Dr. Thomas J. Ervin: Mentor, friend, confidant and healer
By Dr. Raymond A. James
What does it mean to be a good physician? What makes a physician great? These are difficult questions, and they can mean different things to different people. Some patients are willing to overlook a poor bedside manner to be treated by someone who is reported to be the expert in their field. But I would challenge that notion, and say that without compassion and humanity, one is not driven to be one’s very best self.
Scientific expertise realized through years of training and knowledge acquisition might be the yardstick some may use, but without compassion and patient trust, that physician’s recommendations will not be embraced by his or her patients.
One of my favorite quotes is, “Patients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Practicing medicine is often described as an art, and the longer I practice, the more I see that some of my colleagues are more “practiced” and “artful” than others.
I have had the pleasure of working with Thomas J. Ervin, M.D., one of the most skillful physicians I’ve ever known, over these last 17 years as he cared for patients next door to the Emergency Department where I worked. He always gave thoughtful advice and knew nuanced detail that made him my “go to” guy when I had an oncologic or hematologic conundrum. He was the cancer doc I sent my friends to, and when my soul-mate developed aggressive breast cancer, he is the doc we sat down with to help understand all the pathology, markers, prognostic data and treatment options. He gave us as much time as we needed to process the overwhelming battle ahead and assured us he would always be there for us to call, or stop in with any questions. He coached us through and reminded us that no matter how low the odds of survival were, someone has to be in that number, so do everything you can to be among the survivors.
Boca Grande has been lucky to have him provide his wisdom and skill these last nine years, and his accrued knowledge in practicing 46 years of internal medicine and hematology and oncology is beyond what you could squeeze into a room full of textbooks. He has personal connections and friends at cancer centers all across the country who have helped us arrange and coordinate care when needed.
Who do you know who has worked to identify and understand HIV and played handball with Tony Fauci. Tom’s father helped discover the universal blood donor type O negative, which saved so many lives during World War II. He was first in line to volunteer to work an evening shift monthly when my wife and I started a free clinic for the working poor in Englewood almost 13 years ago.
His integrity runs deep, and he always does the right thing for his patients, no matter the personal cost.
You will never know the many personal hours he has given to comfort and serve others, and surely a pair of angel’s wings awaits him at the pearly gates. His family has often been on the short end I am sure, but so very many patients have been comforted by his after-hours calls to check in on them, or the house call to care for them.
The sacrifices he has made this past half-century have made the world a better place for us all, and after all these years of service we are reluctant to let this wise healer leave.
But he has more than fulfilled his calling to be a healer, physician and mender of body and soul.
I consider myself fortunate to have been invited to work beside him, and I have learned so very much from not just what he knows but how he practices his art. His name is friend, mentor, physician, confidant and healer of souls.
Dr. Raymond A. James is medical director of the Boca Grande Health Clinic. He is the founder and president of the Englewood Community Care Clinic.
