THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510280097
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
IF THERE'S ONE THING Sandra Wilder wants, it's that her 96-year-old grandmother, Adamae Wilder, spends her last days at home where she belongs, where she wants to be and where she is most comfortable.
Wilder can tend to the older woman's physical needs, but the task of getting her to the family doctor for medical treatment has become impossible.
She no longer has the physical strength it takes to lift the frail family matriarch, carry her to the car and maneuver her in and out of a waiting room.
``I called her family physician and told them I couldn't get her out to the car,'' said Wilder, a Scarborough Square resident. ``On a fluke, I said, `There's got to be some doctor who'll make house calls.' That's when I heard about Dr. Johnson.
``Blessed be, Dr. Johnson. It brings me back to the days of old,'' said a thankful Wilder.
Dr. William T. Johnson and his longtime nurse, Connie Meulenberg, spend Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Johnson's Lincoln Town Car, driving from patient to patient, home to home.
With brown medical bag in hand and a good-sized tote bag full of test tubes, cups, swabs and other supplies, the duo is able to do just about anything medically necessary for their patients - from writing prescriptions to taking blood for analysis. The one service they can't provide is X-rays.
Otherwise, the only difference between Johnson and his patients is the lack of an office atmosphere because all his patients are seen in their own homes, comfortable in a favorite chair or in their own beds.
And he sees that as a plus.
``You can tell much more about a patient at home,'' said Johnson, 65. ``That's the one place you can really evaluate a patient on his terms.''
Not to mention the convenience of not having to get a sick child or relative dressed and to a doctor's office.
Wilder is a believer. ``Not only is this convenient, it saves me a lot of steps, a lot of grief,'' she said, tucking an afghan around her grandmother's lap after Johnson had finished examining her in the small bedroom she occupies in her granddaughter's home. ``I'm an advocate of the home and this is the way Grandma wanted to spend her last days and I want to have it that way.''
Wilder's grandmother suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The majority of Johnson's treatments are for minor illnesses, such as ear infections. And, most of his patients are the elderly who either don't have transportation to a doctor's office or are too ill to be moved.
For others, like Agnes Winfree, there are other obstacles that keep them from visiting a doctor's office.
Winfree is a diagnosed agoraphobic, meaning that the Bayville Park resident is terrified of being in public places.
``This will help a lot of people like me,'' said Winfree, sitting on the couch after getting a prescription for a middle ear infection. ``Nearly 4 million people have the same phobia. I don't like to think of people hurting because they're stuck in their house and can't get help.''
The majority of Johnson's and Meulenberg's time is spent on the road. They estimate that each 20-minute visit means at least 45 minutes behind the wheel.
So far, Johnson sees between two and three patients a day. He hopes to bring that number up to five or six. The two only have plans to serve patients in Virginia Beach.
The price for a house call is whatever the insurance allows. For example, Medicare pays $92 for the first visit and about $65 for every visit thereafter.
For folks who don't have insurance, Johnson usually charges about $65 to treat minor health problems like an ear infection.
The doctor accepts accepts Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medicare and Medicaid.
Johnson came out of retirement to begin making house calls five months ago.
``I don't play golf and I fish very little,'' said the doctor, often referred to as ``Red,'' a nickname given in honor of his red hair, now tinged with gray.
He opened Bayside Family Practice in 1961.
High blood pressure was the catalyst for his retirement from the practice 2 1/2 years ago and is also the reason he doesn't work full time in an office now.
He said he has no intentions of replacing the family doctor. Instead, he said he sees his on-the-road practice as an interim step to be used when a regular family doctor is too busy to see a sick patient.
He likes the arrangement because he can set his own hours and isn't responsible for admitting patients and making rounds in a hospital.
``It's kind of like convenient care,'' said Johnson.
He admits that this type of practice isn't financially feasible for a lot of doctors because of the lost time spent driving.
He has kept his own overhead low by employing his wife, Mary, to help with the practice. She is retired from the city's mental health services and now serves as his receptionist and office manager, helping to keep his appointments and patient records straight in their Witchduck Point home.
Johnson, who wears a jacket and tie when visiting patients, was born in rural Clarksville. Since he was young, he felt a calling to be a doctor. His interest in medicine lies with the clinical, or diagnostic, side of doctoring.
He began following the small town's physician around on house calls and at age 17 helped to deliver a baby. Johnson went on to attend and graduate from Hampden-Sydney College near Farmville and the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.
Muelenberg, Johnson's nurse for some 30 years, retired the year after he did.
He called her up one day and talked her into coming back to work making house calls.
This same persuasiveness is what got Muelenberg to work for him in 1963 when she approached him as a patient.
``I told him then I'd try it for a couple of weeks and I'm still here,'' laughed Meulenberg, a Diamond Springs resident with four grown children. ``We both enjoy working with people, even after all these years.'' MEMO: Another doctor, Dr. Jaime Posada, an internist, recently began
making house calls between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. He
accepts Medicare and can be reached at 422-9109.
Johnson can be reached by calling 363-0005.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos, including color cover, by MORT FRYMAN
With family members at his side, Dr. William T. Johnson, 65, tends
to a home-bound patient who is 100 years old.
Dr. William T. Johnson talked his nurse of 30 years, Connie
Meulenberg, to rejoin him in making house calls. ``We both enjoy
working with people, even after all these years,'' she said.
Dr. Johnson checks Arthur Hope, 87, a First Colonial Inn resident.
``You can tell much more about a patient at home,'' said Johnson.
``That's the one place you can really evaluate a patient on his
terms.''
Agnes Winfree explains about her sinus problems to Dr. Johnson.
Winfree is an agoraphobic, meaning that the Bayville Park resident
is terrified of being in public places.
``I don't play golf and I fish very little,'' said Dr. William T.
Johnson, in explaining his decision to come out of retirement five
months ago.
KEYWORDS: HOUSE CALLS DOCTOR by CNB