Dr. Ben Till and his nurses, Pam Harris, left, and Mary Armour.

Patient and caregiver praises Dr. Till, nurses

(Originally published August 19, 2004, in the Daily American Republic.
Reproduced here with permission.)

To the Editor:

It is time again to recognize Dr. Ben Till for all he does for so many people. I had a retirement home for 15 years. During these years a doctor made monthly visits. For several years, Dr. Hecker came and was so faithful, so very good to my residents. When he retired, he came in with Dr. Till, who then took over my people. They loved him right away.

Well, for maybe eight years he came monthly, never failed one time and was always so sweet and pleasant with my little people. I specialized in Alzheimer's patients, and even they knew Dr. Till. They could not talk maybe, could not move maybe, but with some emotion or smile they knew it was him. Of course, he always took the time to take their hand and hold it, told them who he was, and that he needed to make sure they were doing OK. He would in fact check them out, and we would discuss their problems and he would take care of the matter. But then he did not walk away. He would always ask them if they needed anything, he would hold their hand or lay his hand on their shoulder. My point is when he asked them a question like "Do you need to talk to me?" there was some contact showing not only that he cared for them, but when they could not talk, he could feel any emotion, he was just so great with my residents.

I have had to call his wife several times to reach him and she was so beautifully gracious, she has to be a precious person. Think of what her life must be in sharing his time with everyone.

And his wonderful nurses are always on the other end of the phone for special questions. I know I was probably the worst pest they had. I really loved my residents, some I had over eight years. They were helpless sometimes, so what I could not figure out, I'd call Mary or Pam and they could usually put their finger right on it. They were so familiar with the patients I have rarely had them ask WHO is that. If they had any question Dr. Till was right there. They are absolute angels, working in a madhouse of sick people. Smiling and you know there are days when they are ill themselves, how good and giving they are.

Then we have to take into consideration they have lives, and little time to walk away for their own plans. Dr. Till has his hospital care patients, his office with so many of us to care for, then meetings and consultations, and he takes care of lots of nursing, boarding, and retirement homes.

I want to thank you, Dr. Till, for all the years, and you Mary and Pam, and I wish special blessings on all of you.

Nancy Taylor Robertson