There is a lot of controversy about Obamacare and socialized medicine, but one thing is true (at least to me) – everyone deserves medical care. How can you say that someone doesn’t deserve medical care just because they can’t afford insurance or aren’t lucky enough to work at a place that provides affordable insurance for them?
All of this might not be a problem if more doctors were like Russell Dohner. Granted, at age 87, Dr. Dohner is in his twilight years, but he still sees patients seven times a week at his practice in Rushville, IL, not far from his childhood home. He decided he wanted to be a doctor after he realized that when he had a seizure as a child, his doctor was always there for him.
Dr. Dohner graduated from medical school in 1955 and set up his practice. His fee for an office visit then was $2 – probably pretty much the norm for that time.
What wasn’t the norm was Dr. Dohner himself. He has said he wanted to be a doctor to help people and “it was never intended to make a lot of money.” The years went on and Dr. Dohner found himself delivering babies (about 3,400 in all) and seeing patients, but his fee didn’t change – much.
He now charges $5 per visit. You probably also won’t be surprised to learn that Dr. Dohner has not taken a vacation in over 50 years and still makes housecalls. Not to disrespect today’s medical doctors, but trying finding just one with that much devotion to his or her patients.
However, his generosity is catching up with him. Dr. Dohner told The Huffington Post that he can hardly afford to pay his nurses on what little his clinic brings in.
Locals in Rushville call the good doctor a local hero and he promises to keep going for as long as he can. Of those in need, he says “”We’ll be sure to take care of whatever comes.”