A True Hero Doctor

I am a doctor and have been for 30 years. During this CV19 pandemic we are getting some very nice comments and feedback about us from everywhere. Is it all deserved? Who knows? I do think that for years we have been devalued and disrespected in many ways and that has been done on purpose by insurance companies, lawyers, non-physician practitioners, and hospitals. We have been told we are replaceable. We have been told that our training and education may not matter that much. But before I go into that rabbit hole, let me stop and say that this profession has never been about the glory or accolades. It’s about helping others. So I don’t want to make this about having a pity party because we are just doing our jobs. Yes, some docs on the front lines are giving a ton more effort than normal and I think they truly need to be appreciated. Some of us are just grinding away like we alwaya do. And then there is this person:

Thomas Huggett, a 60-year-old physician, helped Chicago with Lawndale Christian Health Center heads a medical team that has helped the city convert a former boutique hotel just steps from the fancy shops on the city’s Magnificent Mile into a shelter for the most at-risk people experiencing homelessness. The target is those over age 60, or 55 with underlying medical conditions. Right now, they have 137 residents and they aim to eventually have 174.

Great job. First, his age makes him a high risk. Second, he is truly going the extra mile and not worrying about his income. Lastly, this doc is LIVING THERE WITH THE HOMELESS TO TREAT THEM! Wow. Who is this guy?

Dr. Huggett grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, the first member of his family to go to college. After getting a degree in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, he went on to medical school at the University of Chicago and later got a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University.

After practicing for a few years in Wisconsin, he joined the Peace Corps and ran a 200-bed hospital in Malawi in East Africa during the AIDS crisis. Often he was the only doctor at the hospital, doing surgery on patients with a 15% chance of being HIV-positive and no sustainable treatment at the time, he said.

Unbelievable. This dude is a hero.

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