Meet Dr. Don Fitch: Small Town Icon and MAFP’s “Family Physician of the Year” for 2011
If Hollywood’s Central Casting put out a call for the ideal family physician—one who was devoted to his patients, his family, his community, his calling as a healer, and who consistently exhibited such traits as unlimited patience, a sense of humor, superb listening skills, and enthusiasm—the search would stop with Dr. Donald Fitch.
The Escanaba family practitioner is—and always has been—that kind of doctor: The kind of physician Baby Boomers will remember from the movies they watched as kids. The cinema doctor who was a friend of the family, frequent guest for dinner, compassionate dispenser of care and wisdom, golf partner, and community leader—someone who was there to rejoice with at the beginning of a new life, and to shed a tear with when one ended.
Dr. Fitch is the family physician we all wish we had, and that so many residents in Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are glad they did have.
So it’s no surprise that Dr. Fitch, who recently retired after 49 years of serving patients, is a natural choice for the MAFP “Family Physician of the Year” for 2011.
The philosopher Pascal said that “the strength of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special exertions but by his habitual acts,” and Dr. Fitch’s colleagues, neighbors, friends, and patients would agree. Throughout the years that he practiced family medicine and led his life in this small town, they’ll tell you that he habitually exhibited the virtues of the Eagle Scout and Boy Scout leader that he is.
Dr. Fitch’s Escanaba and Upper Peninsula friends and colleagues universally describe him as “caring, committed, enthusiastic, patient, dedicated, humorous, one-of-a-kind, an icon, respected, dependable, kind, strong, loyal, compassionate, a small town hero, humble, always positive…” Even what others might view as a tiny fault could really be seen as a virtue. “He was always running a little late because he never cut anyone off when they wanted to tell their story,” says a co-worker. “He always made time to listen.”
Dr. Frederick Hoenke, vice president and medical director for Marquette General Health System, who’s known Fitch for more than 15 years, says he spent some time thinking about all the positive adjectives he could use to describe his friend. “There are so many it’s ridiculous.”
He refers to Dr. Fitch as “the last of a breed that you won’t likely see again—a truly dedicated, small town family physician. I think of him as the epitome of a small town hero like George Bailey in the film ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’”
The big difference between the two is that— unlike George Bailey, who was itching to get out of Bedford Falls to make his mark on the world— Dr. Fitch wholeheartedly embraced small town life.
A native of Minneapolis, Dr. Fitch obtained his medical degree from the University of Michigan. He met his wife, Paddy, on a blind date in the 1950s. They married in 1960 and headed west, where the young physician served a stint with the U.S. Public Health Service before a new opportunity came knocking. A friend and colleague, Dr. Ramond Hockstad suggested that Fitch join him in putting a practice together in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
With a population nowadays of just over 13,000, Escanaba seemed like heaven on earth to the young Fitches, who enjoy the great outdoors. It’s a place where a couple can raise a family, work hard, and make a difference in the lives of the people who live there.
That’s exactly what they did, launching Doctors Park Family Physicians in 1962, and then building a practice that over the years has served thousands of patients and generations of families. The Fitches—who raised three sons, Bob, Russ and Gordy— were also instrumental in bringing a YMCA to the community, active in Boy Scouts, and long-time members of the First Presbyterian Church.
Over the years, Dr. Fitch was also an active member of the Delta County Medical Society, a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Practice, and a member of both the Rampart Board of Directors and the Home Health and Hospice Advisory Board of the Marquette General Health System.
In recognition of another of his passions—helping kids—Dr. Fitch received the Boy Scouts’ Hiawathaland Council’s Hall of Leadership award in 2010. More than 7,000 leaders are nominated nationally and only 300 are chosen for this recognition.
Both Dr. and Mrs. Fitch agree that Escanaba proved to be the ideal place for them. “We were so at home here immediately—it just sold itself to us,” Dr. Fitch recalls. “The best part of living here is the people. They’re wonderful to work with and be with. It’s always been that way.”
After almost a half century of serving the community as a family physician, Boy Scout leader, colleague, friend and neighbor, Dr. Fitch has made a lasting impression on generations of folks in his small town.
His pastor, Scott White, remembers a few years ago when the church hosted a missionary who came up from one of the Pacific Islands. He had poor sight because of cataracts. “Dr. Don—you could just see the wheels spinning in his head, laying out a plan,” says White. “Don gave him a lot of care to get him ready for surgery and to promote his cause within the medical community. The missionary got his sight back and the community was overjoyed to be of help.”
The fact that he was a small town family practitioner didn’t mean, however, that Dr. Fitch wasn’t a forward-thinking medical professional, always keeping abreast of advances in medicine and technology.
“He and his partners brought what we now consider as health care reform to this area—looking at the population as a whole, proactively addressing wellness, disease prevention, and management of chronic conditions—these were things Dr. Fitch was doing back in the 1960s,” says Dr. Thomas Noren, chief medical officer at Marquette General Health System & Superior Health Partners. “The only thing they didn’t have then was the information technology infrastructure that we have now that allows for better connectedness among providers.”
Dr. Noren, like so many others who’ve found themselves in his orbit, has a special place in his heart for Don Fitch.
As a senior medical student at the University of Michigan, Dr. Noren was intent on becoming a surgeon, but a 10-week externship with Doctors Park Family Physicians in 1973 changed his career trajectory. “During the time I worked with Dr. Fitch, I saw a man who was the portrait of integrity. He was compassionate, a brilliant physician and a tireless mentor—just a superb human being.”
In fact, Dr. Noren saw in Dr. Fitch everything he aspired to be as both a physician and human being. So much so that, after he completed his residency at the University of Colorado, he returned to Escanaba and practiced medicine for 11 years at Doctors Park. “I’ve continued to try to emulate him in the 38 years I’ve known him,” he says.
In “It’s A Wonderful Life,” George Bailey needed the help of a fledgling angel to show him how each man’s life touches so many other lives. Dr. Fitch doesn’t need additional guidance to know the difference he’s made in the lives of the patients he’s treated, the friends he’s made, the colleagues he’s mentored, the Boy Scouts he’s influenced, and his children, seven grandchildren, and beloved wife. Most have already told him so.
“Don is really a sterling example for younger physicians of what you can make of a career and a life,” says Dr. Hoenke. “You always hope that your life is going to matter. Don Fitch’s has. This man will leave a legacy for this community that’s second to none.”
