for Uncompensated Care Board

1988 -1989 University of Cincinnati Health Plan Board of Directors.

1993-2010 Citizens Bank of Campbell County, Board of Directors

1990 – present Funded the “Saelinger Family” scholarship fund, Thomas More Univ.

2006 – 2011 Quality Measurement Committee of the Kentucky Medical Association.

2005 – 2016. Claims and Underwriting Committee, Pronational Insurance Corp.

2007 – 2010 Farmers Capital Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: FFKT) Board of Directors

2007 – 2012 Greater Cincinnati Airport Board of Directors

2006 – 2011 Kentucky e-health IT-adoption committee

2006 – 2013 DMAT team Northern Kentucky

2005 – 2013 Northern Ky. Medical Reserve Corp. (MRC)

2000-2009 Northern Ky Chamber: Health Policy Committee

2008-2010 Northern Ky vision 2015: health care committee.

2008 – present. Ohio Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer.

1990 - 2010 Served on several Federal Healthcare advisory groups

for the US Senate Finance Committee and a physician

board to HHS during the Bush and Clinton administrations.

2022-present: Multiple medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic (1 week each)

2019 - present. Board of Trustees, Thomas More University

2024-present. TMU advancement committee, chairman

2019 - present. Physician Volunteer, TriHealth Free Clinic

2018- present. Cincinnati St Vincent de Paul Society volunteer, CMS administrator.

2023 - present. Chairperson for Riverview Catholics Pastoral Council.

2025 - present. Jesuit spiritual center board, chair of the development committee

GRANTS:

1968 - 1969 National Institute of Health Grant: To study the biosynthesis of

The nucleic acid in tissue-cultured cells.

1979 - 1980 G. D. Searle Company, A double-blind comparison of Metamucil and placebo in the treatment of patients with

Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

PUBLICATIONS:

1. Saelinger, Donald A., 1969, Master's Thesis. Control of Aspartic

Transcarbamylase in normal and in Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus-infected Cells: Department of Microbiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

2. Saelinger, Donald A., Hoffman, Jerald L.: Biosynthesis of selenobases in transfer RNA by Escherichia coli: J. Mol. Biol. 69:9-17, 1972.

3. Saelinger, Donald A., Raff, Martin J.: Meningitis as an acute abdomen. Southern Medical Journal. 66: 1147-1148, 1973.

4 Brady, ME, Ritschel, WA, Saelinger, DA, Patterson, A. J.: Animal model and pharmacokinetic interpretation of nicotine poisoning in man. Inter. J Clin. Pharm. Biopharm 17:12-17,1982

5. Saelinger DA, Discoy H. P., Haloperidol induced chronic cholestatic liver disease. Gastroenterology. 83;694, 1982

6. Multiple articles, papers, and lectures relating to the Healthcare Industry: healthcare business and Gastroenterology clinical topics, including physician group governance, healthcare delivery, and healthcare financing. ____________________________________________________________________

*Patient First Physicians Group (PFPG):

I started PFPG in 1975 as a solo internist and gastroenterologist in Northern Kentucky, a community of 700,000 residents in the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan service area. I founded and led the physician group (PFPG) for 35 years. I expanded the group to 90 physicians (multispecialty, 60% primary care) working in 16 sites in Northern Kentucky. Additionally, the group owned an imaging center (X-ray, CT, MRI capability), a Diabetes and Endocrinology Center, a full-service laboratory, physical therapy facilities, a sleep lab, and a large surgicenter. PFPG was the largest multispecialty independent physician group in the Cincinnati metropolitan service area until I sold it to St. Elizabeth Hospital in 2009. I subsequently retired from the organization in Jan of 2010. PFPG and its survivor, St. Elizabeth Physicians, was the highest-performing medical group in the region from a quality perspective, as reflected by three of the region's four major health plans. Additionally, it was a financially successful organization. PFPG joined St. Elizabeth in 2009 to form the basis for an integrated delivery system in Northern Kentucky called St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

After leaving St. Elizabeth Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Physicians, I became involved in various healthcare business consulting roles. I have also participated in multiple locum tenens positions in gastroenterology, as listed above. From 2014 to 2018, I served as the GI section chief and Medical Subspecialty division chief at Straub Medical Center and Hawaii Pacific Health in Honolulu, Hawaii.

After retiring from Hawaii Pacific Health in 2018, I resumed my activity in Gastroenterology locum tenens, primarily at Good Samaritan/Bethesda Hospital. I have also resumed healthcare business consulting for several healthcare accounting firms. I recently retired from Good Samaritan/Bethesda Hospital

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Northern Kentucky healthcare and the bygone St Luke Hospital

As a physician who attended many patients in Northern Kentucky for nearly 40 years, I witnessed massive change not only in the institutions of care but also in the healthcare delivery process.

