Changes in health care policy and increasing medical needs of individuals have the potential to make health care a more impersonal experience. However, Adventist Health physicians are working daily to preserve warm, personalized patient care. Adventist Health honored 17 such physicians, who have gone beyond expectations to provide compassionate care. These physicians were recipients of the 2013 Physician of the Year Mission Awards, given at Adventist Health’s fifth annual Physician Leadership Symposium in Sacramento, Calif.
The honorees, selected by their hospitals, were chosen for embodying the organization’s mission and focus on whole-person care. A characteristic that the physicians emphasize in their care is to make sure that patients are treated as individuals and not as medical charts. Examples of how these physicians make their patients feel special is by offering a quiet prayer, developing a personal relationship or simplifying medical terminology. “There is no question that people’s lives are better because of these physicians,” says Paul Crampton, assistant vice president of mission and spiritual care.
The honorees of the Physician of the Year Mission Awards 2013 in the North Pacific Union Conference are:
Daniel Crawford
Adventist Medical Center, Portland, Ore.
Daniel Crawford has been serving at the Adventist Medical Center in Portland for the past 24 years. He is known for being a soft-spoken physician who prioritizes demonstrating Christian love in his medical care. His peers often remark that he has a direct line to God.
Prior to establishing his practice in Portland, Crawford devoted 10 years of his life providing medical care to the underserved people of Indonesia. There he developed a passion for patient care rooted in Christian love. Today, his mission is to bring quality health care services to the lives of individuals so they can experience God’s healing presence and love.
Ben Douglas
Tillamook Regional Medical Center, Tillamook, Ore.
Ben Douglas is board-certified in family medicine, has a family practice with the Tillamook Medical Group and is the hospice physician. His patients span from infants to people receiving end-of-life-care.
Douglas emphasizes forming relationships with his patients and partnering with them in their health. It is imperative for him that complex medical terminology is made accessible and understandable to his patients. He makes sure that they feel open and comfortable to discuss anything. This is deeply appreciated by his patients.
Bradley Titus
Walla Walla General Hospital, Walla Walla, Wash.
Bradley Titus is board-certified in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease and internal medicine. He is the founder and managing partner of Northwest Cardiovascular Institute, a 17-physician group based in Portland, Ore. He is also a fellow with the American College of Cardiology and principal investigator or co-investigator on nearly 40 scientific research studies. Despite his evident technical expertise, patients prefer him for his kind nature and his ability to be comforting to patients and providers.
Titus also has a passion to share God’s love through medical services to developing nations. During a 10-year period, he helped grow a mission program in South America. He currently is eager to help Africa and regularly works with Africa New Life Ministries.
To read full-length bios of all 17 physicians, go to glnr.in/1bSxull.
Daniel Crawford, primary care with Adventist Medical Center in Portland, Ore.
Ben Douglas, family medicine, clinic and hospital neonates/pediatrics with Oregon's Tillamook Regional Medical Center.
Bradley Titus, medical director of Cardiology Northwest Regional Heart and Vascular, coronary and peripheral artery disease, and interventional cardiology with Walla Walla General Hospital in Washington.
