REFLECTING ON MEDICAL HISTORY

Retired doctor now a patient He witnessed decades of change

When retired physician John Finkner of Minden began experiencing shortness of breath, he went to see his cardiologist in Kearney, Dr. Sean Denney.

John, 93, had a pacemaker from a previous surgery, and his doctor had been monitoring him for aortic valve stenosis, a narrowing of the valve which prevents it from opening properly.

Dr. Denney was concerned, so he scheduled an appointment for John with Dr. Matt Johnson at a Bryan Heart outreach clinic in Henderson.

After reviewing an echocardiogram, Dr. Johnson determined that John’s aortic valve would need to be replaced, and he recommended the minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure, also known as TAVR.

“There are a lot of benefits and very little risk involved with this procedure,” Dr. Johnson explains. “Most patients can be back at home after spending just a day or two in the hospital.”

On February 11, Dr. Finkner had his valve replaced at Bryan Heart. Two days later, he was ready to go home.

Dr. Johnson says the collaborative effort between Bryan Heart and cardiologists across Nebraska helps patients achieve successful recoveries like Dr. Finkner’s.

“They have a lot of great programs throughout Nebraska, including in Kearney,” says Dr. Johnson. “There are a few things that we offer at Bryan Heart, such as the TAVR, that may not be readily available at smaller hospitals, but once patients have had the procedure, they can go home and have the follow-up testing and surveillance done with their local cardiology programs, rather than having to travel.”

John says he’s thankful for his outcome.

“I’m glad to have my heart situation under control,” he says. “Thank you to Dr. Johnson and everyone at Bryan. I really appreciated the professionalism and the special care that they gave me, and I’m getting along quite well.”

Early connections

John grew up on a farm outside of Adams, and his interest in medicine began after he suffered a leg injury playing high school football.

“A country doctor came to my home to check on me once a This story is brought to you by Inpatient Physician Associates.

Dr. John Finkner of Minden, now living at the Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Kearney, practiced for 50 years. This heart patient reflected on changes he witnessed over his lengthy career.

week, and I developed a respect for physicians,” he recalls.

In 1944, the 17-year-old received a Regents Scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1945, as World War II was nearing an end, John noticed an advertisement for U.S. Navy hospital corpsmen.

He enlisted, and on his 18th birthday shipped out for boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois.

By the time he finished corps school, the war was over. He was

sent to the Naval Ammunition Depot near Hastings and served

in the medical records department. During his time off, he would hitchhike to Adams to visit his high school sweetheart, Phyllis.

After completing his service, John returned to Lincoln to finish his undergraduate degree. In 1948, he and Phyllis married, and he enrolled at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine in Omaha that fall.

He graduated in 1952, and the couple moved back to Lincoln so the new doctor could do a one-year internship in family medicine at Bryan Memorial Hospital (now Bryan East Campus). While there, he heard about another opportunity.

“I had a close friend — Dr. Robert Butler — who was interning at Methodist in Omaha,” John says. “He said he had gotten word of a couple of doctors in Minden who were wanting to sell their practice. We went back there on a Sunday with our wives to learn more.”

After discussing it, the two families decided to go for it.

“It was sort of scary, but the people in Minden made us feel welcome and needed. We were busy right from the day we got there”.

From polio to smartphones

John remembers the medical world being different back in those days. Because there were so few specialists, family doctors did more.

“We did a lot of our own surgeries,” he recalls. “It just scares me to think of it now, but we got along pretty well.”

Starting in the 1950s, emergency medical services became more standardized. Minden acquired an ambulance (they previously used a hearse for emergencies), and several Minden firefighters took EMT training courses.

“That was a big improvement,” John says. “Otherwise, we would have to go out to the site of the accident. Now we could meet them at the hospital where there’s specialized equipment.”

The family medicine specialist faced other challenges.

“It was pretty hairy that first year because of polio,” he remembers. “The year before we arrived, one child died from it, and others were affected in their arms and legs.”

Vaccines have all but eliminated polio in America.

He also witnessed communication evolve throughout his career. In the beginning, a switchboard operator would track him down when he was needed. Later on, John would use pagers, bag phones, mobile radio telephones and finally, smartphones.

He says cell phones were huge for obstetric care: “What a blessing that was. We tried to be there for each delivery, and that really helped.”

Advancements over 70 years are almost unbelievable.

“There has been so much improvement and so much more is available, but there’s also so much more to know,” he says.

Certain memories from his career stick out, but John especially loved getting to experience the joy of a birth.

“That first baby cry — I always said that was the sweetest music this side of heaven,” he says.

Grateful to his community

In 2002, Dr. Finkner retired after serving for 50 years as a family doctor, and his influence led others in his family to pursue careers in medicine. His son Michael practices family and emergency medicine in Alma and Kearney. Dr. Finkner’s daughter ZoAnne became a nurse. One of his granddaughters, Amie Jorgensen, is an obstetrician in Kearney. Another is a cardiac nurse, and one is an orthopedic sales representative. Some of this influence came full circle at that recent appointment with Dr. Matt Johnson in Henderson. Dr. Johnson grew up in Alma, where Dr. Michael Finkner practices, and was friends with Dr. Finkner’s grandson, John. In addition, one of the current physicians in Henderson, Dr. Jim Ohrt, did his residency training with the younger Dr. Michael Finkner. (Dr. Johnson also knew Dr. Ohrt as a kid; the two played baseball together.) “It really is a small world,” Dr. Johnson says. Looking back over his career, John says he feels a sense of gratitude. “I’m thankful God opened the door to allow me to become a doctor, and that he’s led me all the way up until now,” he says. Dr. Finkner also appreciates the community where he and Phyllis raised their four children. “They were very kind to us in Minden,” he says. “They were not only my patients, they were my friends and neighbors.” n

To learn how you can support the work of Bryan Health, contact the Bryan Foundation at 402-481-8605.