Cass Regional Medical Center | Wellness Matters | Spring 2019

Robert L. Wheeler, MD , retired family practice physician, died Jan. 20 at the age of 89. Dr. Wheeler graduated from Webb City (Missouri) High School in 1947 and joined the U.S. Navy in 1949. He was a corpsman in the Navy for four years, including one year as a member of a medical/surgical team in Korea. Upon discharge, he returned home and enrolled in the pre-medicine program at Kansas State Teacher’s College (now Pittsburg State University) in Pittsburg, Kansas, and graduated in 1957. Dr. Wheeler attended medical school at the University of Missouri, and after graduating in 1961, he completed an internship at Kansas City General Hospital before moving to Harrisonville in 1962. Dr. Wheeler chose Harrisonville for his practice because it was close to Kansas City and seemed to offer good opportunities for a young physician. During his career, Dr. Wheeler delivered many of the area’s residents and cared for families through all stages of life. In 2006, Dr. Wheeler was selected to receive the Foundation Award, which is presented to a person who has demonstrated steadfast dedication to the mission of Cass Regional Medical Center and to improving the quality of health care in Cass County. He retired from practice in March 2014. 2800 E. Rock Haven Road Harrisonville, MO 64701 816-380-3474 DATE: 9/30/2014 Standard CLIENT: Cass Regional Medical Center U.S. Postage PAID CCI JOB NO.: CMM30770 Cass Regional Medical Center COPY IN: 9/25/2014 Robert L. Wheeler, MD ENTs in your neighborhood Meet the new ear, nose and throat doctors at our Harrisonville Medical Clinic. PAGE 3 Providing crucial care The accident victim was severely injured and required significant immediate interventions, including a cervical collar to protect the spine, a tourniquet to stop extremity bleeding, stabilization of the extremity and an IV. “Thankfully Samantha and I know most of the EMS personnel, so when they arrived on the scene, we helped assist with care,” said Patterson. “Due to our teamwork and rapport with EMS, working on the patient in the field with them was like working together on a patient in the ED at Cass Regional.” The outcome of this accident could have been very different if the nurses hadn’t stopped that December night. “My advice for any health care professional would be to carry a first aid kit in your car at all times, because you never know when something like this might happen,” Patterson said. —Continued from page 1 Beloved family physician remembered Mathes contacted Cass Regional shortly after the accident to express his appreciation for Patterson and Dumas. “On behalf of Central Cass County Fire Protection District, Chief Jimmy Sebree, Paramedic Terry Smither, and myself, we can’t thank them enough for the ‘above and beyond’ assistance we received.” Scott Mathes, firefighter/EMT; Samantha Dumas, RN; Jessica Patterson, RN, BSN; Terry Smither, firefighter/paramedic