Linda Parenti, M.D., honored with the 2025 Summa Health Distinguished Physician Award
Women’s Health pioneer awarded health system’s highest physician honor
Summa Health is proud to announce that Linda Parenti, M.D., a trailblazer in women’s health, was honored with the 2025 Summa Health Distinguished Physician Award, the health system’s highest physician honor.
Dr. Parenti was recognized at a special reception hosted by Summa Health Medical Staff on Wednesday, May 28, in the Leuchtag Lobby of the Ann and David Brennan Pavilion on the Summa Health – Akron Campus. Surrounded by colleagues, leaders, family members and friends, she received the award from George Strickler, chair, Summa Health Board of Directors; Cliff Deveny, M.D., president and chief executive officer, Summa Health; Charles Zonfa, M.D., interim president of Summa Health System Hospitals and senior vice president and chief quality officer at Summa Health; and Adrian Dan, M.D., president, Summa Health Medical Staff.
This prestigious award honors a physician who exemplifies the mission and values of Summa Health, demonstrates outstanding leadership and dedication, and acts as a role model professionally and personally in the community. The honoree also is recognized for clinical excellence and leadership in research and training and demonstrates a personal commitment to advancing philanthropy at Summa Health. Dr. Parenti exemplifies all of this – and more.
For nearly four decades, Dr. Parenti made significant contributions to the field of obstetrics and gynecology. As a physician leader at Akron City Hospital, now Summa Health, from 1976 to 2015, she played a pivotal role in shaping the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, including two tenures as interim chair. Notably, Dr. Parenti made history in 1976 as the first female physician to graduate from the OB-GYN Residency Program at Akron City Hospital, following her internship in 1973.
Dr. Parenti dedicated over 40 years, starting as a resident, as the longest-serving OB-GYN at the Adolescent Clinic at Akron Children’s Hospital. She also contributed to organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the Rape Crisis Center of Akron, further demonstrating her commitment to women’s health and community service. In 2024, she received the Outstanding Volunteer Faculty Award from Northeast Ohio Medical University.
As an Emeritus member of the Summa Foundation Board of Directors, Dr. Parenti advanced philanthropy at Summa Health. In celebration of her extraordinary legacy, we invite you to honor Dr. Parenti by supporting areas of care meaningful to her: Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Cancer Institute, Internal Medicine, the Heart and Vascular Institute, Intensive Care or Surgical Services. Your gift will honor Dr. Parenti and directly impact the patients and families she spent a lifetime serving. Give today: summahealth.org/give.
Dr. Parenti joins a distinguished group of past honorees including the late William "Bill" Smucker, M.D. (2024); Thomas “Tom” M. File Jr., M.D. (2023); William “Bill” Bauman, M.D. (2022); J. Patrick Flanagan, M.D. (2021); Jay Williamson, M.D. (2019); Ernest R. Estep, M.D. (2018); Gary B. Williams, M.D. (2017); the late Robert Liebelt, M.D., Ph.D. (2016); and the late James Tan, M.D. (2015).
