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Show Hangs up stethoscope lEDr., Dr. John Herlwrt Mtllhurn is ending career in Tooele on an optihi mistic mite. After all those year of dealing with most of the physical ill of the human race, he still feels good alxiut people. 42-ve- a whole, people are really very good, he said speaking from lieliind his famous mosaic patterned desk. If you U'lieve what we frequently read in the newspapers, you wonder whether the general population is on the rocks or not. I don't think so. doctor IN FACT, the said that he has not seen too much change in people over the nearly half century he has been practicing in Tooele. Most are very nice." Dr. Millhurn will be leaving the Tooele Clinic on Saturday, and said that he will miss meeting with those people he has taken care of for so many years. I've made innumerable friends. "I won't miss the early morning surgery or the night calls, he said with the infectious chuckle that has liecome his trademark over the years, adding that whatever comes will lie a big change. As much-liclove- MilUbem Me ires when he first came to Tooele, lies ides his general practice, he did surgery because there was no chic else who did it. There was no hospital, he said. He took his patients to Bingham Iwck there in 38. The present Tooele Clinic was built in 47. We built the clinic with surgery in the lack so we could oierute on patients, and then they were moved by ambulance to the old hospital (the Gille- - THE much of a home life then," he said. I had a good wife who raised our children." lie was on the road before the children awoke and they often were in lied liefore he came home. IT WAS hard, he said, "but an individual can do anything you have to it's just a matter of making up your lOlN'C doctor graduated in the University of 1ennsvlvan-i- a Medical School. His mothers best friend was the noted Maude May Bab-oanationally renowned for her work in speech and theatre. Mis brother Wayne was chief of surgery at Pennsylvania Temple University. Dr. Balicock was considered the top surgeon in the comitry and his name was synony- 1935 from Balx-ock'- mind. His philosophy is part of the legacy s to lie ready to practit'e after interning in the Salt laikc hospital. later when Dr. Balicock had calmed down, he told the graduate that if he had to go back, to see Dr. Paul Richards. This is the reason Dr. Mittbiim ended up in Bingham Canyon Dr. Millhurn continued; I didn't tell Dr. Richards why I had come to him. He asked me, "Did vou omie to learn or for d In fact. Dr. Richards was the top authority in the United States on treat- ing little community during that World War II era of 1938. pre-w- DURING THOSE 42 years. Dr. Millhurn has seen many changes. And although he is still optimistic about people, he is concerned about the direction the practice of medicine is taking. , Over the last 20 years, it has become a paper world, he said. A doctor spends as much time doing paper work as he spends with a patient. He pointed out that much of this is due to government regulations. Then too, people are more liable to bring suit than 40 years ago. Each case report is more detailed, he said.lt isnt adequate that you know; youve got to have it written down in case it should develop into a court case. Otherwise you would have no proof. Its a sad period, he remarked shaking his head. It costs patients a lot of money. HE SAID that 40 years ago if a patient sprained an ankle, the doctor treated it as such. Now the patient pays for whether its a sprain or not. an It isnt the doctor who pays for this added precaution, he said. Its the paX-r- For 42 years hardworking Dr. J. Herbert Millburn has treated ailing residents of Tooele County. After Saturday, the doctor and his beautiful mosaic desk will be gone from their familiar spot at the Tooele Clinic leaving an empty place not only in the clinic but in the hearts of his patients. spie nursing home.) I went to Edna Gillespie and talked her into letting me have three rooms. I made one into a delivery room, one into a nursery and used the other room with two beds in it so I could have two patients in the hospital. When Doctor Jo- seph Mayo came in, they added two more beds and another room. DR. MILLBURN spoke of his high regard for Mrs. Gillespie. She hired nurses to work in shifts and she also helped, he said. The two doctors gradually increased facilities until they had eight beds downstairs for deliveries, and then after the clinic was built, they put 12 beds upstairs for medical and surgical patients. That was the beginning of the idea of having a local hospital for medical, and surgical patients and deliveries. The year that doctor Millburn was the president of the Chamber of Commerce, a petition was started to build a county hospital. At the time, there was opposition from county officials who were sure the project would fail. It passed by 80 per cent of the vote. Before this, people had always gone to Salt Lake for hospital treatment. One of the county officials told the doctor When we defeat this, dont ever bring it up again. tient. Citing how medical costs have skyrocketed, the doctor said that during the first ten years of his practice, malpractice insurance cost $30 a year. Now the DOCTOR MILLBURN continued same type costs him $3,000. Here his contract with Mercur until just beagain, the patient pays, he said, even fore the start of World War II when the though they may not think they do. mine closed down. The government THE SAME thing is true of insurruled that gold was not an essential proance. The patient comes in to have duct and that workers would be subject something done - perhaps something to conscription to the armed services. unnecessary - and thinks the insurance Up until that time they were very company pays for it, but it is the policyself sufficient: mining and milling the holders who pay for it in the long run. gold into bars. After the war, the mines Everything is more expensive due