2006 Country Doctor of the Year
David Nichols
Virginia Doctor Brings Modern Medicine to “Elizabethan” Island
Twenty-seven years ago, David Nichols, M.D. made a promise to the 600 residents of tiny Tangier Island, an isolated community located in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. He would visit them once a week, stitching up the lacerations that result from hard work on the water and treating the symptoms of “Tangier Disease,” a rare genetic condition found on the island that causes high cholesterol and heart attacks. True to his word, Dr. Nichols has been flying to the island ever since, providing care to descendants of English settlers who still speak a dialect linguists say is similar to English spoken during Elizabethan times.
According to Joseph Caldwell, executive vice president of Staff Care, Dr. Nichols is being honored in part for the extraordinary commitment he has shown to an isolated population with a high incidence of medical issues. An airplane and helicopter pilot, Dr. Nichols has flown the 25 miles to Tangier Island once a week for almost 30 years, becoming part of the fabric of life in this unique community where the majority of residents are the descendants of five or six founding families. During his always busy day on the island, Dr. Nichols treats everything from cuts and bruises to respiratory failure. He is literally a life-saver to the islanders, who have embraced him as a care-giver, confidant and friend.
When not flying to the island in his own helicopter, Dr. Nichols runs a thriving family practice in White Stone, a one-stoplight town in eastern Virginia. Before building his practice, Dr. Nichols was the only physician in town, and he continues to serve as the mainstay of primary care in the community. The site of his helicopter rising from the parking lot of his clinic has become a familiar one to residents of White Stone. The 58-year-old physician with “DR COPTR” on the license plate of his car is not about to curtail his visits to Tangier Island, even though weather conditions sometimes make flight a risk.
“I promised to visit the island come hell or high water,” Dr. Nichols observes, “and if I can’t get there by flight I’ll go by boat. I like to go and the islanders have come to depend on me. Besides, who else is going to do it?”
Staff Care, Inc has been presenting the Country Doctor of the Year Award since 1992 to highlight the spirit, skill and dedication of America's rural medical practitioners.
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