Imagine working 100 hours a week and being on call 24 hours a day. That was the reality for the small group of doctors serving the Roosevelt community and beyond in the 60’s and 70’s and one of them was inducted to the UBMC Hall of Fame this week. Uintah Basin Healthcare shares that Dr. Gary White joined the hospital in 1968, welcomed by Dr. Terry Buxton and Dr. Frank Madsen. “The doctors’ schedule was full to say the least, working 80 to 100 hours a week. They ran the Roosevelt Medical Clinic 6 days a week. A typical day started at 7 am, running the clinic until 7 or 8 at night, while still covering ER 24/7, emergency surgeries and baby deliveries through the night. In the morning, they would start with surgery then go to the clinic to start another day. This dedicated schedule went on for years. It wasn’t until 1985 when the hospital took over provider recruitment adding more physicians and ER specialists to provide some relief that the load was lightened.” Fueled by the diagnosis and eventual loss of his best friend and business partner, Frank Madsen, to colon cancer, Dr. White received the training to perform endoscopies and colonoscopies. Dr. White states, “At the time, I swore that no person in the Uintah Basin would die of colon cancer if ever I could help it”. After that, Dr. White went on to perform over 30,000 colonoscopies and endoscopies, saving many lives and helping people in our community. Dr. White practiced for 52 years in total before recently retiring. He was welcomed into the UBMC Hall of Fame on May 17th.
