THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 7, 1995 TAG: 9509020143
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
MULTIPLY 25 TO 35 children a day by 300 or so days a year for 23 years and how many do you get?
A number too big for Dr. George W. Koehl to contemplate.
Koehl, who has practiced pediatrics with Pediatric Associates in Norfolk and Virginia Beach since 1972, has watched babies grow into young adults and head off to college. And he has begun to treat children of his former patients. So not only is he a grandfather in his personal life, he's also a ``granddoctor'' in his professional life.
Born and raised in Ohio, Koehl graduated from the University of Dayton and the Medical School at Marquette University. He served his residency in pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City after gradually developing an inzterest in the field.
Koehl also served in the Public Health Service and practiced at Indian hospitals in Oklahoma; Gallop, N.M., and Phoenix, Ariz.
He was enticed to come to Norfolk by Dr. William Murphy, now retired, to be a partner in Pediatric Associates.
The day Koehl came to Norfolk, he said, ``it was a very foggy, rainy and dreary day.''
He says he remembers asking himself, ``Do I really want to come to this tired, old seaport?''
Yet, despite the unwelcoming weather and the negative thoughts, Koehl decided to give Norfolk a chance. The city also had its positive side - things looked promising with the opening of Eastern Virginia Medical School, and a small residency program had begun at Norfolk General Hospital.
Coming to Norfolk with him were his wife Patty, a medical technologist, and his daughters, Lisa and Andrea, and sons, Tim and Ted.
The son of a dairyman father who bottled and distributed milk and an educator mother, Koehl said that in high school he wanted to be a coach and a teacher. But during his senior year, an accident while playing sports put him on another career track.
``I put my hand through a class window chasing a loose ball,'' he said. ``And I was impressed by the family physician who put my fingers back together.''
He met Patty in college, and they were married after his second year in medical school. He has had his family with him every step of his career.
Koehl is affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the Virginia State Medical Society and the Norfolk County Medical Society. The author of several papers on infants, Koehl is also an associate professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
His daughter, Lisa, is a pediatrician in Massachusetts, and he emphasizes that following that career track was all her decision.
``The last thing I wanted was for my children to do something just to please me,'' he said. ``You've got to want it from within.''
In his office at Hague Towers, the filing cabinet is covered from top to bottom with photos of some of his patients. Every once in a while he takes some off to make room for others. In addition to his diplomas, certificates and awards on his walls, he displays some of the artwork of his patients that he has formed close relationships with over the years.
His office, he said, is a place where he can make both his patients and their parents feel comfortable. Although he treats children from infancy to young adulthood, he said he has no affinity to a particular age group because ``each has its own neat thing.''
One of the plaques on his walls is a ``1995 Miracle Makers'' award from A.H. Robins and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. He was nominated by members of the hospital's staff for his outstanding contribution to children's health. As part of the award, a donation was made to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Koehl's name.
Awards aside, Koehl said he is most touched when one of his young patients ``are tickled to see me even though they're sick.'' MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call Vicki Lewis at 446-2286.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
Dr. George W. Koehl has practiced pediatrics in Norfolk and Virginia
Beach since 1972.
by CNB