6 minute read
A CAREER THAT FLEW BY
From house calls to afterhours urgent care,
Dr. Paul Waters delivered
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The San Joaquin Medical Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors Dr. Paul Waters for his dedication, innovation, and service to the community over his long career as a family practitioner specializing in obstetrics.
At his Lincoln Village home, Dr. Waters and his wife Suzanne recently reflected on his vocation while thumbing through a stack of photos from his 2019 retirement party that depict a doctor with a wide range of hobbies, talents and causes that have kept him on the go over his lifetime.
Known for his calm demeanor, he harkens back to a time when doctors still made house calls. He would visit his sickest patients at their homes when he was building his practice and gained a reputation for being dedicated to his those under his care. >>
BY JO ANN KIRBY
A licensed pilot, Dr. Waters is something of a Renaissance man. He enjoyed flying, skiing, fishing, and traveling to far-flung locales. Today, he keeps busy overseeing nearly a dozen rental properties with his devoted wife, gardening and even woodworking.
“There are probably a lot of people out there more deserving than I of this honor,” he said, with characteristic Midwestern humility that hints at his Iowan roots. “It was all rewarding, taking care of people and hopefully helping them stay healthy or regain their health. It was very enjoyable interacting with patients for so long over the years that they almost seem like friends.”
To this day, he still runs into former patients who are eager to chat with their former doctor. “He practiced 54 years before retiring and loved his patients who were extremely loyal to him as their doctor,” said his friend and colleague, Dr. Edward Schneider, in nominating him for the award. “He was wellrespected by the entire medical community.” Dr. Waters was born February 26, 1935, in Atlantic, Iowa. He completed his undergraduate degree at Creighton University and graduated from its medical school. An internship in Fresno brought him to the Central Valley and then to San Joaquin General Hospital. The draft was in place in the early 60s when he decided to serve his two-year commitment and he was stationed at hospitals at Fort Sam Houston in Texas and then Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana.
He came back to Stockton and entered private practice in 1964. Tragically, his first wife was killed in a car accident leaving the widower on his own with a 7-year-old- son and 2-year-old daughter. A second chance at love with Suzanne Hopman, a widow with an 8-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, whom he married in 1968, led to a long and thriving marriage. Their blended family includes a son of their own together, Brian, who followed in his father’s footsteps by graduating from Creighton University School of Medicine.
They have one grandson they dote on who they hope will come out from Texas to attend University of the Pacific.
“Everyone came here for parties,” Suzanne recalls, of their busy Lincoln Village home that was once bustling with five children. “They were into everything, Little League, softball, you name it.”
She kept the household running, along with the washing machine, which enabled her husband to thrive in his career. Their stacks of photos depict a lively and loving marriage.
“Here we are dressed up as Dracula and Bride of Dracula,” Suzanne Waters said, as they recalled memories of past Halloween festivities. Together, they delved into charity work. He worked with Su Salud to bring medical care to the underserved, and she got involved in volunteer work, as well. “It was a balancing act truly, lots of hours and a lot of work,” she said. The couple organized fundraisers to drum up money for the community. They were benefactors of the Stockton Symphony, the Child Abuse Prevention Council, Mary Graham Children’s Shelter and other civic and humanitarian organizations.
Despite Dr. Waters’ long hours in private family practice, where he delivered 20 to 30 babies a year, he also managed to find time to help fill a need for emergency urgent care in Stockton with four other colleagues. The idea of a nighttime clinic flourished and he, along with his partners, would spend one night and one weekend every five weeks staffing the Stockton Medical Clinic until the concept of urgent care
hours and a lot of work.”
clinics took off. “It was kind of innovative, because we hadn’t heard of anything of that sort and afterwards, there developed a lot of the freestanding urgent care clinics, so I’d like to think we were sort of the instigators,” Dr. Waters said. “You know, when you were building a practice, the emergency rooms would call you after hours to come down. It was a matter of setting something up where people could come to you after hours, rather than running all over town to see them.”
Dr. Waters served as chief of medicine at Dameron Hospital for a year and also served on the board of directors at St. Joseph’s Medical Center for one year. He was on the founding board of directors for Omni Health Plan and served a yearlong stint as president of Omni IPA.
He instructed family practice residents at San Joaquin General Hospital, making the rounds with residents, and offering them office experience at his practice. Doctors he mentored this way include Dr. Schneider, Dr. John Bylsma, Dr. Steve Nelson, Dr. Eric Chapa and Dr. Walt Wager, all of whom ended up staying in the local community to practice medicine. “He brought me into his practice until I had established my own patient population and opened my own office across the hall,” Dr. Schneider said. “He continued to be a resource for me for consultation in difficult cases for many years.”
Eventually, the high cost of medical malpractice insurance convinced him it was time to retire in 2018. Otherwise, he would still enjoy working on a part-time basis. “Last night we were at dinner at Miguel’s and a woman at a table across from us looked familiar,” Dr. Waters said. It turned out to be a former patient who told him he was sorely missed. “In the end, I guess I did make a difference.”
