COUNTRY
DOCTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD TO BE PRESENTED IN TORNADO-BATTERED TOWN
Dr.
Kenneth Mauterer of Olla, Louisiana to be Honored Feb. 4
IRVING,
Texas --
LaSalle High School in tiny Olla, Louisiana (pop. 1,370)
was to have been the site where Kenneth Paul Mauterer, M.D. received
recognition as 2004's Country Doctor of the Year. Nature, however,
had
other plans. The auditorium of the high school, which is Dr.
Mauterer's
alma mater, was partially destroyed by a tornado that struck the town
November 23, sending 25 people to the hospital, damaging over 50 homes and
killing an 89-year-old woman Dr. Mauterer had known all his life.
While the twister caused the award ceremony
to be postponed from last
December to February 4, 2005, it also underscored why Dr. Mauterer was
selected for the national award, which is presented by Staff Care, Inc., a
physician staffing firm based in Irving, Texas.
The night the tornado hit, Dr. Mauterer
rushed to the home of Audrey
Hinton, an elderly neighbor he had known since childhood. He
pronounced
her dead at the scene, but was able to render aid to her 93-year-old
husband, who survived. The rest of the night Dr. Mauterer
spent riding
around the town on an all-terrain vehicle, checking on the welfare of the
townsfolk. He then headed to Olla's 41-bed Hardtner Medical Center to help
treat the injured.
It's the kind of care that the people of Olla
have become accustomed
to. An economically challenged oil and timber town, Olla has had one
constant over the last 29 years: Dr. Mauterer, or "Kenny Paul,"
as he is
popularly known. Returning to his hometown after medical training,
Dr.
Mauterer found the local hospital in danger of closing.
For many of the ensuing years, Dr. Mauterer
single-handedly kept the
hospital open, doing all the things that country doctors do: delivering
babies, diagnosing everything from measles to meningitis, being available
around the clock, and crying with family members when a patient was lost.
Like many rural physicians, he's been paid in various forms, one time
receiving a case of champagne for a delivery. On another
occasion, he
donated a unit of his own blood to save a patient. He has done it all with
grace and humor, routinely singing over the hospital intercom or dressing
in
costume for local pageants.
"Sometimes I wonder how things might have
been different if I had
specialized and gone to a big city," Dr. Mauterer muses.
"But this town is
a part of me. I can't imagine anything more satisfying than
being a
country doctor."
The ceremony honoring Dr. Mauterer
will take place on Friday,
February 4, at 6:30 p.m. at the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ
Campground in Olla. About 1,000 residents of the town are expected
to
attend. Dr. Mauterer will be available for interview during
the days
leading up to the ceremony and at the ceremony itself.
Staff Care has been presenting the
Country Doctor of the Year Award
since 1992 to highlight the spirit, skill and dedication of America's
rural
medical practitioners. For additional information regarding
the award,
visit www.countrydoctoraward.com.
