In Memoriam: Dr. Leonard Bachman
From the Philadelphia Enquirer
Leonard Bachman, 99, formerly of Philadelphia, longtime doctor, former Pennsylvania secretary of health, retired U.S. Public Health Service officer, former chief of anesthesiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, professor of pediatric anesthesia, volunteer, and veteran, died Friday, May 24, of cancer at his home in Chevy Chase, Md.
Dr. Bachman was an expert in anesthesiology, public health, public service, and politics. He lived for stretches in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Washington, and his impact was felt in medicine and public service wherever he was. “He believed that access to quality health care was a human right,” his family said in a tribute, “and he advocated for the policies that would make that a reality for every individual.”
Direct and often critical in his official comments, Dr. Bachman sometimes clashed with other doctors and politicians. He proposed a patients’ bill of rights and supported state taxes on cigarettes and the disclosure of physician salaries.
He was recruited from Johns Hopkins University medical school in Baltimore in 1955 to be CHOP’s chief of anesthesiology and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school. Before leaving for Harrisburg in 1972 to serve under Shapp, he helped develop a pediatric intensive care unit at CHOP and created and refined groundbreaking tools and technology for anesthesiologists.
He also taught at George Washington University’s school of medicine and elsewhere, and earned three honorary college degrees. He served as president of the Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists and was active with a dozen other professional organizations.
He joined the Navy’s college training program for officers and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster during World War II, and went on to earn his medical degree at the University of Maryland in 1949. He served in Navy hospitals in Maryland and Massachusetts, and medical centers in Boston before moving to Baltimore and Philadelphia.
He was a member of a literary society in college and quoted Shakespeare often. He told engaging stories about visits to research ships, was a board member of the Society Hill Civic Association, and described himself as a “realistic visionary.”
He was, his daughter said, “an exceptionally curious man, with wide-ranging interests and knowledge, with a willingness to learn from, and teach, anyone.”
In addition to his children, Dr. Bachman is survived by seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and other relatives.