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Crash survivor Severe physical injuries from a fiery motorcycle accident and an airplane crash failed to cripple former Honoluluan W. Mitchell's spirit.
encourages health
workers to keep going
'It's not what happens to you;
it's what you do about
it that matters'By Helen Altonn
Star-BulletinDescribing his near-fatal experiences from a wheelchair and waving fingerless hands, he motivates audiences with his message: "It's not what happens to you; it's what you do about it that matters."
Mitchell -- the name he prefers using -- held about 335 Hawaii health care representatives spellbound with his story at a recent Healthcare Visioning Conference. The Queen's Medical Center sponsored the event at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Arthur Ushijima, Queen's president and chief executive officer, noted that it happened to be the birthday of Kamehameha IV who, with Queen Emma, went door to door to raise money to build the hospital in 1859.
He said the visioning conferences were initiated to answer questions about where the medical center is going in the 21st century.
Providing some insight on challenges facing the troubled health care industry were Des Cummings Jr., Florida Adventist Health System executive, and Dr. Robert E. Nesse, professor of family medicine at Mayo Medical School and consultant at Mayo Clinic.
Cummings said healing in the 20th century raised life expectancy from 45 years to more than 75 years. Now, with lifestyle-related illnesses replacing contagious diseases, the 21st century goal is about wellness -- increasing quality of life, he said.
Nesse said health care organizations must look for opportunities to restructure and integrate services. "People are looking for value in health care. You might not need to be the cheapest if you are the best."
Mitchell said he's alive only because of the care he received from nurses, doctors, cooks, custodians and all others engaged in healthcare. "You are as important an occupation as I can imagine on this planet," he said.
Mitchell remained in Hawaii after leaving the Marines in 1964 at age 21. He held radio jobs, attended the University of Hawaii and did voluntary work for political candidates.
Moving to San Francisco, he attended school, worked as a cable car gripman and took up flying.
The day he soloed ended with a flaming crash as he returned to work on a new motorcycle. More than 65 percent of his body was burned.
After four months in the hospital, 32 plastic surgery sessions, numerous blood transfusions and "why me's?", he said he began to realize he had to take responsibility for himself.
He gradually recovered and moved to Crested Butte, Colo., where he started several businesses and continued flying. "Life was really good," he said. "I learned things I might never have learned ... I came full circle."
Then, his plane stalled after he lifted off in 1971 with four friends and "it fell like a rock into the runway."
He was flown to a Denver hospital, where it was found he was paralyzed. He said he hated the wheelchair but learned every day to conquer things he thought were impossible.
Recuperating in Crested Butte, he was elected mayor and led a battle against the world's largest mining company to preserve the wilderness. He dismisses his acclaim as "the man who saved a mountain," saying it was a community effort.
Although he has a different appearance than when he once lived in Honolulu, Mitchell said: "It's a thin veneer. It doesn't hide the remarkable, incredible gifts that lie inside each and every one of us."
Cummings, a leader in development of Florida Hospital's Celebration Health in Disney's town of Celebration, Fla., also encouraged the health care workers, "Don't let the depression of our industry deprive you of joy."
Hawaii, like Florida, has a huge challenge because of its fast-growing aging population and low Medicare payments, Cummings said. He has experienced big gaps in the system in trying to provide continued care for his father, who has Parkinson's disease, heart disease and diabetes, he said.
His mother has a "scary" role as the prime caregiver and the danger is that caring for his father will kill her, Cummings said.
Health care must be expanded from acute hospitals to a continuum of care for people with chronic diseases, he said, predicting consumers who don't get adequate care will change from passive patients to active "prosumers."