H. Robert Cathcart

1924 - 2017

H. Robert Cathcart of Gladwyne It is with great sorrow that we report the passing of H. Robert Cathcart on February 25. He died at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne where he and his wife, Tressa, lived since 2000. They had been married 65 years when Tressa died in 2016. Bob had full and exciting life. He was the administrator and later president of the Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first, founded in 1751--for 42 years, retiring in 1991. Bob had a passion for health care that was felt by all who knew him and was considered by colleagues a living legend. He gained great satisfaction knowing all the staff at the hospital who he would greet making his rounds of the hospital at all times of the day and night, visiting patients and supporting the staff. Bob believed that an administrator needed to check the pulse of the institution regularly and developed equal rapport with the physicians, nursing staff, facilities personnel, and other administrators. He was known to climb the stairs of the hospital daily, from the basement where he might check in with the plumbers and carpenters, to the nursing floors and doctors’ offices. His hands-on approach to management allowed him to monitor the pulse of the institution and react quickly to emergencies and other problems calmly but decisively. Bob and Tressa were a team, and Tressa often made rounds at the hospital when Bob was away. Bob Cathcart was born in Odebolt, Iowa, in 1924. He studied economics at Drake University and, after returning from service with the Army Air Forces in the Pacific theater of World War II, graduated from the University of Iowa. His long career in hospital administration began at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1949 after he taking a degree in hospital administration at the University of Toronto in 1949 and completing a Kellogg Foundation fellowship at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He soon after became involved in health care for the disadvantaged in Philadelphia, working with the South Philadelphia Health Action, Inc. He became involved early in his career with health care on the local, state, national and international levels, where he served as chairman of the Delaware Valley Hospital Council, president of the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, commissioner of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, chairman of the American Hospital Association, and chairman of the National Commission on Nursing. He served on many health-related boards of directors and consulted internationally. Bob received many awards and honors for his work, including Pennsylvania Hospital’s Good Samaritan Award, the American Hospital Association Distinguished Service Award, and the American College of Healthcare Executives Gold Metal Award. He received an honorary doctorate from Villanova University. Bob enthusiastically assumed many civic, academic, and business leadership responsibilities, including the Johnson and Johnson Wharton Fellows Program for Management for Nurse Executives at the University of Pennsylvania, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, the National Library of Medicine, the Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust, Interspec, VHA, Old Philadelphia Development, American Sterilizer Co., Lomax Health System, US Retirement Communities, the Mawarid Group, the Hunter Group, HRDI, and Waverly Heights. Bob’s hobbies included swimming, staying up to date reading the newspaper, and walking the family Welsh corgi through the hospital neighborhood of Society Hill. He often took visitors to the hospital on these walks, regaling them with local history. He was often seen riding his bike across Center City to meetings. His quest for adventure took him and Tressa on travels around the world. He leaves a daughter, Tressa Ann, son-in-law Jules, and grandchildren, Tressa Joan, Zara Anne Grace, and Jules Robert. Stuard FH - Ardmore Since 1822