THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607130018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 36 lines
Staff writer Debra Gordon's report, ``Beloved doctor packs his bags for quest in North Carolina,'' brought back a special memory of this wonderful man.
I was working at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in the late 1980s, and although I did not know many of the physicians very well, I recall one day waiting at the elevator with a mother, her children and Dr. David Johnson.
Dr. Johnson realized one of the children was deaf; he pushed his beeper, which was programmed not to ``buzz'' but to vibrate so he would know he had a page without disturbing a visit with a patient or a surgery. He took the child's hand and put it on the beeper. The light that lit up the child's face and the broad smile touched my heart. At that point, I realized what a wonderful caring physician and human being this man was.
Dr. Johnson will be missed at CHKD. The hospital lost not only a brilliant physician, but a deeply caring and compassionate man.
My longtime physician retired with the arrival of HMOs. He said he foresaw ``socialized medicine'' in the very near future and knew it was time to leave his beloved practice.
This has proved to be true. Patients are suffering because doctors are afraid to give referrals and are ``rewarded'' for keeping their referral rate down.
Perhaps we need to look to England, where they take care of their sick regardless of the cost.
I wish Dr. Johnson the very best of success in his new endeavors in North Carolina.
MARY D. SMITH
Virginia Beach, June 29, 1996 by CNB