Dr. Kheder Ashker Named Physician of the Year

The Western Maryland Health System named Dr. Kheder Ashker as Physician of the Year during its Physician Recognition Gala held Saturday night at the Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort.

Ashker was chosen from among 52 nominees submitted in 91 nominations from medical staff, health system employees, volunteers, and board members. Nominators cited his dedication, compassion for patients, and his passion for learning. Much of his "leisure" time is spent doing medical research to find the best ways to improve the lives of his patients.

One of two neurosurgeons in Cumberland, Ashker has been on call every other day for years and has been known to come to the hospital for an emergency even when he is not on call.

Ashker has been in private practice with his colleague Augusto Figueroa since July 1981. Over the years, his on-going research and education have enabled him to bring many new procedures in his field to his patients in Cumberland. Along with fellow physicians Figueroa and Riaz Janjua, he was instrumental in establishing the comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation unit on the Memorial Campus in the 1992.

He came to Cumberland following his residency in neurosurgery at the West Virginia University Hospital and Medical Center in Morgantown, where he also did a residency in anesthesiology. Ashker did a residency and internship at Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh after completing medical school at the Damascus Medical School in Syria.

Ashker takes great pride in his family. His wife Lorraine is active in the medical staff alliance and other community organizations. His three children are following him in the field of medicine; two are becoming physicians and one a pharmacist.

Other physicians who were nominated for Physician of the Year include Jerry Adams, Meera Appaswamy, Robustiano Barrera, James Benjamin, Julie Bielec, George Breza, Tom Chappell, Roy Chisholm, Ik Cho, Habib Chotani, Steven Coutras, Robert Dawson, David Dusenbery, Thomas Devlin, Mike Dwyer, Michael Ehlers, Ray Espina, Tom Ghobrial, Jerry Goldstein, George Hennawi, Riaz Janjua, William Kellermeyer, George Khachan, Jose Loveria, Charles Magal, William May, Nanette McCullough, Elmaslias Menchavez, James Moen, Mark Nelson, Prabhaker Pandey, John Pappas, Sivan Pillai, Alida Podrumar, Nagaratnam Ranjithan, Robert Rapp, Melissa Robinson, Mark Sagin, Sikander Sandhir, Philip Schroeder, Huma Shakil, Suresh Shrestha, Harjit Sidhu, Anil Singh, Steven Smith, Paul Sokoloski, John Stansbury, Christopher Vagnoni, Romulo Villanueva, Gary Wagoner, and Gregg Wolff.