Obituary: J. Richard Gaintner, 68, Former SOM Dean and
Longtime Hospital Administrator
J. Richard Gaintner, former associate dean of the
School
of Medicine and deputy director of The Johns Hopkins
Hospital, died of pancreatic cancer on May 25 at his home
in Gainesville, Fla. He was 68.
After earning his undergraduate degree from Lehigh
University, Gaintner received his medical degree in 1962
from Johns Hopkins. As a captain in the U.S. Army Medical
Corps, he served as an internist at U.S. Army Hospital in
Fort Carson, Colo., and as assistant chief of staff at the
85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. He returned
to Johns Hopkins as a fellow in hematology from 1966 to
1967.
On May 19 of this year, Gaintner was inducted into the
Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, an honor bestowed upon
former postdoctoral fellows and junior or visiting faculty
who have gained marked distinction in their fields of
physical, biological, medical, social or engineering
sciences or in the humanities. He was nominated for the
honor by Dean Emeritus Richard Ross, who last week told the
Baltimore Sun, "He was a very precise, strong,
decisive administrator."
Gaintner held positions of leadership in a number of
academic medical centers. After spending several years at
the University of Connecticut, he joined Johns Hopkins in
1977 as associate dean for administration in the School of
Medicine and in 1981 was named vice president and deputy
director of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Under his
leadership, ties between the hospital and School of
Medicine were strengthened. Two years later, he joined
Albany Medical College as president and CEO, then moved on
to the Harvard School of Medicine and its affiliated
Deaconess Hospital in Boston, where he again served as
president and CEO. After serving as clinical professor at
the University of Florida College of Medicine and CEO of
Shands Hospital for four years, he went into a brief
retirement but returned to the medical field as executive
vice president for health sciences at Georgetown, where he
was responsible for all educational and research functions
at the medical center. Illness forced him to end his
illustrious career in 2002.
He is survived by his wife, the former Suzanne Butler;
daughters Wendy Holcomb of Tacoma, Wash., Sally G. Hess of
Phoenix, Md., and Jenny Gaintner of Freeland, Md.; and
seven grandchildren.
A memorial service was held on June 4 at Johns
Hopkins' Evergreen House.
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