PEORIA MAGAZINE April 2023

COMMENTARY

PEORIANS HAVE IT PRETTY DARN GOOD Our health care proves it, along with Peoria’s world-changing history

BY DR. DAVID TENNANT

I came to Peoria near six years ago after completing my residency. What was immediately obvious is that Peoria is a quality regional medical center. A lot of specialist support, a large number of hospital beds, and a children’s hospital. I’ll leave it to the marketing departments to continue singing the city’s virtues. But good luck convincing anyone from Peoria that we’ve got it good here. That was immediately obvious, too.

Within the first few months of starting my practice, I saw a patient for dizziness. He described all the times he just had to sit down, and all the things he wanted to do but couldn’t, or was afraid to try. It sounded like a lot, but he didn’t ask me what I thought, as people usually do. Why pay to come see me? “OK,” I said, not totally sure where I came into the equation. “I’ve been going to Mayo’s for it,” he told me.

Mayo’s? Dizziness is a common thing. Insofar as it requires a doctor at all, it’s not the kind of thing that gets fixed in one appointment. Mayo is five and a half hours away. Gas is expensive. Getting dizzy while driving wouldn’t be great. Life is short, that’s a lot of time commuting, and a lot less time working and being productive. Even if you were certain you needed a second opinion from an out-of-town medical center, why not Chicago, or

96 APRIL 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE