A Full-Circle Moment: Former Patient Continues the Journey as Dr. Schiappa Retires from Silver Cross

After 40 years serving thousands of patients, Dr. Jeffrey Schiappa will be retiring from his family medicine practice with Silver Cross Medical Group at the end of September. But one of his former patients is taking over the practice: Dr. Khader Doleh, who grew up in Orland Park and attended school there before heading to college and medical school.

Dr. Doleh began seeing patients in the practice on September 14.

“I have a lot planned,” said Dr. Schiappa. “My wife, Lynda, says she’s got a lot of projects for me. I said, ‘Hey, this is my retirement.’”

Although he’ll miss seeing longtime patients, and they certainly will miss him, Dr. Schiappa is confident they’ll like the new guy, someone he’s known since he began seeing him as a patient when he was 13.

“I think I saw his mother, and then the rest of the family,” Dr. Schiappa said. “They were very friendly and respectful.”

Dr. Doleh remembers Dr. Schiappa as being “a very good listener. Very patient and paid great attention to detail.”

But while Dr. Doleh said doctors in his family influenced his decision to pursue medicine, Dr. Schiappa was very supportive and even offered a few tips here and there.

He’s excited about continuing the practice. “Dr. Schiappa was retiring, and I was ready to join a practice. He was very happy to hear about it. It’s like we’ve come full circle,” he said.

Dr. Doleh is a board-eligible internal medicine doctor with Silver Cross Medical Group in Orland Park. He earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and completed residency training at Detroit Medical Center Corporation and Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital. As a D.O., he focuses on preventive care, chronic disease management and building long-term relationships with patients to help them achieve their best possible health.

As he plans myriad jaunts, including visits to adult children and grandchildren in California, along with hunting and fishing trips, Dr. Schiappa said his patients will be in great hands.

“We’re a lot alike, although I’m louder,” he said with a laugh. “We both focus on the patients’ needs above all else. I think patients will really like him. He is a great guy. I think the hand-off will be very smooth.”

For Dr. Doleh, stepping into the practice is more than a professional milestone. It’s a homecoming. A lifelong resident of Orland Park, he grew up in the very community he now serves and graduated from Carl Sandburg High School before pursuing his medical career.

Now, he has the opportunity to care for the neighbors, friends and families who helped shape him, while carrying forward the patient-centered approach that made Dr. Schiappa a trusted physician for four decades.

Dr. Doleh’s office is located in the Silver Cross Health Center and Urgent Care, 17047 S. LaGrange Road, in Orland Park.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Doleh, visit silvercross.org