to inhad filled with water and labor was too flation: equipment, drugs, supplies. All costly. At that time gold was not on the these costs are passed on to patients. free market. The government told you Millburn said that practicing mediwhat you got for it, he said. cine in Tooele is the same as practicing The doctor predicted that Mercur is medicine anywhere. People are the going to be a big place again. Within same. He added that Tooele has the adthe next two or three years, you will see vantage of having big hospitals within a it boom, he said. Getty Oil now owns 40 minute drive which makes it easier if the mines. a doctor has to refer a patient for special I REALLY enjoyed it up there, he treatment. Some localities have to go as added. His office hours were from 8 to far as 150 miles away he said. 10p.m. A typical day started before five Having hospitals so close means that a.m. in order for tbe doctor to get to the local doctor has to be modem in his Bingham for surgery. Many times the approach to. medicine, or he cant comroads were treacherous. If he wasnt pete with those doctors who are only 40 there precisely at 6, they would send out minutes away. We have to have mothe ambulance. There were a couple of ladem equipment, and modem times he went to sleep. boratory facilities so the patient is able He worked at Bingham until noon, as in to have the same kind of work-u- p then dashed back here for office hours the large centers. until 6 p.m. then went home for dinner ALTHOUGH Dr. Millburn has not and then drove to Mercur. It was almost impossible to have specialized in any one field of medicine. X-r- Dr. Richards. THE GREYHOUND bus accident west of Grantsville was proliably one of the biggest tragedies he can remember. A weekend snow slide at Mercur that injured only three miners is another. During weekdays at least 45 men would have lieen at that spot. He had to go to Mercur and through the tunnel to reach them. Noting the changes that have taken place during his tenure as a physician, he warned friend that socialized medicine may lie coming as a consequence of high insurance rates. Medical care of patients will suffer if a doctor is paid a fixed amount. He will lose his incentive and get slovenly in his work. It is human nature." he said. Still pretty energetic, he gets by on six hours of sleep. At one time he made do with three or four. Even after 42 man has never years, this hardened to losing patients and remarked that one of the saddest aspects of modem medicine is that doctors do not have enough time to give support to patients who are greviously ill. They are just too busy," he told a colleague. PATIENTS AND colleagues testify that there is nothing slovenly about the good doctor. Following his mother's example, he has always been a hard worker who has lived by the credo that things don't just happen in a community: you have to make them happen! Patients are anxiously calling Dr. Millburn to learn his plans for the future, renot wanting to break off long-tim- e lationships with him. The doctor said he and Mrs. Millburn plan to remain in Tooele, although they do plan to do a great deal of traveling. The present Mrs. Millburn also has a long career in the medical field with experience as a Navy nurse, serving during the Korean war, and duty as head of emergency at St. Marks as a nurse anesthetist. . THERE ARE three children and eight grandchildren to enjoy. The soon- - to- - be- - retired doctor also has plenty of hobbies (resides his interest in travelling to keep him busy. He is an expert photographer. During his travels he has taken thousands of slides, and now looks' forward to getting them sorted and catalogued. Still an avid student, he plans to continue learning. An artist friend has threatened to teach me to paint, he laughed. He is also skilled at building and restoring furniture along with cutting and polishing his collection of rocks. IT IS HARD for Tooeleans to imagine the Tooele Clinic minus the tinkling laugh, the decorative desk, and the kindly presence of its founder. For most of us, it will never be the dm d ALTIIOL'CII TI1E doctor is a Utah native, liom in Price and living in Provo and Salt Lake, he had never been in Tooele until he began a residency under Dr. Paul Richards in Bingham Canyon. Dr. Richards owned the mine contracts for the Bingham mines along with contracts for medical care for mines in Nevada and Wyoming. Dr. Richards had a 35 bed hospital in Bingham. The amazing thing was that it was filled all the time," Dr. Millhurn said. There were some trauma cases but the majority of patients were injury victims. ment for broken backs. THE BUSY little hospital had one other doctor to help. We didn't have all the paper work then and could spend more time on the patient, Dr. Millhurn said. Dr. Richards suggested that he come to Tooele and set up . practice. He offered to help the young doctor get a contract with the Mercur mines and advised him that between the two practices he should be able to do well. It proved to be a fine arrangement both for the new physician and the bustl- County Hospital alone where he interned liefore spending two years with from a remarkable mother. The five Millburn children were raised by their widowed mother who was insistent that they all get good educations. She had to quit college when her own father died and at that time was unable to finish her education. After she raised her own family, she went back and finished college. She believed implicitly that education was an essential part of everyones life. Her childrens success is due chiefly to her effort and determination. Her children include the Hon. Ralph W. Millburn who served Tooele as a Utah circuit court judge, as well as city judge and attorney. A sister, the head of a speech defect clinic in Denver, has written a number of books on the subject. Another brother became an engineer for Utah Oil Company. THIS REMARKABLE woman also saw that all her sons filled missions for the