Esteps make "special delivery" — a gift to Summa Health

Ernest R. Estep, M.D., a longtime obstetrician and gynecologist who delivered thousands of babies over a nearly 40-year career at Summa Health, and his wife, Bonnie, are making another special delivery — a $750,000 gift to Summa Health and its campaign, “Caring For You … Then, Now, Always.”

Summa Health will recognize their gift in the Dr. Ernest R. and Bonnie L. Estep Labor and Delivery Lobby in the new patient tower on the Akron Campus.

The “Caring For You” campaign’s goal is to raise $75 million to empower clinical excellence and improve the patient experience at Summa Health. Nearly $60 million has been raised to date.

“Bonnie and I invite the entire community to join us in supporting our local health system and its heartfelt mission to serve everyone in need,” Dr. Estep said.

The Esteps join a list of dedicated community philanthropists whose leadership gifts to the “Caring For You” campaign so far have totaled more than $25 million: community leaders Ann and the late David Brennan, Pam and Gary B. Williams, M.D., Yvonne and Richard Hamlin, Nancy and Vincent DiGirolamo, the late Basil Smith, M.D., Vanita and James Oelschlager, Dee and Rennick Andreoli, the Verna Hancock estate, Patty and Phil Kaufmann, FirstEnergy Foundation and the Lehner Family Foundation.

“We are thankful to the Esteps and so many others who are making a difference by helping Summa Health care for our community,” said Rennick Andreoli, chair of the “Caring For You … Then, Now, Always” campaign.

In addition to helping patients just starting or expanding their families, Dr. Estep was a beloved mentor to hundreds of young physicians, many of whom became leaders at Summa Health — including Cliff Deveny, M.D., president and chief executive officer.

“Dr. Estep has had a tremendous impact on Summa Health physicians and our patients and families,” Dr. Deveny said. “I’m a better person because of Ernie.”

In 2018, Dr. Estep was awarded the Distinguished Physician Award, the highest physician honor bestowed by Summa Health, in recognition of his excellence as a clinician, educator and leader. Dr. Estep served in a variety of leadership positions, including medical staff president from 1988-89 and as a founding board member at SummaCare. His leadership also extended into the community as a founding member of the Medical Society of Greater Akron and its board of directors in 1996, serving as its president in 1999. He retired in 2004.

Dr. and Mrs. Estep also are avid gardeners. Their beautiful 11-acre estate in Bath Township is catalogued in the Smithsonian’s Archive of American Gardens and was featured in the March/April 2018 issue of Ohio Gardener magazine. The Esteps also support the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Nature Conservancy, where Dr. Estep has served on the board of directors for many years.

The Esteps — high school sweethearts from Tiffin, Ohio — were married in 1964. They graduated from Tiffin’s Heidelberg University, where Dr. Estep has served on the board of trustees since 2000.