I wanted to find out more about Dr. McConnell. This article is worth reading - it's a great addition to the nation health care debate. Here's enough to get you started:
It was raining softly 12 years ago, the day Jack McConnell, MD, had the epiphany. McConnell remembers how the rain had turned the dirt roads on Hilton Head, South Carolina, into mud, and how, as he drove out the back gate of his subdivision, he spotted a man walking along a path without an umbrella.
McConnell had a habit of picking up hitchhikers. It was payback of sorts for all the rides his family received when he was growing up in the hills of southwest Virginia. His father was a Methodist minister who never had a car. He told folks that he "couldn't support Mr. Ford" on a preacher's salary and send his seven children to college.
His father also was fond of asking his children at suppertime. "And what have you done for someone today?"--a phrase that became part of McConnell's muscle memory as he grew older. So, on that drizzly day 12 years ago, he slowed down without thinking and gave a ride to a man who would change his life and thousands of others.
The man's name was James. McConnell asked where he was going. "To look for a job. Any kind I can get." He said he had two children, and that his wife was expecting. Always the doctor, McConnell asked whether he had access to medical care. No, James said. "We have to take care of ourselves. No one else is going to help us."
After McConnell drove James to a work site, he thought about the other hitchhikers he had talked to since his retirement on Hilton Head. They were maids, waitresses, construction workers, and every one of them said they had trouble getting basic medical care. Someone should do something, McConnell thought.
Then he heard an echo from his past--"What have you done for someone today?" And, as he did in the 1960s, when he directed the development of Tylenol, and in the 1980s, when he helped create the first commercial MRI system, McConnell began to visualize a solution.
To continue on go here.
Jack McConnell, MD: "what have you done for someone today?"
4 comments:
Very interesting article! I enjoyed it from both ideas; ie, sharing, and cutting medical costs. Thanks
Hi: This is LaDawn Painter. I have really enjoyed your blog. I just wondered if you would email me Natalie's letter's for Carlee. I am sure she would love to read how she is doing. My email is ladawn79@hotmail.com. I hope both Natalie and Nathaniel are doing great. They are both wonderful and Carlee misses them both. If you send me your email, I can email you Carlee's letters also. Thanks, LaDawn
what an interesting article! not to mention an amazing man..
Dr. McConnell's vision has grown to include 83 Volunteers in Medicine clinics in 25 states. For more information about Volunteers in Medicine or how to start a clinic in your community, visit www.volunteersinmedicine.org.
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