The Doctor Is Out
Although born and raised in Red Oak, Dr. William Artherholt had no intention of coming back to his home town after medical training, until George Maher and Dr. Jack Fickel came to him with a vision.
“At that time, Red Oak was a typical small town with a typical system of health care,” said Artherholt. “The physicians in town were each working independently, most of them with offices downtown, not close to the hospital. There was some good care being provided, but it wasn’t compatible with the changes that were occurring in medicine.”
Artherholt said a few forward-thinking people in the community, including Maher, Fickel, Helen Murphy, Winfield Mayne Sr., Dr. Harold Bastron and others, were concerned Red Oak might fall behind the times and wanted to ensure a high quality of medical care was met. These changes and challenges excited Artherholt and made moving back to his home town a more feasible option.
Being a doctor wasn’t always Artherholt’s career of choice. While in college at Drake University, he was undecided between medicine and teaching, and in fact, taught high school biology and earth science for two years after graduating from Drake. He also met and married his wife Alice.
He and Alice had known each other in high school, but they didn’t begin dating until after his second year of college. After he graduated, they married and he began teaching in Bennett.
When Alice earned her teaching degree a year later, she also taught at Bennett. One year later, he decided to switch from teaching to medicine.
He entered the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, now called Des Moines University. Holders of a D.O. are sometimes known as osteopathic physicians, while holders of an M.D. are sometimes known as allopathic physicians. Other than teaching manual medicine, medical training for an osteopathic degree (D.O.) is now virtually indistinguishable from that which leads to the M.D. degree, according to the Cecil Textbook of Medicine. D.O.s complete conventional residencies in hospitals and training programs, are licensed in all states and have rights and responsibilities that are identical to M.D. qualified physicians and surgeons.
After graduating from medical school in 1972 at the top of his class, Artherholt served a residency in family practice, a new specialty, at the Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan.
During his last year of residency, he was approached by Maher and Fickel who secured a grant looking at medical care in rural and small town America.
“They wanted to create a model program for Iowa and the entire country and were looking for a town to demonstrate this plan,” he said. “I believe because of the involvement of those forward thinking citizens I mentioned, Red Oak was chosen. I was honored and privileged to be the first family-practice trained resident to come into this program.”
Atherholt spent the last year of his residency developing a new system of Problem Oriented Medical Records, which changed the way seeing patients is recorded. He then joined the practice of Fickel and Bastron.
They had built a new, modern office building, which is now City Hall. The Kellogg Foundation, however, suggested medical offices ought to be next to the hospital and in a short time this was done. Although Bastron soon retired, Dr. Charles Driscoll and Dr. Francis Pisney joined, making it a four-man practice and Artherholt said the future looked bright.
Things didn’t all go quite as expected, however — Fickel left, followed by Driscoll and Pisney, leaving Artherholt alone in a four-man practice. While he wasn’t the only doctor in town, Artherholt said it was a struggle.
“It lasted from the fall of 1981 until the spring of 1982,” he said. “I must have delivered at least 100 babies that year. My wife hardly ever saw me. I only stayed on because Dr. Hal Hanson came along just when I needed him most and helped me out. After that, we were joined by Dr. David Paulus and Dr Tom Baer.”
The Hospital Board then came forward with another vision — a newer, larger facility. Some in the community resisted the idea.
“There were those who didn’t think we needed a bigger hospital. It was to be financed by revenue bonds, but they didn’t trust that and were afraid the construction was going to cost tax dollars. It was even suggested that Red Oak ought to simply be a ‘first aid station’ and everyone ought to be sent to Omaha. I remember being at some meetings where the discussion became, shall we say, ‘quite heated.’”
The objections were overcome, land was purchased and in 1989, the new hospital opened at its present location. Several additions have since been added.
“People are proud of their hospital and appreciate what it means to the community. For one thing, I believe that it is currently Red Oak’s largest employer overall.
“It takes a lot of things to make a first class community, and Red Oak is truly blessed.
The hospital is only one of the ‘spokes in the wheel.’”
Other spokes he mentioned include the Red Oak schools, downtown, city services, YMCA, Country Club and Performing Arts Center.
Artherholt looks back on his many years in medicine with satisfaction. He credits wife Alice first and foremost with helping him through tough times and making him a success. He also credits those who were the driving force behind the vision and who continue to drive it today.
“I have been privileged to ‘stand on the shoulders’ of many great people,” he said.
He estimates he has probably delivered more than 1,000 babies throughout the years — one of whom is now a nurse in his office — and treated multiple generations.
“That’s what’s been so much fun, getting to know those families,” Alice said.
During the past 15 years, Artherholt said they have finally achieved stability in the practice.
He mentioned the many well-trained doctors, including William Butz, Warren Hayes, Brian Couse, Mike Mahoney and Physician’s Assistant Tom Schmadeke, as well as other fine doctors in the community, including Internists Dr. Ed Piller, Dr. Eric Paulson, Dr. Catherine Wolf, Surgeon Dr. Ed Grass, Obstetritian Dr. Chris Johnson and Nurse Practitioner Joan Smith, not to mention the non-medical support staff including Dave Jennings, Ron Kloewer and Administrator Allen Pohren.
“I feel totally comfortable medical care in Red Oak is in good hands as I ‘pass the baton’ to those who follow me.”
During retirement, the Artherholts plan to spend more time visiting their three children and 10 grandchildren, who are scattered from California to Nebraska and play more golf. They also want to focus on their faith and participate in some kind of ministry.
“Over the years, while medical care has been evolving, I have also undergone a kind of personal transition,” he said. “We are all made up of three parts: body, mind and spirit. I came out of medical school focused mainly on the body. Gradually, I have come to focus more on the mind and spirit.”