For more information about V.I.A. events, programs or membership,
please call the V.I.A. office at 215-345-2347.

The Village Improvement Association was the guiding force behind the founding of Doylestown Hospital in 1923, and still owns and oversees the operation of the hospital today. Founded in 1895 by a small, but inspired, group of women from Doylestown, the V.I.A. is nationally recognized as the only Women's Club to own and operate a community hospital. The first meeting was held April 26, 1895 with 14 women present. Since that time the V.I.A. has grown in size and scope to its present membership of over 400 members.

Throughout its history, the V.I.A. has continued to be forward looking, while maintaining the original goals of the Association which are to promote "every proper means of improving and beautifying Bucks County", "improving the health and welfare of the residents", and "supporting a community hospital and other health care facilities for the benefit of all persons." Each year members rededicate themselves to these commitments made in 1895.

V.I.A. recognized the need for public health initiatives and community healthcare services, and began with the employment of a Visiting Nurse in 1916. The 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic galvanized the need for formalized community based health care. The V.I.A., together with local medical professionals and the Doylestown community, opened the Doylestown Emergency Hospital, an eight bed facility, at Pine and Oakland in 1923. As demand increased, Doylestown Emergency Hospital moved to a new location at Belmont and Spruce, Doylestown, in 1939. Originally a 21 bed facility, this hospital expanded to accommodate 54 beds in 1951. As the community grew, a larger facility was needed. Doylestown Hospital was dedicated in 1975 as a 165-bed hospital on West State Street, Doylestown.

In 1992, the V.I.A. acquired the Pine Run Community and Health Center and in 1998 added a separate Assisted Living complex known as Pine Run Lakeview.  In 2001 the Village Improvement Association added the Health and Wellness Center to its family.   The V.I.A. Health System has grown to 483 beds in 2007.

The complete story of the first seventy-five years of the V.I.A. and Doylestown Hospital has been beautifully detailed in the book by Anne Biggs entitled "Through Their Eyes". This Tower Hill Press book published in 1998 is available in the Doylestown Hospital Gift Shop.

Today, the center of V.I.A. club activity is at the James Lorah Memorial Home, 132 N. Main Street, Doylestown. This treasured house-museum commemorates the families who have lived in the historic home and the ongoing life of the V.I.A.





Village Improvement Association Board of Directors 2010-2012

President 
Kathryn Lambert 

1st Vice President 
Marianne Chabot
 
2nd Vice President 
Linda McIlhinney 

Vice President Health Services 
Carolyn Della-Rodolfa
 
Recording Secretary 
Carolyn Kozakowski 

Corresponding Secretary 
Patricia Skowyra 

Treasurer 
Barbara Kieffer
 
Asst. Treasurer 
Beverly Coller Campbell 

Bylaws Committee Chairman 
Jean Leister
 
Finance Committee Chairman 
Joy Levy
 
Fund Raising Committee Chairman 
Jacquelyn Kennedy
 
James-Lorah Memorial Home Chairman 
Phyllis Morris 

James-Lorah Memorial Home Co-Chairman 
Patricia Skowyra

Membership Committee Chairman 
Barbara Botto 

Public Relations Committee Chairman 
Mary Ellen Stanton 

Welfare Committee Chairman 
Margaret Martin 

Immediate Past President 
Donna Walker 

President/CEO of Doylestown Health Foundation 
Richard A. Reif 

Appointed Member 
Maureen Chadwick 

Appointed Member 
Nancy Koller 

Appointed Member 
Elizabeth Sigety 

Parliamentary Advisor 
Joan Parlee