Williamson named 2019 Summa Health Distinguished Physician
Longtime Summa Health physician, educator and leader
Jay Williamson, M.D., a respected leader, educator and physician at Summa Health for 46 years, has been honored with the 2019 Summa Health Distinguished Physician Award.
The health system’s highest physician honor was announced June 26 by Cliff Deveny, M.D., Summa Health president and chief executive officer, at the Summa Society Celebration — the health system’s annual donor recognition event — at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn.
“Through his achievements as a physician, educator and leader, Dr. Williamson has touched thousands of lives in the Greater Akron community,” Dr. Deveny said. “We are grateful for his service and excited to honor him tonight.”
Dr. Williamson has established rich, long-term relationships with his patients in 46 years of practice, often caring for as many as four generations of the same family simultaneously. He recently celebrated the 100th birthday of a patient he had served for nearly his entire career, a testament to the quality of his individualized, attentive patient care.
A pioneer with Summa Health in the field of family medicine, Dr. Williamson graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine, completed the Family Medicine Residency Program at Summa Health — one of the first in the country — and began his career as a physician at Summa in July 1976.
A dedicated teacher, he was director of Summa’s Family Medicine Residency Program from 1988 to 1995 and has been chair of Summa’s continuing medical education committee since 1979. He was named Summa Family Physician of the Year by Summa’s Department of Family Medicine in December 1998. He has served on numerous boards throughout Summa including the Summa Health board, and the SummaCare board. Now semi-retired, he contributes his decades of wisdom and insight as a member of the Summa Health Primary Care Institute Leadership Council.
Dr. Williamson and his wife, Jan, enjoy spending time with their two adult sons, daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.
Previous winners of the Distinguished Physician Award are Ernest R. Estep, M.D. (2018); Gary B. Williams, M.D. (2017); Robert Liebelt, Ph.D., M.D. (2016); and the late James Tan, M.D. (2015).