Kaplans endow chair at LVHN in honor of Dr. Lawrence Levitt

The Lehigh Valley Health Network dedicated its newest endowed chair on May 3 at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest. Arnold and Deanne Kaplan created the Endowed Chair in Multiple Sclerosis in honor of Dr. Lawrence Levitt.

The holder of the chair is Dr. Dmitry Khaitov, a neurologist who focuses on treating MS patients and codirects the LVHN MS Center with Dr. Gary Clauser. The chair will provide funds to expand MS educational programs, health and wellness programs for MS patients and clinical research for the Multiple Sclerosis Program at Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute. The Multiple Sclerosis Program is recognized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as one of its Centers for Comprehensive MS Care.

Dr. Brian Nester, LVHN president and CEO, said LVHN neurology saw almost 1,500 a patients annually over the past three years, and. “Every week,” he said, “approximately three to four new patients with MS seek care at LVHN either as a new diagnosis or as a transfer from another institution.”

Arnold Kaplan, a former member of LVHN’s board of trustees who has generously supported the Lehigh Valley Jewish community over the years, spoke at the dedication ceremony about how his wife, Deanne, has multiple sclerosis and by 1972 needed a wheelchair to get around. At that time, he worked at Air Products and Chemicals, having been hired by its founder, Leonard Parker Pool. The visionary behind what is now LVHN, Cedar Crest Pool, connected the couple with Dr. Levitt, a neurologist at LVHN who would “do whatever it took to help Deanne,” said Kaplan.

“Little did we know then the impact Dr. Levitt and Lehigh Valley Health Network would have on our family,” Kaplan said. “It is a great honor to present this endowed chair today and to complete the circle that began 50 years ago.”

Levitt, for his part, pointed to his relation-