"Some patients have no other place to turn'
By John Becton
Compassion.
"That one word sums up a whole lot,"
Richard Thigpen says of the key word he
included in the name of a special
chaplain's discretionary fund.
"There's a glimpse of this man in the
name of the Fund," Chaplain Wes Aitken
says of Thigpen.
The Chaplain's Fund for Compassion
was established in 1963 with funds
contributed by Richard E. and Dorathy D.
Thigpen and others, in memory of
Dorathy Thigpen Elliot.
The income of the Fund is used "with
no strings attached" by the hospital
chaplains to help meet patients' needs
which are not otherwise met, Thigpen
explained.
Something that may seem trivial
Some ways this resource is used
include pastoral care of patients and
members of their families, special events
or services in the hospital's Allen
Memorial Chapel and personal expense
items not covered by any other fund or
agency.
"Some patients have no other place to
turn," Thigpen said.
Beyond the excellent medical and
nursing care patients receive here,
"there is a point where they need
someone to take them by the hand and do
something that may seem trivial, but is
very important to their spiritual and
emotional well being," Thigpen believes.
Cleland provided pastoral hand
The Thigpens found a compassionate
hand to hold at a crucial time in the late
50s, when their daughter was being
treated here for cancer.
"The ministry of Dr. (James T.) Cleland
meant so much to Dorathy," Mrs.
Thigpen said.
Cleland, now retired, was dean of the
chapel at that time and was actively
involved with the medical center.
Expression of concern
Shortly after their daughter's death in
1959, "we began contributing through
Dr. Cleland to the chaplain's fund of the
hospital," Thigpen said.
The contributions were made as a
memorial gift and as an expression of
concern for others who would face
tragedy, with the hope that similar
expressions of concern would be
stimulated.
"The Fund for Compassion was
formalized four years later because it
occurred to me that it needed more
organization," Thigpen noted.
Participation invited
The Duke alumnus retired in 1966
after practicing law in Charlotte for 33
years. He served on the University Board
of Trustees for 20 years, and all three of
his children attended Duke, as did Mrs.
Thigpen.
The founders of the Fund for
Compassion intended it to be an
expression of the compassion of many
people as a memorial to many others.
Gifts may be undesignated, given in
memory of the dead or given in honor of
the living, and may be sent to Rev. P.
Wesley Aitken, Chaplains Service, Duke
University Medical Center, Durham,
N.C. 27710. Contributions should be
payable to Duke University.
THE MOST WORN PAGE in the Allen Memorial Chapel Bible contains worn page are Dorathy Thigpen and Rev. Wes Aitken. The Thigpens
Psalm 23. At the suggestion of Richard Thigpen (left) extra copies of the established the Fund for Compassion, which is administered by Aitken's
Psalm have been made available in the chapel. Also shown with the most office. (Pholo by John Bedon)
On tour today
Twenty-eight students from the
health occupations class at Harnett
Central High School in Angier and
their teacher, Kathy Bradley, are
touring the medical center today.
Hospice a resource for making each day count
Community resources for people wnth
serious illnesses will be the focus of a
speaker series beginning Dec. 14,
sponsored by Make Today Count, a self-
help group for people with Hfe-
threatening illnesses, their famihes and
Professional News
Richard B. Hayes, di
rector of medical center
development, has re
ceived the designation
of Fellow from the Na
tional Association for
Hospital Development
(NAHD).
This honor represents
the highest accreditation
in hospital fund raising
and is granted on the
HAYES basis of peer review,
performance evaluation and extensive written
and oral examination.
Hayes was one of 12 persons throughout the
United States who were made Fellows at a
ceremony held in Boston in October,
The NAHD is a professional organization
for the continuing education, improved
performance and professional growth of its
members. It also seeks increased
understanding of the development function.
Dr. Ronald Krueger spent three weeks in
Poland in October as a pediatric nephrology
and urology consultant to the Pediatric
Institute in Krakow. The visit was sponsored
by Project Hope and the Polish Ministry of
Health.
The purpose of his work was to evaluate the
institute and assist physicians there in
KRUEGER
SPOCK
preparing to perform pediatric renal dialysis
and begin kidney transplants in children.
Krueger, who is an assistant professor of
pediatrics and urology, also spent time with
pediatric urology surgeons evaluating the
urology program and instructing in needle
biopsy of kidneys in children.
Some doctors from Poland will be coming
here in the spring to spend several weeks in
study and observation, and Krueger said a
team from here will be returning to Poland
later next year to assist in that country's first
pediatric kidney transplant.
Dr. Alexander Spock, professor of
pediatrics, is advisor to Project Hope in Poland.
He was in Poland several months earlier than
Krueger's visit and will be returning there for
additional consultation next year.
concerning others.
Peter Keese, assistant chaplain at the
medical center, will begin the series with a
talk on "The Ultimate in Community
Care: The Hospice," on Wednesday, Dec.
14, at 7:30 p.m. at Duke Memorial United
Methodist Church.
The series will continue with panel
discussions of the physical, social and
emotional asp>ects of community based
care. Meetings Jan. 25 and April 26 will be
in Chapel Hill. The March 8 discussion
will be at Duke Memorial United
Methodist Church.
As president of Hospice of North
Carolina, Inc., Keese will describe what a
hospice is and what is being done in North
Carolina.
"The philosophy of a hospice is to
enhance the qualify of life until death
occurs," Keese said. "It provides
sophisticated management of pain and
other symptoms so that the patient can
remain comfortable and awake.
"The hospice sees the patient and
family as the unit of care, and it provides a
bereavement follow-up service," he said.
Care of the patient and family can be
provided either through home care or at
an inpatient facility, Keese said. There are
chapters or interested groups in seven
North Carolina cities so far, and he hopes
one or two places will be offering care
within the next 12 months.
The public is invited to attend the
speaker series without charge. For more
information, contact Bev Rosen, director
of the oncology social work program at
Duke's Comprehensive Cancer Center,
684-5201.
Community loses two members,
Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Pickrell
Two long-time members of the medical-
center community died last Tuesday,
Nov. 29.
They were Helen Greene Clark, the
first formally trained medical secretary
here, and Katherine Council Pickrell, who
was the wife of Dr. Kenneth L. Pickrell,
professor and former chairman of the
Division of Plastic, Maxillofacial and Oral
Surgery.
Mrs. Clark came to work at the medical
center in 1934, and her work included
serving as secretary to Duke's first
psychiatrist. Dr. Raymond Crisp>ell.
She was the wife of Elon Clark, who
established what is now the Division of
Audiovisual Education and served on the
faculty until his retirement three years
ago.
Survivors in addition to her husband
include three daughters, four sisters and
five grandchildren.
Mrs. Pickrell is survived by her
husband, four daughters and six
grandchildren.
Both deaths occurred in Duke Hospital
following extended illnesses.