Recently, patients and friends asked about COVID 19 and why, considering the many recent advancements in healthcare, can we not find a fix for the Coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19 is the single most significant health disaster in most of our lifetimes and the most life disruptive event since World War II. The epidemic has stressed the healthcare system to its limits as we await the development of effective treatment and vaccines for this dreadful infection.

In this and subsequent articles, I will explore some of the significant advancements in medicine as well as the political, financial, and social changes in healthcare over my 50-year healthcare career. In this article, I will look at the bygone era of St Luke Hospital and healthcare in Campbell County, Kentucky.

I joined the St Luke Hospital Medical Staff in 1973. During the subsequent 37 years, I attended many patients at St Luke and served in a variety of physician leadership roles. I was a member of the St Luke board of trustees for 23 years, until the St Luke-St Elizabeth merger in 2010. In the early 1970s, many young, recently trained physicians joined the St Luke medical staff. These new physicians were primarily from the University of Cincinnati and the newly organized St Elizabeth Family practice residency program. Many of these early 1970s physicians were Vietnam War veterans. These new arrivals included Primary Care physicians (Ex: Jerry Dempsey, Todd Cook, Bob Sopko, Doug Miles, Gary Seward) as well as specialists (Ex: Mike Grefer, John Pancoast, Joe Creevy, Ed Elicker, Joe Haas, Bob Lorenz, Bill Monnig, Larry Brennan, George Hall, Jeff Russell, Jim Bilbo, Bill Danneman, George Miller, Charles Allnut). Many others joined the St Luke staff in subsequent years. Along with this new generation of physicians, came new ideas, new technology, and innovation.

Before the arrival of the new generation of physicians, the Medical Staff at St Luke consisted of physicians of the World War II generation. That “Great Generation” group of physicians was responsible for the beginning of modern healthcare in Campbell County after the closure of Speers Hospital in Dayton, Kentucky, and the building of St Luke in the late 1950s. These physicians included Primary Care Physicians (Ex: Bill Beckmeyer, Vino Cholera, John Grover, Carl Anderson, Ed Stratman Bob Clear, Paul Kappes, Bob Draime, Roger Haas, Dick Kruer, John Naber, Fred Stine, Ray Timmerman, Jim Schroer, Art Schultz, Don Frickman) as well as specialist (Ex: John Holmes, Dick Rust, Bob Buten, Bob Kratz, Glen Pfister, Luis Davila, Tony Giglia, Bob O’Conner, John Gunn, Lowell Ford, Jim Armitage, Bob Leake, Carol Milburn, Al Poweleit, Robert Runge, George Tanner, Dick Menke, Charles Stephens, Mo Garrett, Helmut Schellhas, Bob McCabe, Brownie Schwegman).

St Luke Hospital prospered during the last years of the 19th and early 20th centuries under the forward-thinking leadership of Arthur Carvolth, John Hoyle and Dan Vinson and the diverse board of trustees (Ex: Jim White, Pat Garrard, Jim Poston, Betty Daniels, Bill Fennell, Don Haas, Ed Hengelbrok, Don Saelinger, George Hall, Joe Phister, Bill Williams, Bob Sumerel, Jim Schrand).

Additionally, high-quality patient care requires dedicated nursing and ancillary staff. St Luke had many outstanding nurses, ancillary staff, and leadership (Ex: Nancy Kremer, Nancy Gibson, Carol Perry, Paula Kramer, Jan Shenefelt, and many more).

During my tenure as a St Luke physician and physician leader, there were several memorable events:

1. Service expansion in the 1970s and early 1980s including the construction of a 100-bed addition, development of a cancer treatment center, purchase of the Pendleton county hospital, (subsequently converted to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center), and the acquisition of Booth Hospital (St Luke West in Boone County).

2. When the Beverly Hills Supper Club burned on May 28, 1977, St Luke nurses and physicians worked around the clock to care for the many patients injured in the fire. Their skill, dedication, and a well-executed disaster plan received country-wide praise.

3. Involvement of St Luke with the failed venture with the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati with Christ Hospital and the University of Cincinnati.

4. And finally, the merger with St Elizabeth Hospital in 2010 and the establishment of St Elizabeth Healthcare and St Elizabeth Physicians. The initial step in that process was the purchase of Patient First Physicians Group (the multispecialty group with 60 physicians and 16 sites that I helped establish in 1996 and led until its sale to St Elizabeth in 2009).

St Elizabeth Healthcare and St Elizabeth Physicians have evolved to become a high quality and highly respected integrated delivery system for Northern Kentucky residents under the leadership of Garren Colvin.

As I reflect on the bygone 50 years, I am proud to have been a part of this evolution. St Elizabeth Healthcare seems well-positioned to weather the COVID 19 storm and continue to improve the quality and value of healthcare to Northern Kentuckians and maintain the legacy of St Luke Hospital.

St. Luke Hospital

Donald Saelinger MD

Donald Saelinger MD

About Dr. Saelinger