Salute to Health Care honors three physicians

Since 1985, Salute to Health Care has recognized direct health care providers for their leadership, their efforts to promote health and their contributions to practice areas within the medical field.

This year’s honorees are Drs. Thomas A. Collins Sr., Patricia Dix and Roy W. Holand. Their stories follow, in alphabetical order.

Dr. Thomas A. Collins Sr.

Collins, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon for 40 years, practices with Oral & Maxillofacial Group Ltd. in Springfield. While Collins was out of town and could not be reached for this story, according to biographical information provided by his family and the chamber, he was instrumental in introducing dental implants to the Springfield market.

Collins, who earned degrees at Loyola Dental School and Stritch School of Medicine, completed his oral and maxillofacial surgical internship and residency in 1967 at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Among his contributions to dentistry, Collins invented a patented mandibular prosthesis, a moving joint for the jawbones of patients who have suffered trauma or disease. Collins is dedicated to research and new technology in the dental field, particularly in terms of dental implants.

Collins shares his knowledge with others in the dentistry field through lectures and his contributions to periodicals and textbooks. He has performed surgeries before students and surgeons at several institutions, including Harvard and the University of Alabama, and with Dr. Per Ingvar Branemark in Gothenberg, Sweden. He is a past chairman of St. John’s dental department and a past president of the Greater Springfield Dental Society.

Dr. Patricia Dix

Dix was the first perinatologist in Springfield, joining the staff of CoxHealth in 1988 and establishing the Regional Perinatal Center to care for women with high-risk pregnancies.

Dix graduated from medical school at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1972. She began delivering babies in 1976 during her OB/GYN residency at West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va., and completed a maternal/fetal medicine fellowship in 1983, when she focused her work on perinatology.

“I absolutely love taking care of pregnant people,” Dix said.

She also was instrumental in the development of CoxHealth’s Perinatal Intensive Care Unit. As a perinatologist, Dix cares for women whose unborn babies have birth defects as well as women who have high-risk health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, premature labor and pre-eclampsia. While some conditions aren’t preventable, she said she’s committed to educating women about making smart choices during pregnancy.

While Dix estimates that she’s delivered between 4,500 and 6,000 babies during her career, figuring an average of 200 babies every year since 1976, she now limits her practice to in-office consultations.

“I’ve paid my dues,” Dix said of deciding to stop delivering babies last year.

Because her practice is limited to consultations, Dix has more time to give back to the community. On Thursdays, she provides gynecological care at nonprofit The Kitchen Inc.’s medical clinic.

Dr. Roy W. Holand

Holand, an orthopedic surgeon at Ferrell-Duncan Clinic, graduated from medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1966. Though Holand spent 10 years as a family practice physician in Fargo, N.D., he went back to school and completed an orthopedic residency at Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tenn.

He has been practicing in Springfield since 1982.

“I enjoy dealing with patients over a long period of time and the mechanical and surgical work of orthopedics,” Holand said. “We deal with fractures and arthritis a lot, and I do hip replacements and knee replacements.”

Holand may be better known by some southwest Missourians for his work in state government. He spent eight years as a Republican state representative in Jefferson City.

Though he left the legislature in 2004, Holand is proud of his work with the government.

Among the issues he addressed were expanded Medicaid coverage to include the working disabled, implementing a pharmacy management program for Medicaid patients and striving for parity between mental and physical health coverage.

Autism also was an important issue for Holand.

“I introduced the nation’s first bill dealing with autism, designed to reduce the exposure of children to a mercury preservative contained in routine immunizations,” Holand said. “That was in 2004, and now, there are, I think, 12 states that have that. Mercury has been removed from children’s immunizations.”

Though he’s not in Jefferson City any longer, Holand is still working with his legislative contacts on several health-related issues, including improved access to mental health care services.

“I still know a lot of senators,” Holand said. “Being a state legislator, for me, was a great experience. … You try to improve the things you can while you’re there.”

Event Details

What: 2007 Salute to Health Care, honoring Drs. Tom A. Collins Sr., Patricia Dix and Roy W. Holand

When: Nov. 7 reception starts at 6:15 p.m., with dinner to follow at 7 p.m.

Where: Highland Springs Country Club

Tickets: $40 per person; available online at www.springfieldchamber.com

Health Care Reform

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Relations Committee will host a health care reform forum at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the chamber office, 202 John Q. Hammons Parkway. Guest speakers are Dr. James Kimmey, president of the Missouri Foundation for Health, and Dwight Fine, executive vice president of the Missouri Hospital Association. The forum is free and open to all chamber members. [[In-content Ad]]