David Esposito, MD

Preserving culture, community and care at Milford Campus

If ever there was a cheerleader for the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital, it would be David Esposito, MD.

Throughout his childhood, Dr. Esposito’s mother was a nurse in the operating room at the former Milford hospital. “She was there for 40 years, so I feel like I grew up in Milford Hospital,” he said. “I loved it. I love the culture and the community aspect of it.”

So much so that he returned to Milford after completing his medical training and set up his own practice as a surgeon and co-founder of the Milford Vascular Institute. He is the chairman of the department of surgery and chief of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus and is one of only approximately 130 surgeons in the United States to be board certified in three specialties: general surgery, vascular surgery and thoracic surgery at Bridgeport Hospital.

Because of his long association with the organization, Dr. Esposito is the first to admit that he was not an early supporter of the formerly independent hospital being integrated with Bridgeport Hospital as that facility’s second campus in June 2019. “The thought of the small community hospital that I love becoming part of a large health system didn’t appeal to me. I was afraid that the culture that made Milford Hospital
so special would be lost and become just another cog in a giant wheel,” he said.

Today, Dr. Esposito is happy to say that the integration has been a success.

“Bridgeport Hospital has a culture and a community that has been a good fit with Milford, and we’ve embraced it,” he said. “If you liked Milford Hospital before, you will love it even more now that we have all of the resources of Yale New Haven Health behind it. I’m thrilled that the Milford Campus is being included in plans for the future. There are a lot of innovative and thoughtful things happening here now, and it’s very exciting to be a part of Yale New Haven Health’s expansion of services.”

The Milford Campus also played a special role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, having been designated as a COVID-free campus and used to free up beds at the main Bridgeport Hospital
campus.

Given the importance of the campus to Bridgeport Hospital and the Milford community as a whole,
the Bridgeport Hospital Auxiliary organized a Centennial Celebration last April to mark the 100th
anniversary of the hospital’s founding in 1921. Funds raised will benefit a variety of renovation and
improvement projects across the Milford Campus.

Dr. Esposito and his partners at the Milford Vascular Institute believe that is a cause worth celebrating. Their generous gift to the Foundation will be earmarked for the purchase of equipment and improvements to the Operating Room and other locations throughout the hospital.

As the Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus looks ahead toward the next 100 years, Dr. Esposito is
confident that it will remain a vital thread in the fabric of the community

“The presence of a high-quality hospital is part of what makes Milford such a great place to live,”
said Dr. Esposito. “I will do anything to see that it succeeds and thrives. This hospital is part of who
I am.”