Colleague Spotlight: Dr. Meredith Townsend

From idolizing Special Agent Dana Scully, MD, from the X-Files as a girl to being named HCA HealthONE Swedish’s Staff President, Dr. Meredith Townsend has had an extraordinary career shaped by extraordinary women. Arguably the most influential was her sister, who changed the course of Dr. Townsend’s life just before she entered medical school.

The sister, who was pregnant at the time, said Dr. Townsend was too much of a people person to be doing autopsies like her TV heroes, and suggested a radical shift after a recent visit to her OB/GYN. “My sister has always been one of my North Stars and she was like, ‘I really think you should look into obstetrics. This is what I see you doing.’ She knew, before I did, that with my personality, those were going to be my people,” Dr. Townsend said.

Originally from Massachusetts, she earned her undergraduate degree at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and moved to Colorado with her future husband. During her time here, Dr. Townsend worked at the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, where then-director Tammi Schaeffer, DO, became a close friend, mentor and a major influence for the next big turning point in her medical career: choosing to become a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). “She was emergency medicine trained, fellowship trained in toxicology, and just one of the smartest people I have ever met in my whole life. I knew that’s what I wanted to be,” Dr. Townsend said.

Like a Doctor of Medicine (MD), DOs are fully licensed to practice and perform surgery in all 50 states. Students seeking either degree go through the same training and have four years of residency where the programs are merged. While MDs traditionally focus on a specific ailment, DOs have a more holistic approach and treat the body and health issues as a system.

Around the same time, Rocky Vista University, Colorado’s first College of Osteopathic Medicine opened in Parker and Dr. Townsend was among its second cohort of graduates in 2013. Four years later, after her residency at Inspira Medical Center in New Jersey, Dr. Townsend returned to Colorado to join and now leads a long-time Englewood OB/GYN practice on Swedish Medical Center’s campus, where again, an experienced female physician mentored her.

“Dr. Nancy Germer just took me under her wing and taught me everything I needed to still learn about surgery and minimally invasive techniques. It just accelerated my growth right out of the gate. It was special because I know a lot of practices can’t give that kind of attention to new physicians just starting out, but now I can pay it forward,” Dr. Townsend said.

It was Dr. Amy Adelberg, one of the hospital’s maternal-fetal medicine specialists, who first recommended Dr. Townsend take her leadership to the next level. In 2020, just three years out of residency, she became chair of the Women’s and Children’s Department on Swedish’s Medical Executive Committee, the leadership body for all physicians and providers allowed to practice at the hospital.

Following the pandemic, several committee physicians moved on from HCA HealthONE Swedish and Dr. Townsend quickly found herself as one of the more senior leaders. After serving just one year, half the standard term as president-elect, Dr. Townsend became Medical Staff President on January 15, 2024. She is the fifth woman to lead HCA HealthONE Swedish’s physicians and providers in the hospital’s 119-year history.

“I had a lot of people try to talk me out of going into medicine. They said it wasn’t worth it or I wasn’t good enough to make the cut. A lot of negativity. Now I always tell our medical students, ‘If this is what you want to do, you’ve got to set your own path. You might have to fight harder than the person sitting next to you, but you’re going to end up where you belong,’” she said.

Dr. Townsend considers it a joy to lead, mentor and support the physicians and providers who practice at HCA HealthONE Swedish. And she’s writing a new chapter as our facility and staff continue to expand to meet the needs of the growing community. A chapter as colorful and personal as her official staff photo.

It’s bright pink in a sea of black and navy suits pictured on the wall. Exactly how she wants the whole hospital to see her, “When I used to visit my sister in Manhattan, I was always the person on the subway wearing the most color because New Yorkers love black. They instantly knew I wasn’t from that world. With me, you get a little personality and pizzazz. It's just easier to be yourself. And with me, that's what people get.”