Wisdom From Small Town Doctors

WISDOM FROM SMALL TOWN DOCTORS

Other Books by Tim A. Gaertner Abc's for Teens Growing Up With an Alcoholic aBc's for Teens Growing Up With An Alcoholic abC's for Teen Growing Up With an Alcoholic Blue Jean Wisdom (for teens)

Wisdom From Small Town Doctors By Tim A. Gaertner Cover by Sean Seal

WISDOM FROM SMALL TOWN DOCTORS COPYRIGHT 2014 by Tim A. Gaertner All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

This book is dedicated to Dr. TADEUSZ MACIEJCZY of Milledgeville IL. A small town doctor who through his correspondence kept me excited about his project even when I ran into numerous problems. Despite growing old Dr. Maciejczy continues to want to heal. He published a book about his struggles to become a doctor. The title is: THE WORLD SEEN FROM THE DISTANCE OF A SMALL VILLAGE: THE HOUSE TO THE WORLD This book is also dedicated to the thousands of small town doctors who practice in small towns and are the frontline healers for many in their area. These doctors often forsake a bigger paycheck for the chance to heal and be a trusted member of the community.

I would also like to thank the following people who have helped me with this book. Lori Wallaert Barb Casper Sean Seal Nancy Manning John Bushroe and my wife Karen for all her support.

Foreward My intention when I began this book was to try to find some wisdom for young people from someone who is fiercely independent. Who is else is more independent or deserving of recognition than small town doctors? I tried to limit my search for doctors in towns and villages across American living in communities of 2000 or less. For the most part I have come close. I originally sent out postcards. When that was only marginally successful, I began targeting each doctor with a letter. The letter asked for any bits of wisdom the doctors hard learned along the way or something a mentor had told them that helped them. Some responses are short, some fairly lengthy. They all provide wisdom.

Dr. William W. Richardson Tulane University Medical School Graceville, Florida Written by Wayne Richardson Population 2,412 Since there was no hospital in Graceville, Dr. Richardson soon became affiliated with the Washington County Hospital in Chipley, Florida. A problem with this arrangement was driving the twen- ty-six miles round trip twice a day to make rounds, not to mention the times at night that he would have to travel for an emergency with one of his patients. Because of the lack of facilities in Grace- ville, many sick patients stayed at home with family members tending to their needs. This necessitated Dr. Richardson to travel the many country roads around Graceville doing house calls. Dr. Richardson’s days started on the road and ended on the road with the middle being spent at his office. These were very long days and the miles were not just on his car but on his mind and body. This was one of the reasons Dr. Richardson became interested in build- ing his own facility. The idea of a full service hospital for the community was Dr. Richardson’s brain child. He had selfish reasons as stated above, but beyond that, he wanted to provide a service to the community that had up to now been missing. If someone had a relative in the hospital, they had many miles to travel just to visit them. (Dothan 20 miles, Chipley 13 miles, Mariana 26 miles, Panama City 60 miles, Tallahassee 90 Miles). There was no surgery being done locally and fewer and fewer babies were being born locally due to the lack of facilities. Dr. Richardson envisioned a facility where patients would be able to receive the support of their families, in his mind, an ingredient essential in patient recovery. This facility would provide a wide range of services to the community. Some of these were an in-house laboratory, x-ray equipment, a surgical unit, a delivery room, a nursery and nine hospital beds. Along with surgery, obstetrics was a large part of Dr. Richard- son’s practice. Dr. Richardson loved pediatrics and delivering ba- bies was the beginning to getting his kids as patients. Although the records are incomplete, Dr. Richardson delivered forty-six babies in

