Dr. Koop’s Legacy: Reflections on Our “Fireside Chat”
August 23, 2013
By Allen I. Goldberg, MD, Master FCCP
The late C. Everett Koop, MD, ScD, FCCP (Hon), is widely regarded as the most influential surgeon general in American history. He is remembered for many things: his influence in changing public attitudes about smoking, his role in educating Americans about AIDS, his work advancing the rights of disabled children, and his pioneering contributions as a pediatric surgeon. Long-time ACCP members remember his remarks at CHEST 1999 and 2000. And one member, Allen I. Goldberg, MD, Master FCCP, had the honor of knowing C. Everett Koop as a mentor and friend over a 35-year period. Here, Dr. Goldberg shares some of his thoughts about that relationship.
Throughout the years of our relationship, Dr. Koop had developed a habit: when he wanted to direct and guide me, he would often say, “No, BUT….” Then I knew I was in for something new, challenging, and rewarding.
One benefit of serving as ACCP President in 1998 and 1999 was planning the opening session of CHEST 1999. Having been privileged to share many conversations and insights with Dr. Koop, I decided to invite him to be the meeting’s keynote speaker. “No,” he said, he did not want to give a traditional keynote address. “BUT,” he had an alternative idea!
He and I often communicated “in a hurry,” and we had always wanted to put our feet up in front of his fireplace for a nice long talk. So he suggested that we have a “fireside chat” for the opening session of CHEST! I explained that I anticipated 2,000 to 3,000 people in attendance at the Arie Crown Theater of McCormick Place in Chicago, but he was confident it would work. We would transform the stage into a fireplace setting for me, he would be at home in front of his fireplace, and we would “chat” by satellite! Furthermore, he proposed that we meet several times during the year to talk about major health issues we were passionate about and felt needed to be addressed. Then, based on those conversations, we would each come up with questions to ask each other during the “fireside chat,” without knowing what the other person was going to ask.
There was total silence in the audience for an hour as we held our “Fireside Tele-Chat.” We discussed the challenges facing physicians in practice and physicians-in-training, the impact of managed care, the physician-patient relationship, alternative and complementary medicine, chronic disease and disability, and ethical end-of-life issues. Afterward, there was an outpouring of enthusiastic response. People flocked to me and said, “You have discussed ideas that needed to be addressed, explored, and resolved. Now what can we do about them?” Later, when I used the recordings of the tele-chat for grand rounds, the response was the same: “How can we take your vision and put it into action?”
Dr. Koop was invited to give an Honor Lecture at CHEST 2000, our second public conversation, in which we discussed international global health and its impact on creating a global economy. We held a third public town meeting in Philadelphia in 2001. Each time, the public conversation generated the same reaction and call for action.
Armed with this enthusiasm along with support from The CHEST Foundation and a special donor (Lucy Lehman and family), Dr. Koop and I convened “Overcoming Disparities in Health Care: A National Dialogue Facilitated by the Surgeons General” in 2003. The event was hosted by The CHEST Foundation at Howard University Medical Center, with the assistance of Alvin Thomas, MD, FCCP, and Floyd Malveaux, MD, FCCP. National thought leaders and political leaders from a diversity of perspectives, including Surgeons General Drs. Koop and Satcher, offered insightful ideas and recommendations for action, which Dr. Koop summarized in an agenda for change.
The Communication in Health Care Project of The CHEST Foundation is one outgrowth of that symposium and includes thoughts and ideas shared over half my lifetime in personal conversations with Dr. Koop. In it is the ultimate demonstration of our discussions about what is needed to attain health for individuals, families, and communities. It strives to put into action our shared vision for the future of health-care education and practice and how to transform the health-care delivery system. It continues to evolve 10 years later as one element of the legacy of Dr. Koop’s life’s work.
Read transcripts of Drs. Koop and Goldberg’s tele-chats:
1999: A Conversation Between Drs. Koop and Goldberg
2000: C. Everett Koop’s Global Vision for Health Care
Allen I. Goldberg, MD, MBA, Master FCCP, is a past president of the ACCP. He is a home care physician with expertise in high-technology home care, telemedicine/eHealth, and mobile health care. Formerly he served as Professor of Pediatrics at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine and Director of Respiratory Care at Children’s Memorial Hospital. He also developed the pediatric home health program at Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital of Loyola Medical Center.