LDS Church and she herself filled a mission when she was in her 70s. An astute business woman, she had business property, managed the Millburn Coal Mine, and had a ranch which she leased out on shares. Mrs. Millburn, now deceased, was an avid traveler and instilled a desire to travel in her children. She believed that to see something and experience it yourself was the best way to learn, and thought that no individual was well- - rounded unless he had considerable experience meeting people - being there. She was that way until the day she died, Dr. Millburn said. An example that comes to mind is the time that during one of my regular weekly visits to her, I told her I planned to visit South America. Youve never been there, have you? she said, Youll learn a great deal! THE NEXT week when he went to see her, he found a note from her which read, Gone to South America. She was gone for two months the doctor said, and came back with four notebooks filled withdetails of her trip - details that were of help to the doctor when he made his own trip. With such a background it is small wonder that the young Millburn chose such a prestigious field as medicine. His determination began when he was only 12 years old. While skiing in a snow filled gulley near his Salt Lake home, the tip of his ski hit a downed telephone wire. The mishap flipped him over, and he broke his nose. His mother called and called to find a doctor without success for almost three hours. I decided right then and there that if doctors were that hard to find, it must be a good field to get into. He carried that idea all through high school and college. I . mous with certain surgical procedures. Just before his graduation, a notice was posted for Dr. Millburn to see Dr. Babcock. He told me he had checked into my grades and said I would like you to come in with me as a resident. Itold him I would like to, but couldnt afford it. This upset him. Nothing like this had ever happened to the great doctor before. He stood up, shook his fist at me and said, The first patient You kill, think of me. HE TOLD ME, Youre not going Jus Talkin' 9 Mention logic and women in the same breath, and a man will laugh. Men not only make fun of womens logic, but they dont think the ladies are bright enough to penetrate the male world of reasoning. I MUST admit that being naive and trusting. It took me about 15 years to tumble to the fact that whenever a man doesnt want to do something, he can come up with some pretty strange reasons not to. In fact, the first time the light dawned on me was about 20 years ago when we were building our home. Everything seemed to be going great. Then one day the bricklayer and my husband called me in for a consultation. ' OBSERVE, they said, how good this window looks in the south bedroom. Its just the right size. Any larger window would leave you little room for rearrang money? I told him I came to learn but that I needed a little money too. HE SAID, laughing, I will give you $100 a month- - thats a little money. I took it, Dr. Millburn said. Commenting on his 42 years as a n physician-surgeoin Tooele, Dr. Millburn said that many interesting things have happened to him along the way. Most of them he, as a physician, cannot discuss. He has delivered several thousand babies - possibly as many as 1000 during his internship at Salt Lake same again. ing the furniture. The room would also stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Another advantage. . . they continued. What youre saying is that you the wrong window in the bedput room, didnt you? I said. They looked at me strangely, as if to say, How did she figure that out? AFTER THAT, I learned to be wary of male logic where women are concerned. Like the spring I kept nagging my husband to get the garden planted. It had been a long, cold spring and there had been many delays. At last there came a fine, warm weekend, when I insisted. We cant plant the garden this week, he said.Dont you know you can only sow seeds during a full moon? WELL, I sputtered, not knowing what to answer. After all, the only thing I connected with painting the eaves as he got out the steel wool and varnish and started sanding the boat. THE CROWNING insult to a womans dignity came last month: I had been nagging him for five years to sell the house and move. It cant be done, he said. WHEN I pressed for a reason, he replied. Because of the table. fullmoons was Count Dracula, lovers, and tides. Yet it sounded plausible. Still, I wondered. . . Until I found out it was the opening day of fishing season. Then there was the summer I wanted to go to California for our vacation. THE OLD jalopy would never make it, he pointed out. Besides have you taken into consideration how much the gas would cost for a round trip of 1500 miles? That was the summer we made e ten round trips to Duchesne and Starvation Reservoir with that poor old broken down jalopy pulling an 18 foot boat. ... Or the time he told me the weather was too hot and humid for 330-mil- The table? Yes, he said, There is no way to get that drafting table out of the front bedroom. BUT THATS ridiculous, I We got it in. The house just didnt grow up around it. How did cried. you get it in? It involves about 15 men, and tearing out the wall. Being a woman, you just wouldnt understand. But its got to be moved sometime, I said. What would happen if we died and the children wanted to sell the house? YOULL JUST have to forget about dying and selling the house, because there is no way to get that table out of there. Take my word for it. And thats how things stood for five years. Then last month, he decided to remodel the front bedroom. WELL have to get rid of that drafting table, he said. But how. . . I began. Nothing to it, he replied, and opened the window and deftly slid the table through it, slick as could be. IT TAKES a man to figure these things out, he finished. I tell you, when it comes to the battle of the sexes, a woman has three strikes against her. ?. |