a span from October 13, 1959 to August 01, 1960 and he delivered nineteen babies from December 1963 to July 22, 1964. Using these numbers alone, it is safe to assume that he delivered hundreds of babies in the Graceville area up until the late 70’s when he stopped taking obstetrical patients. One of Dr. Richardson’s overriding concerns was not only to provide quality health care but to provide quality health care at a reasonable price. A stay in his hospital would cost you $8.00 a day in 1955. In 1964 when the hospital closed, a night’s stay would cost you $10.00 a day. An increase of only 20% in nine years. In 1953, an office visit would cost you $3.00. Thirty-three years later in 1986, an office visit was $15.00. This was an 80% increase but consider that the Consumer Price Index from 1970 to 1985 increased 180%. Dr. Richardson made a good living but he did not make it by taking advantage of his patients. Aside from his paying practice, Dr. Richardson did many com- munity services at no charge. One of the most important services he performed was the overseeing of the polio vaccine administra- tion in the early sixties. This was carried out at the local schools (whites and colored separate) on Sunday after church. This was a county health care project but he donated his time to oversee the setup and administration of the vaccine. He also supported the athletic department of the high school. Every year for many years, Dr. Richardson would perform physicals for no charge for all the athletes. He also served as an unpaid and unofficial team physician for the local high school. If he was able to be at a game, whether in town or out, he was always available to attend to the injuries of any player from either team. Dr. Richardson received many awards and recognition for his service to the community over the years. Two of these stand out more than any of the rest. The first was earned and came on Sep- tember 26, 1972 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dr. Richardson received the degree of fellow from the American Acad- emy of Family Practice, the second largest medical association in the nation and the only one that requires members to keep up with medical progress through continuing education. Dr. Richardson had to pass a rigorous two day long certifying exam as well as hav- ing completed 600 hours of approved postgraduate study to earn his degree. Even though he retired thirteen years ago, Dr. Richard- son continues to take postgraduate classes to keep his license cur-

rent. Dr. Richardson wants to go to his grave with a current license if possible. Graceville, Florida Graceville is a city in Jackson County, Florida. Prices and treatments may have changed over the years, but not rural doctors’ commitment to help all the people in their communi- ties. Dr. Robert F. Mulch Jr. Rush Medical School Hillsboro, Illinois Population 6,207 I coached my two sons, Matt and Luke, in baseball. One day, I asked one of them if they wanted to start or be one of the subs. “I don’t care,” was the response I received. At that point I firmly and sternly told them that yes or no was an appropriate answer, but “I don’t care” means that you really, really “don’t care.” That means you don’t want to play and participate as part of the team. I told them from that day on, I never wanted to hear “I don’t care” from either one of them. From the time our boys were 5 years old, I told them their mom and I would pay for their education as long as they wanted to at- tend school, but the day they graduated or quit they were on their own. Their mother didn’t understand why I kept telling them that until the oldest son quit school. He knew what he had to do—find a job. The younger one finished his undergraduate degree and moved to California to find fame and fortune. He called to say he wanted to fly home for Labor Day. I asked him when I could pick him up at the airport, but never offered to pay for the ticket. Both of our sons are gainfully employed and will be successful husbands and fathers. Hillsboro, Illinois Hillsboro is the county seat of Montgomery County.

Dr. A. Michael Dykstra KCUMB Canton, Missouri Population 2,431 1. Success is not measured by your bank account. 2. Quality of life vs. quantity of life. 3. People vs. power. 4. A smile and a hug go a long way. Expansion on points: 40 years ago I made the decision to come to this small town. I was offered the chance to stay in the city where I would have made triple the amount. Probably I would have been successful in the city, but I don’t count success by my paycheck, but rather by doing what I love. In 1970, I told my new wife we would probably never be rich in the sense the world sees riches, but I did promise quality time with her and our two boys. Glad to say that I was able to keep that promise, and she does get to go shopping once in a while. I have always disliked bean counting. It takes out the equation of care. Caring and listening to people is more important than tal- lying the production numbers at the end of the day. Unfortunately, things have changed a lot in medicine, where the opposite is true. Wish it were not so. A saying in the Book of Proverbs goes like this “Laughter doeth good like a medicine.” How very true. A smile, a hug when ap- propriate and a big old belly laugh, does more good to a worried or harassed soul, than all the medicine in the world. Hardly anyone turns down genuine care and love. Canton, Missouri Canton is the site of Culver-Stockton College.