St. Christopher’s Welcomes Dr. Michael L. Spear as Director of Palliative Care

Philadelphia, PA, February 07, 2015 --(PR.com)-- St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, located in Philadelphia, is pleased to welcome Michael L. Spear, MD, MSEdL, to its team. Dr. Spear joins St. Christopher’s as director of the Palliative Care Program and attending neonatologist.

In these roles, Dr. Spear will dedicate his time to providing leadership and clinical services in both departments. He will be coordinating and directing a hospital-wide palliative care program, both inpatient and outpatient.

Board-certified in hospice and palliative care medicine and neonatal-perinatal medicine, Dr. Spear, of Wynnewood, PA, received his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Philadelphia. He completed a pediatric internship and residency at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, followed by a neonatal-perinatal fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2013, he earned his Master’s in Medical Education and Leadership from the University of New England Osteopathic School of Medicine in Maine.

Prior to joining St. Christopher’s, Dr. Spear served as a partner at Christiana Neonatal Associates in Newark, DE from 2000 to 2013. He most recently was a consultant, neonatal/perinatal palliative care IMPACT team at Christiana Care Health Services and part of the neonatal/perinatal CORE palliative care team at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Spear has been a neonatologist for 30 years and has been teaching palliative care for 15 years.

Throughout his career, Dr. Spear has developed three neonatal-perinatal programs. He has written and contributed to numerous papers and abstracts in palliative care and neonatal-perinatal medicine. He has also participated in national presentations about palliative care/education and neonatal-perinatal medicine and has been recognized multiple times as a Top Doc in his community.

“Dr. Spear is well-known for his innovative teaching strategies and expertise in the areas of palliative care and neonatal-perinatal medicine,” says Carolyn Jackson, CEO at St. Christopher’s. “We’re looking forward to him leading an already strong palliative care team at St. Chris and making it a more robust and comprehensive program. We’re honored to have him join St. Christopher’s.”