Dr. Stanley Erney

Dr. Stanley L. Erney, of Endwell, beloved physician to many Southern Tier residents and visionary medical educator, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on January 25, 2022, at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Dorothy (Dot) Stratton Erney, his children Trent (Sally) Erney, MD, Trena Gregory, Troy (Andrea) Erney, Treavor (Shari Eliker) Erney, Tracy Erney MD (Timothy Cooke), his grandchildren Alana, Todd (Alexi), and Ryan Gregory and their father Steven Gregory; Bryce, Alexandra, Nolan, Maryn, and Ava Erney and his great grandchildren Averie, Raya, Kaden, Maddex and Amzie. He is also survived by his brother Ronald (Ellen) Erney. He was predeceased by his brothers Dale (Betty) Erney and Terrance Erney and grandson Eli Thomas Gregory. Dr. Erney was born on November 22, 1934, to the late Miriam Shelly Erney Gerhart and Stanley W. Erney and grew up in Quakertown and several other southeastern Pennsylvania towns. He graduated from Souderton High School, Souderton, PA, and Bluffton University in Bluffton, OH. After college he became a mathematics teacher and was then drafted into the Army for a short period of time. He was honorably discharged early due to a desperate need for science and math teachers. While teaching he decided to attend medical school to become a physician. Dr. Erney received his MD degree from Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA in 1964. From 1964-1967, he did his internship and residency in the United States Public Health Service at hospitals in San Francisco, CA, Norfolk VA, and the Indian Medical Center in Gallup, NM. Dr. Erney continued to serve the indigenous, Native American population in the Gallup area as well as precept and mentor medical students and residents over the next four years. In 1971, he was recruited by Wilson Memorial Medical Center in Binghamton, NY as Program Director to start a new residency in Family Medicine. Family Medicine had just been certified as a specialty in 1970 and the discipline was still evolving, so there were few blueprints as to how to implement such a program. Dr. Erney was a change agent who designed a Family Medicine Residency to train doctors in patient-centered, family-oriented, community-based medical care—essentially building how we experience primary care medicine today but novel concepts in the 1970s. He instituted, for the first time, a collaborative team approach using allied health professionals and expanded nursing roles with a preventive and public health focus. He merged mental health care with physical health care to address all of the issues his patients faced. Once the Family Practice Residency was successfully running, Dr. Erney became Director of Ambulatory Services at Wilson and then was recruited by Upstate Medical University College of Medicine as Program Director in Family Medicine for the Clinical Campus at Binghamton, NY. In 1976 he began an innovative Continuity of Care Program that placed third year medical students in the community office of primary care doctors on a weekly basis for a year. It is a practice that has been much copied by medical schools all over the country. Throughout his 50-year career, Dr. Erney displayed a concern for and commitment to serving socially disadvantaged and medically underserved people. He not only served on the Governing Committee of the Dr. Garabed A. Fattal Community Free Clinic in Binghamton, NY, but also volunteered treating patients there. He served on the Board of Planned Parenthood of Broome County and was the Medical Director for many years. He was so well-known for his volunteer work that his colleagues and staff once gave him a t-shirt that read “Champion of the Underdog!” Dr. Erney received many awards for his visionary educational efforts including the 1993 Excellence in Teaching Award from SUNY Health Science Center and the 1994 Family Educator of the Year Award by the New York State Academy of Family Physicians. He was also a recipient of the Clinical Campus Dean’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Service. Upon retirement, he was appointed Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family Medicine. He was a loving, dedicated father and took much delight in his children’s, grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s activities and accomplishments. He particularly loved to travel with his wife Dot, and they reached every continent except Antarctica with trips to Russia, South America, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, China, Europe and the British Isles and the Caribbean. He also loved spending time at Laurel Lake in Pennsylvania. He loved to dance, attend parties, ski, golf, play cards and attend monthly lunches with his former colleagues in his retirement. He was always accompanied by a loyal canine companion, but unfortunately his most recent dog, Toby, passed away in September 2021. Dr. Erney was a kind, intelligent, thoughtful mentor to many of his colleagues who cherished both his friendship and opinion but perhaps Dr. Erney’s greatest legacy, aside from his family, are the many well trained primary care physicians in active practice in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York and beyond, who are currently caring for thousands of patients. The family would like to thank Endwell Family Physicians, particularly Drs. Bruce Bowling and Jonathan Harris, for the care they provided to Stan during his life and final illness.
There will be no calling hours or public funeral. A Celebration of Life will be planned for the summer and contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the charity, of your choice, that reminds you the most of Stan.