Meet our community physician leaders
Jill Schaffeld, DO, East Region
Jill Schaffeld knew from an early age that she wanted to be a doctor, but she didn’t decide on pediatrics until her last year of medical school. That’s when the Northern Kentucky native got her first taste of what it was like to care for kids and their families, and she was hooked.
“Building relationships with families and patients is my favorite part of the job,” she says. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true.”
Schaffeld received her DO from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2007 and completed her pediatric residency at Cincinnati Children’s in 2010. She’s been at HealthSource of Ohio Eastgate Pediatrics ever since, and in 2015, became the medical leader there. She recently took on the role of community physician leader for the East Region after Shana Alexander stepped down to do mission work in Nicaragua.
“I’m extremely excited to re-establish my connection with Cincinnati Children’s,” she says. “I had a wonderful residency there, and to work with faculty and staff again seemed like a wonderful opportunity. It’s important to have a liaison between Cincinnati Children’s and the community physicians.”
Schaffeld’s biggest concern as a pediatrician is the environmental stressors her patients grow up with, like substance abuse, unstable homes, domestic violence, lack of education and food insecurity. “There are so many obstacles in life, even if you have a supportive family,” she says. “When you take some of the basics away, it makes things twice as hard.”
Schaffeld sees a lot of problems with opioid abuse in her practice, mostly infants who have been exposed prenatally. “It’s gotten to the point where it’s almost surprising to do a drug screening and have it come back negative. The odds are really stacked against these kids.”
She and her colleagues try to make sure the parents are plugged into community resources, including Every Child Succeeds and Help Me Grow, while continuing to look for more ways to offer support.
“Because we are pediatricians, we are in a unique position to make an impact, to grow with families,” says Schaffeld. “We start with them from day one. I hope that because of these strong relationships we build, families will consider us a trusted source of help.”
Robert Engelhardt, MD, West Region
Rob Engelhardt is a Cincinnati West Sider through and through. He went to Elder High School, then attended Ohio State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy in 1992. After that, he returned home to work part-time in his family’s independent pharmacy while attending medical school at the UC College of Medicine. He earned his MD in 1996, finished his residency at Cincinnati Children’s in 1999, and went into practice at Queen City Physicians, with offices on Glenway Avenue and Western Ridge at Harrison Avenue.
“During pharmacy school, I did a rotation with the infectious disease service at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and I really liked it,” Engelhardt recalls. “In pediatrics, your patients can’t always tell you what’s wrong. So there’s more of an art to practicing medicine. Everything isn’t spelled out for you. You have to figure it out.”
That medical sleuthing and the opportunity to build long-term relationships with families are what Engelhardt loves most about his job. “It’s amazing to me how much the little things you do mean to people,” he says. “A parent will come up and say, ‘You were the first doctor to see my baby in the hospital nursery,’ and now that ‘baby’ is 6’2” and weighs 180 lbs. They quote what I said to them 15 years ago. These are things I did in the course of my daily work, but it made an impression.”
Engelhardt jokingly says he stepped up as the community physician leader for the West Region because “Ernie made me do it!” But like his predecessor, Ernie Ciambarella, Engelhardt believes it’s important for faculty and leadership at Cincinnati Children’s to hear the community physician’s viewpoint, especially when decisions are being made.
“There’s a bit of an ‘ivory tower’ effect when you spend all your time at the medical center,” he says. “We in the community see a tremendous number of kids. A lot happens before the kids get to the hospital and after they go home. Some things may not be obvious if you’re not the one in the trenches.”
Looking ahead, Engelhardt wonders how the healthcare marketplace and reimbursement will evolve. “It’s a big unknown,” he says. “What will a patient visit look like in 10 to 15 years? What will my day look like? I’m hearing more of these concerns from the adult side of medicine, but it will probably trickle down to pediatrics.”
One thing that Engelhardt hopes will not change is the value parents place on pediatric care, on seeing a familiar face when they bring their child for a checkup. “I believe that whatever happens with healthcare, families want that personal relationship, someone they can trust and turn to with their ongoing healthcare needs.”
