Mount Nittany Health Welcomes New Medical Director of Palliative Care Services at Medical Center

Susan Hostetter Krieger, MDLast week, Mount Nittany Health announced the addition of Susan Hostetter Krieger, MD, as Mount Nittany Medical Center’s medical director of palliative care services.

Dr. Krieger’s philosophy of care focuses simply on being there for each patient and their loved ones, she says. “Patients and caregivers become part of an extended family. I make it my mission to do what’s best for the patient, not just what’s best to do to the patient,” adding, “We’re in this journey together.”

She earned her bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, now Drexel University College of Medicine, in affiliation with Hahnemann University Hospital. She earned her Master of Science and her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Dr. Krieger completed both her internship and residency at the former Medical College of Virginia, now the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine in Hospice & Palliative Medicine.



With more than 25 years of healthcare experience, Dr. Krieger brings with her a wide range of palliative care knowledge. In 2012, she spearheaded an adult palliative care inpatient service at Orange Park Medical Center, an initiative by Community Hospice of Northeast Florida. Dr. Krieger also served as associate medical director for the Jacksonville, Florida, based pediatric palliative and hospice program, Community PedsCare, and as a palliative and hospice physician and assistant professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville.

She currently practices with Nittany Valley Medical Associates in State College.

With family ties to the central Pennsylvania area, Dr. Krieger says that she is happy to get back to her roots. “My relatives have been in the area since the early 1900s,” she shares. “The Hostetter Business Services Building on the Penn State campus is named for my great-grandfather, S.K. Hostetter, the university’s first vice president of finance for Penn State.”

Outside of the office, Dr. Krieger enjoys spending time with her husband of 30 years, Eric, and their daughter, Erica, a senior at the Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Krieger joins Melissa Galloway, CRNP, who joined palliative care services in 2016, after working as a registered nurse with the Medical Center since 2011.

To learn more about Mount Nittany Health and palliative care services offered at Mount Nittany Medical Center, visit mountnittany.org.

Mount Nittany Health, a health system located in State College, Pennsylvania, consists of Mount Nittany Medical Center, a 260-bed acute care facility, and Mount Nittany Physician Group, a staff of more than 150 providers who offer primary and specialty care services at a growing number of offices throughout central Pennsylvania. In addition to providing high-quality care, Mount Nittany Health strives to improve the health and wellness of its community through education programs, events, and health screenings. Visit mountnittany.org to learn more about Mount Nittany Health’s mission to make people healthier.

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