Walid Hafez, MD, neurologist, Blessing Health, retires on December 14, completing 45 years of service to Tri-State residents, including the last 14 years as a Blessing Health provider.
After earning his medical degree and completing an internship at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, Dr. Hafez completed a residency in internal medicine at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and a neurology fellowship at the University of Iowa.
He met his future wife Sharon, a Quincy native, when they were students at the University of Iowa. When he completed the fellowship, they moved to Sharon’s hometown, got married, and together began his practice.
“We thought we would be here for a year because I wanted to do a few other things,” he said. “Life took over. We had kids. We got busy. Business was fine.”
Business was also busy because, for the first 12 years of his practice, Dr. Hafez was Quincy’s only neurologist.
After 31 years of solo practice, he joined Blessing Health in 2009.
The highlights of his career include helping create the pain clinic at St. Mary Hospital and the sleep lab at Blessing Hospital, playing a role in bringing the first CT unit to Quincy, making EEG testing and nerve conduction studies available, and being involved in starting support groups and other services for people with Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, and those who suffered strokes and brain trauma.
Some of his fondest memories came from his 23 years as medical director of Blessing Hospital’s Rehabilitation Services.
“I love inpatient rehabilitation. It is the jewel of Blessing Hospital,” he said.
Dr. Hafez has seen many changes in medicine over his 45 years, including the explosion of clinical knowledge, the avalanche of new medications, and computerization to keep up with it all.
Even with the advances, he says the concept of healthcare remains simple.
“You have a human being who needs help and goes to another human being for that help. That’s where the spark is. Everything else and everyone else involved supports that interaction,” he said.
Walid and Sharon Hafez will move from Quincy after his retirement to be closer to family. They have five children and seven grandchildren. But a piece of them will always belong to Quincy.
“Quincy has been a very wonderful community for us. I’ll always have nothing but good memories of my life and work here,” Dr. Hafez concluded.