Local doctor honored for 45 years of practice
West Buffalo – Drs. Nettie and Dick Parette practiced medicine in Graham County from the late 1940s until they retired in the mid-1970s. A bridge was later named in their honor over Snowbird Creek on N.C. Highway 143/Snowbird Road.
Now another N.C. 143 bridge – this one on Santeetlah Road over West Buffalo Creek – has been named to honor another doctor: Patricia Johnson, who took over the Parettes’ practice in May 1977.
Dr. Johnson – “Dr. J” to some, and “Mother of Medicine” to others – has seen patients, delivered babies and saved lives in Graham County for some 45 years.
The N.C. Board of Transportation approved the resolution for the bridge naming at its August meeting. News of the naming was kept secret from Dr. Johnson until a reception in her honor was held Saturday afternoon, at Cedar Cliff Church off West Buffalo Road, just a few miles from the bridge.
The Rev. Daniel Stewart, pastor of Cedar Cliff Baptist Church, agreed to pay the $2,000 cost for the signs.
A life’s work
Dr. Johnson’s parents were farmers and manual laborers, but being a doctor has always been her calling.
Growing up in Hartselle, Ala., she began working as a nurse’s aide at 15. She turned down a full nursing scholarship and instead paid her own way and graduated from the University of Alabama Medical School.
Johnson loved western North Carolina and decided that a couple of years there would clear her head before choosing a specialty or plunging into a big-town practice.
The National Health Service Corps placed her in Robbinsville, where the only doctors were the Parettes, a husband-and-wife team nearing retirement.
What she envisioned as a short stint turned out to be her life’s work, operating the Tallulah Health Center in Robbinsville, a practice with more than 20,000 patients from all over western North Carolina.
During her 45 years in practice in the county, Johnson was able to offer extended services to the people of Graham County so rural patients would not have to travel for health care, according to the Board of Transportation resolution.
She started a birthing center at Tallulah Health in early 1980 and created local workshops on wellness (including cholesterol management, exercise, Parkinson’s Disease). Services included mammography, certified in-house laboratory services, ultrasound, radiology, computed tomography and sigmoidoscopy.
Johnson started numerous support groups in different medical and wellness programs, including a Women’s Auxiliary Program to aid in transportation to and from doctor’s visits.
She was named in 10 Most Prominent Women in NC 2000 for Women Leadership in the N.C. Rural Community by the Z. Smith Foundation.
Johnson also served as medical Director at Britthaven of Graham County Nursing Home (now Graham Healthcare and Rehabiliation) for two years and was a provider there for 10 years.
Dr. Johnson was also deeply involved in holistic medicine, believing that the mind influences the body and overall mental and physical health. She is a Founding Diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine and has conducted seminars on holistic medicine for other medical professionals throughout the nation.
“The most valuable thing you can give a patient is your attention,” she was quoted in one published report. “I start by listening to my patients and finding out what is going on in their lives. You leave medical school believing there is a pill or a surgical procedure for every disorder.
“You soon find out that is not always true. Sometimes you have to help people sort through things and help them get well themselves. Increasingly, we are discovering that the body will express what the mind is thinking.”
The resolution
Johnson was revered by her staff, who called her the “Mother of Medicine.”
Linda “Poss” Buchanan, who helped Johnson run the clinic, organized the bridge-naming initiative. A loyal colleague, Buchanan has worked hard over the years to make sure Dr. Johnson received the recognition she deserved.
Nina Yeargin, one of Johnson’s many patients, was approached a couple of weeks ago to speak at Saturday’s reception.
Around 2000, “Dr. Johnson saved my life,” she said.
Yeargin was working fro Graham County Schools and found herself getting tired during the day. She needed to nap during her lunch break and had to take another nap before she could prepare dinner. She visited Dr. Johnson, who listened to her describe her symptoms and on a hunch, had her X-rayed.
It revealed an enlarged heart.
The next day, Yeargin was in Asheville for open heart surgery that revealed two tears in her heart with blood, leaking into both ventricles of her heart.
Her cardiologist told her she would not have lived long without surgery. It was possibly genetic; her mother died of heart problems when she was 46. Yeargin was 44 when she had her surgery.
“Dr. Johnson, you actually have a thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
Video from the dedication can be viewed at grahamstar.com.