Today is National Doctor’s Day
By Natalie Petersen, Pathways Director of Business Development
Today is National Doctor’s Day
There is a particular kind of physician hospice and palliative work requires. Not just clinical skill, though that matters deeply. But a willingness to sit with uncertainty, to follow a patient’s lead, to measure success not in cure but in quality — in comfort, in connection, in days lived well.
Pathways is fortunate to have two of them.
On Monday, March 30, we celebrate National Doctor’s Day by honoring Dr. Nate Chappelle and Dr. Julie Davita-Bailey, the incredible doctors who anchor our care and shape our culture in ways that reach far beyond their clinical hours.
Dr. Nate Chappelle came to hospice and palliative medicine drawn by a simple but profound belief: that every patient deserves to get the most out of every day. He’ll tell you that this work is a team effort — that the care Pathways provides only happens because of the people around the patient, working in concert. That orientation, toward collaboration and collective impact, is something his colleagues feel. He stays because he sees the difference being made, for patients and for the people who serve them.
Dr. Julie Davita-Bailey describes her path to this work as a calling — one that began while caring for hospice patients as a primary care provider in Montrose, Colorado, where she felt a connection she couldn’t walk away from. Her commitment is also personal. Having lost two sisters at young ages to cancer, she understands grief from the inside. That experience shapes the way she shows up — not with distance, but with presence. She believes deeply that patients and families deserve to live every moment — sharing meals, making memories, spending time with the people they love — and that her role is to make that possible. After three years away, she has returned to Pathways. She calls it coming home.
Together, they remind us what this work is really about. Not just managing symptoms or navigating transitions — but honoring the full humanity of every person in our care, every step of the way.
Thank you, Dr. Chappelle and Dr. Davita-Bailey. We are grateful you are here.