Faye Petro Gargiulo and Frank Sanderson, Jr., MD are strong advocates for Riverside, for health care advancements and for those who provide and enable that care. Their passion for medical education and their commitment to supporting health initiatives through their generous philanthropy was inspired in part by, and now supports, Riverside Health System’s commitment to exceptional care and caregivers.
Before her retirement in 2018, Ms. Gargiulo was part of the Riverside leadership team for more than 30 years and played a rewarding role in expanding Riverside's extraordinary care to as many patients as possible. She touched many areas of Riverside: as the first service line administrator for oncology, by developing wellness initiatives, by recruiting and retaining talented physicians, via marketing, clinical research and by leading the Riverside Foundation team during it’s early years of growth.
Dr. Sanderson embodies the concept of lifelong learner and patient advocate. After his first 35 years of active, trend-setting clinical practice Dr. Sanderson “retired the first time” to undertake an additional three-year fellowship at The University of Virginia. Upon completion, he became the Peninsula’s first neurointerventional radiologist, providing local patients with rapidly evolving approaches to stroke and neurologic care. With his additional training and his return to Riverside in 2008, Dr. Sanderson became the clinical lead of the team that built the Riverside Health System Neurointervention Program and established the first accredited comprehensive stroke center in all of Eastern Virginia. After practicing medicine for 46 years – 32 at Riverside - Dr. Sanderson retired from full-time service in 2016, only to continue to care for and support patients and staff until 2020.
In honor of Ms. Gargiulo’s years of service at Riverside and their life together, Dr. Sanderson founded the Petro & Sanderson Educational Scholarship in 2018 to benefit selected students at the Riverside College of Health Careers. Ms. Gargiulo and Dr. Sanderson continue to champion and support numerous programs within Riverside including initiatives in the Neuroscience, Oncology, and Education fields. Both enthusiastically continue to celebrate and support an optimistic future for health care by mentoring new generations of community providers and the team members who enable their work.
