Dr. Anis Saliba exemplified Rotary motto of Service Above Self

Editor’s note: Dr. Anis K. Saliba, 91, of Lewes, died March 10. His full obituary appears at tinyurl.com/39vucxbz.

Mid-1970s. New guy in town. Young guy. Needed a paper signed by a doctor for physical activity. Delaware Lacrosse Club or something like that. The powers that be, I guess, didn’t want to see me keel over from running up and down the field a bunch of times, chasing a ball.

“Go see Dr. Saliba,” they said. “He’ll take care of you.”

I walked a few blocks from where I was renting in Lewes to the Beebe Clinic building, across the street from Beebe Hospital on Savannah Road. 

In through the door I waltzed, not even a receptionist there for that early appointment. On into his office. Desk and an examination table. No need for either one. Neither of us ever sat down. And so I met the good doctor, starting a friendship that would last several decades. 

Dr. Anis Saliba. Nothing fancy about this solid little man in a white shirt, short sleeves and tie, lively eyes and bushy eyebrows. A surgeon, but he was taking time for me. Not unusual, I would learn as the years passed.

He looked at the wrinkled form needing his signature and tossed it on the desk. He had seen dozens like that one before and would see hundreds more through the ensuing decades. Always willing to help young people needing a doctor’s clearance.

The exam took no more than three minutes. He looked me up and down, thumped me on the chest and back a few times. Never even reached for the stethoscope. Asked me how I felt.  

“Fine,” I said. 

Then he picked up the paper, scribbled his name on it, and handed it to me with a smile.

“There you go. All done.”

“What do I owe you?”

“Nothing,” he said. “No charge. Just go outside and run around with the rabbits and squirrels. Stay active. That will keep you healthy.” 

Best prescription I ever received.

Those words, no charge, fell off of Dr. Saliba’s lips as easily as good morning and goodnight. 

Beebe Medical Center sent out a press release in 2018 when a family waiting room outside the second-floor same-day surgery area was dedicated in honor of Dr. Saliba and his wife, Sue. Part of it stated the following: 

“Perhaps his most enduring legacy was his selfless service to the indigent and uninsured people of Sussex County. Amazingly, over half of Dr. Saliba’s patients received ‘no charge’ notations on their medical charts.”

Despite the simplicity of that physical he provided me, a great depth of knowledge lay behind his eyes. In addition to his extensive formal medical training as physician and surgeon, Dr. Saliba – over his 35-year career with Beebe –  also passed rigorous examinations earning him three medical board certifications – a rarity – for general surgery, thoracic surgery and surgical critical care.

Jeff Fried, throughout his 25-year tenure as president and CEO at Beebe, worked closely with Dr. Saliba, who served 33 years on Beebe’s board of directors and at various times as president of the medical staff and chief of staff. He was one of the Beebe giants.

“He was a kind, generous and caring man,” said Fried. “He may have seemed gruff, but if you scratched the surface, you didn’t have to dig too deep to see what a wonderful person he was. As a physician, he took care of people. He didn’t care whether he was paid or not.

“Beebe used to do health screenings at the poultry plants,” said Fried. “So many of the people we screened said Dr. Saliba was their primary care physician. This busy general surgeon at Beebe. But it didn’t matter to him who he was treating. They were all the same to him, and he was happy to help.”

Fried remembers that Dr. Saliba was very well read, and loved to discuss issues and the books he was reading. “He loved to hear other people’s points of view and though he may disagree, he was never disagreeable. It’s tough to find people like him,” Fried said.

Once a year for many years, in February, Dr. Saliba would trade his surgical scrubs for a white cloth apron, along with other Lewes-Rehoboth Rotary Club members. At the annual Ham and Oyster Dinner fundraiser, held in the downstairs cafeteria of the Lewes School, he would pour coffee and water for hundreds and hundreds of local residents seated shoulder to shoulder at the long tables for the annual feast. Joking with and greeting many of his patients and Beebe employees amidst the hustle and bustle in the loud, fluorescent-lit room, Dr. Saliba could not have more perfectly exemplified Rotary’s motto of Service Above Self. It tickled many to see their doctor and surgeon with an apron cinched around his waist, asking them if they were enjoying their meal.

Later, in his retirement years, Dr. Saliba continued to help with Rotary projects including Flags for Heroes and basting chicken at the club’s Lewes Beach barbecue events. And he continued to bring smiles in summertime when he would show up at the homes and businesses of friends with cardboard boxes filled with tomatoes, squashes, peppers and cucumbers grown in his country garden.

An Eveready bunny if ever there was one, Dr. Anis Saliba kept on ticking well into his ninth decade. Looking back to that best prescription I ever received, it’s clear that the good doctor followed his own advice, serving and helping others for a long and healthy life.