(Greenwood, SC., Dec. 11, 2014) – Dr. Wiley Price, Jr. was one of Greenwood’s first internal medicine physicians, laying the groundwork for the specialists and other internists who would join the greater Greenwood community over the next 60 years.
It seems fitting that Dr. Price’s family has purchased the star for Lights for Love 2014 to honor the legacy of the doctor who was known as the area’s first “heart doctor.”
“My sisters and I can remember our daddy walking around with note cards in his pocket for each patient, and taking calls from patients, nurses and other doctors during dinner,” said his daughter Jane Fouche, who works at Self Regional as a Microbiology Supervisor. “Needless to say, we got quite an education around our dinner table.” After they grew up, two of Dr. Price’s three daughters sought out medical-related careers.
Dr. Price, along with Dr. Mims Mobley, established Greenwood Internal Medicine (now Internal Medicine of Greenwood) in 1952. Dr. Price, having been a patient himself with a disease called histoplasmosis, co-authored a paper in an Internal Medicine journal that researched the disease and drew conclusions about how the disease may have affected a significant number of people during an outbreak in Greenwood County in 1962-1963.
“He and his family were so proud that he wrote something that became published in a national medical journal,” said Fouche.
Through his career, Dr. Price was able to serve generations of families. His daughters said it was not uncommon for third and fourth generations of patients to stop by to speak to him when he was out in the community. “He treated many of their parents and grandparents and they all loved him,” said Fouche. He was also frequently recognized in his later years, even after retirement, when he sought medical care for himself.
“There were times when he was in the hospital during the last few years of his life, and the doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists and all caring for him would often realize very quickly that their patient was a physician,” she said. “He would talk the ‘doctor language’ and would often ask if he could see his EKGs. It meant so much to him, and especially us, when the staff greeted him as `Dr. Price’.”
After Dr. Price passed away on March 26, 2014, his daughters Gayle, Jane, Mary Wiley and his wife Mary, wanted to honor his legacy to the community in a meaningful way, leading them to make a contribution to the Self Regional Auxiliary.
Lights for Love is the Auxiliary’s major fundraiser, with contributions going to support the Self Regional Healthcare Cancer Center’s Infusion Center.
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