We will always remember Richard Patterson
The VMC family has lost a true hero.
Richard Patterson passed away last night peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends, to a personal rendition of his favorite song.
In the words of Dr. Stephanie Kolakowsky-Hayner, who leads VMC’s Rehabilitation Research Center
Richard was an amazing man who influenced so many diverse circles and will be missed terribly. He led the peer-support counseling program at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for the past 15 years. He was a tireless advocate for individuals with disabilities, peer support coordinator, committee member for the Public Authority for In-Home-Supportive-Services, a co-chair of the Disability Advisory Commission for the City of San Jose, brother, son, fiancé, colleague, and friend. His loss will impact the thousands of lives he has touched.
One life was mine. I met Rich eight years ago, and there’s no end to what he taught me. Rich was the first to explain to me that “you never really ‘accept’ your spinal cord injury, rather you learn to live and work with it, the best you can, which is why peer support is so critical.” As much as someone not living with a disability can understand, Richard Patterson helped me understand.
Our work together saw Richard leading adventurists (like him) with disabilities on glider rides, whale-watching and SCUBA trips, and other excursions that proved what was possible. Great men like Steve Lyon and Marv Tuttle worked with Richard for years to demonstrate to thousands that life after a spinal cord injury can be full and exciting. The VMC Foundation will be forever proud to be part of his legacy.
We have, therefore, established a fund in his name, to ensure that his peer support and community work will grow. His family requests that gifts be sent to the VMC Foundation, 2400 Moorpark Ave. #207, San Jose CA 95128. Be sure to write “Richard Patterson” in the memo of your check, or to give by ccard, call us at 408-885-5299 or visit us on line.
Rich, I’ll miss you buddy. We all will.
It’s a pretty rare thing that I reference Men’s Health, a publication that spends a lot of time trying to improve one’s sex life. But, on occasion, they actually focus on – yes – men’s health…which oddly is often the same thing as women’s health, and kids’ health!
If you have been following VMC in the news or on any of our blogs, you know by now we’re busier than we ever have been. Over the last 10 years, the patient demand for services all throughout our health and hospital system has doubled. Next year, because of healthcare reform, we estimate that an additional 50,000 more patients will utilize the services provided by VMC. Here is one way the VMC Foundation is feeling this patient increase: we have distributed 4,200 more books to children in our outpatient clinics in 2010 than we did during the same time last year. Just take a look at the graph below.
Reach Out and Read is a program run by every pediatrician in the hospital system. When children visit the doctor for their regularly scheduled well-child visit, their Pediatrician introduces them to a culturally and developmentally appropriate book to take home. As the child interacts with the book, parents are coached on the importance of reading with their child every day and different read aloud techniques. 12,000 of the 50,000 new patients VMC will see next year will be children that will benefit from Reach Out and Read. That represents nearly a $30,000 projected increase in program cost for the next calendar year.
