Reaching the Reluctant
Today is a special day of remembrance for me. It’s the third anniversary of my mother’s leave-taking. She died of lung cancer, and, as with all losses, her absence has left a great space. She lived in a small South Carolina town and took her chemo and radiation treatments locally. She was hospitalized in a regional medical center and lived only five months past her diagnosis. During the time of her illness, I kept thinking I would like her to go to one of the premier cancer centers where she could get the best treatment available, but given her age (82) and her husband’s (89), I knew they wanted to stay close to home and that they had full confidence in their doctors (though since then, my step-father has voiced doubts about the medical regimen she was put through).
This brings me to a question that our MMA leadership ponders quite often: How to reach a reluctant populace of patients such as those living in rural areas or those of senior status who represent a generation that never questioned the doctor, spelled with a capital D. Just as others do in a country whose health care is the most advanced in the world, these folks are entitled to advanced specialized treatment. For those with limited financial means, Mercy Medical Airlift is the answer to providing access to that care. And while we help many elderly and rural patients, we would like to help more. How to make our message resonate with them—that is the challenge.






. She and I were there to meet John and his daughter, Sherry Huhn, who were coming from St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, New York to Virginia Beach on November 4, where John would be transported by ground ambulance to River Point Rehab.
Today I’m having post-Oscar euphoria! (Okay, so it wasn’t the Oscars, but the international film festival I attended for the purpose of receiving an award on behalf of Mercy Medical Airlift and Cross and Flag Productions had plenty of bling—and it was right here in Virginia Beach at Regent University.)
