His white clinician's coat covered
with buttons from grateful patients, physician Clay Anderson, M.D. (left) has been the
face and voice of MU's Ellis Fischel Cancer Center many times over the
years.
After starting and operating an Ellis Fischel-based clinic devoted
to palliative medicine -- care of the terminally ill -- Anderson has
announced that he and his family are going west, where he will direct a new
palliative care program at the North Kansas City Hospital, a 52-year-old
facility on 69 acres that remains one of the nation's oldest and largest
independent medical centers.
Anderson says he will always love Ellis Fischel "and the wonderful people
who've made it one of the finest cancer centers in the world." But "when the
opportunity arose to direct a larger program," Anderson (below, Missourian photo) explains, "my family and
I decided it was the right time to make the move."
Philosophers, medical ethicists, and
religious leaders have called palliative care the height of civilized
society.
Unlike other specialties that seek to cure disease and restore health,
palliative medicine seeks primarily to reduce physical
and psychological suffering. The palliative care practitioner, his/her
patients, and their loved ones are fully aware that death and dying have now
become a part of their lives. Coping comfortably is paramount.
Officially recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties
just two years ago, palliative care represents a rare new frontier in modern
medicine. Embracing the specialty's unique spiritual dimensions -- a
comforting partnership between God, humanity, and science -- Anderson -- a
nationally-known expert on the skin cancer melanoma and member of the MU Center
for Religion, the Public, and the Professions -- had increasingly focused on
terminal cancer treatment in recent years.
Tamed by medical advances, early detection, and increased public awareness,
melanoma used to be uniformly fatal, Anderson reminds. Its once poor-prognosis
helped inspire him to work with the myriad other illnesses that make up
palliative medicine, including end-stage diabetes, congestive heart disease, and
kidney failure.
Long-time residents of Columbia's
Old Southwest neighborhood, Anderson, wife Michelle -- a writer
and MU Journalism School graduate -- and their three children say they will
greatly miss their friends, their church, their schools, and "everything about
this wonderful community," Michelle explained.
Active parents at Grant Elementary and Smithton Middle School, and parish
leaders at Calvary Episcopal Church in the District, Clay and Michelle --
Missouri natives -- originally came to Columbia as MU students, returning after
medical school at Stanford University. "We couldn't have chosen a better place
to raise our family and call home," says Michelle, who has been particularly
pleased with Columbia's many academic and musical enrichment programs.
Oldest son Benjamin, for instance, expertly plays at least three musical
instruments, including violin and piano -- triple talents inspired and honed by
music teachers at the University of Missouri and Columbia Public Schools.
Moving on is often part of a
professional or spiritual calling, and Dr. Anderson's call is a powerful one, as
this note in a 2010 Columbia Daily Tribune obituary attests.
"The Checkett family wishes to extend their sincere thanks and appreciation
to Clay Anderson, M.D., and the entire palliative care team at Ellis Fischel
Cancer Center as well as the staff of Missouri River Hospice for their kindness
and care over the past year." Donald Checkett was a retired social worker who
passed away in May.
"If the practice of medicine is anything," physician-author William Carlos
Williams reportedly said, "it is the practice of love."
The ultimate expression of love may be the embrace of loved ones soon
destined to leave. With that embrace -- the heart of palliative care -- we can
let go and they can move on, with comfort, dignity, and courage -- that abiding
human quality Ernest Hemingway called "grace, under pressure."
-- The Andersons have been long personal friends and my family and I
wish them all the best!
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