Medical rehab guru
Shepard dead at 81OBITUARIES
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinHawaii residents didn't know the true meaning of "rehabilitation" until Dr. R. Frederick Shepard arrived from the East Coast in the early 1950s to become medical director of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Hawaii.
Today, the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific on Kuakini Street is a 100-bed facility with 12 outside clinics and a recognized leader in the medical rehabilitation industry.
Shepard, who died Thursday at age 81, is credited with guiding the nonprofit facility through much of that growth during the 25 years he was medical director.
Businessman Stuart Ho, long a member of the Rehab Hospital board, said that before Shepard, "no one paid a lot of attention to what happened after surgery ... they just did the operation and walked away."
The growing influence of the Rehab Hospital, started in 1953 as a subsidiary of the Kauikeolani Children's Hospital, changed that, Ho said.
Ho added that because of Shepard's urging, more than that of anyone else, the Children's Hospital board agreed to have the Rehab Hospital split off and become its own entity in 1975.
"He was the one that picked (the argument) up and gave it life."
Dr. Gary Okamoto, a rehabilitation physician, said the model for rehabilitation care used in Hawaii today is the same one that Shepard brought with him decades ago.
"It's the concept that people with physical disabilities can be helped by helping themselves through an interdisciplinary approach," Okamoto said.
Ho and Okamoto recalled how more than anything else, Shepard made patients realize they had a lot more reason to live life to their fullest and rehabilitate themselves rather than give up.
"He brought hope to people who had acquired the absolutely, most devastating injuries or diseases," Okamoto said.
"Shepard became almost a miracle kind of healer because he made people feel better about themselves, that they had the ability to deal with their disabilities," Ho said.
Shepard is survived by his wife, Dorothy; son, Jeff; daughters Gale Erwin and Heather Shannon; and four grandchildren -- Peter and Jenny Erwin, and Lindsey and Scott Shannon.
A private scattering of ashes at sea is planned for Saturday.
