Meet Dr. Shelley Bundy Stanko, Saint Joseph London Chief Medical Officer

As Saint Joseph London celebrates 100 years of service, Chief Medical Officer Shelley Bundy Stanko, MD, reflected, “I was born there and I am 50. So that means I have existed alongside this hospital for half its existence.”

In a way, Dr. Stanko, a lifelong resident of London, was raised at the hospital, too, where her mother, Marna Bundy, worked as a nurse.

“I kind of grew up in the hospital in a lot of ways,” she said. “She worked in several different departments in my early childhood and then she went into some administrative nursing in the nursing home, then came back as a nurse educator.” 

With that early exposure, Dr. Stanko knew she wanted to go into medicine, but was undecided about a pathway until she was at Georgetown College, where her calling became clear. She later graduated from University of Kentucky College of Medicine, followed by a residency at Cabarrus Family Medicine in North Carolina.

Once she finished her residency, Dr. Stanko returned to London — and her roots — in 2004, joining a primary care practice. “When I came back, for me, it was definitely the connection with the people,” she explained. “One of the reasons I have loved family medicine and primary care is because an essential part of that job is to spend time listening to people. And so often, they’re going to tell you what is critically important to them. … So it is not just about writing a prescription or ordering an X-ray — it is very much about listening to patients and helping them to meet their own needs and helping to meet their needs.”

Family connections were another draw. Both her mother and her father, Clemons Bundy, are Laurel County natives and many family members live there. “One other aspect that’s critical to me that I have remained in London is that my children get to grow up with that kind of family support,” she said.

From Primary Care to Administration

In 2013, Dr. Stanko took on a new role, when she became the London hospital’s Chief Medical Officer and she and her partner joined the Saint Joseph Medical Group. 

She still sees patients in a nursing home and a handful of special cases. “I spent a lot of time training to be a physician, so I think that being that clinical person helps me with my administrative work. Continuing to have that contact, I think, keeps me relevant,” Dr. Stanko said.

Being in an administrative role also means she is able to look out for the health of the entire community, she noted. “I’m an advocate for trying to make sure we maintain our health care as close to home as possible, to limit people needing to use their resources to travel and also just to have that proximity. So this is a community that raised me and continues to shape me — and my children — and I like being able to effect positive change in that space for their health.”

Dr. Stanko takes a big-picture view in thinking about significant moments in her career, saying a common thread runs through them: “In every situation I can think of, it’s that whole team — it’s the medical assistants, it’s the nurses, it’s the physicians, it’s the advanced practice providers — just recognizing here’s what we need to do and let’s do it efficiently.” She praised the hospital’s medical staff and its diversity: “That is such a gift to all of us — that we experience different cultures and different backgrounds and perspectives.”

There have been many changes in the hospital over the years, but for Dr. Stanko, the most significant one was construction of a new facility in 2010. “That was such a labor of love from administration, from our owners, from our physicians and our community,” she said. She noted  the hospital is continuing to add and grow new services, including Level III Trauma certification and Level II Nursery designations, and expanding orthopedic, cardiology and women’s care services. 

In addition to her service in the Saint Joseph Health ministry, Dr. Stanko is the Medical Director of the Laurel County Health Department, a member of the Laurel County Board of Health and is active in First Baptist Church, where she helps with the women’s ministry. 

She and her family — husband, Ed and three children — are runners. The couple met running cross-country at Georgetown, and she has run 17 marathons, including the New York City marathon twice, and a host of other distance races. She also supports a charity, Bras for Girls, that collects sports bras for middle and high school girl athletes, noting that participating in sports boosts girls’ self-esteem and leadership development.

The root of her drive, Dr. Stanko said, is service. “How do I help improve some aspect of the lives of people who are around me, my community, people who are important to me. Also, it feeds me — it fills my cup. There is a lot of joy in giving. It’s not just about money, but it’s about your time and your talents.. … I have been blessed over and over and over by the opportunity to take care of my community — people I go to church with, my former teachers, former classmates. And that opportunity has been the greatest blessing in my professional career.”

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