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Hernando Today

Physicians Nominated For Great Brooksvillian Award

One Helps Poor Around The Globe; The Other Focuses On Heart Health In Hernando County.

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: August 18, 2008

BROOKSVILLE -

Dr. Paul Farmer was raised in Brooksville and went on to improve the health of some of the world's poorest residents.
Dr. B.R. Raju was born in India and served as Hernando County's first cardiologist and helped develop Brooksville Regional Hospital into what it is today.
Both men are up for Brooksville's highest honor, the Great Brooksvillian Award. The award recognizes "outstanding men and women who have made significant positive contributions to the history, culture and/or economy of our community," according to the nomination form.
The city council on Monday will review the two nominations and choose the recipient. The winner will likely be honored in a ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 15, during the city's Founders Week celebration, said City Clerk Karen Phillips.
The city had hoped for a larger number of nominees but what the field lacks in quantity is made up for with quality, Phillips said.
"They're outstanding," she added.
Raju brought heart care to Hernando
When Raju came to Brooksville for the first time while vacationing in Weeki Wachee in the early 1970s, local physicians were desperate for a cardiologist. There wasn't such a specialist between Tampa and Crystal River.
Raju met Dr. William Lay, a surgeon and chief of staff at Brooksville Regional, who "took me to his home and kept me there," Raju recalls, laughing.
But Lay didn't need to hold him by force. Raju was born in a small town, came to the United States in 1968 to finish his cardiology training and had his heart set on Florida. He saw the need in Brooksville, liked the place, and stayed.
"It's my duty to serve the underserved," he said. "That was my goal."
Bob Osmond, owner of Osmond Printing in Brooksville, said Raju has gone far beyond that.
"He did a lot of work during very difficult times for our health care system," said Osmond, who first met Raju some 20 years ago when Osmond ran Brooksville Regional's printing operation. "He didn't do it for personal praise, he's just out there doing the right thing."
Thos early years were "a humble time" for health care here, Raju said. He borrowed money to pay for the county's first echocardiogram machine.
Raju served three terms as chief of staff for the hospital in the 1980s and '90s. He still serves on the board of directors for Brooksville Regional and for Hernando Health Care.
He is a past president of the Hernando County Medical Society and the Hernando County chapter of the American Heart Association.
The county commission honored him with a resolution when he entered semi-retirement in 2000. In 2003, the Florida Board of Medicine recognized him "for outstanding contributions to the medical profession" in the state.
Raju and his brother, who is a physician in Michigan, also provide funding to and act as advisers for a free clinic in India.
Whether India or Hernando County, Osmond said Raju has touched many lives.
"I'm sure there are some people walking around today that wouldn't be," he said.
Farmer is 'man who would cure the world'
This Hernando High School graduate's influence spans several continents.
Farmer, the valedictorian of the Class of 1978, lived for many years just north of the city limits in the Brentwood Campgrounds off U.S. 41, according to longtime Brooksville resident Julie Jinkens, who met Farmer when he was a boy. The Farmer family lived in a converted bus.
Farmer would go on to get degrees from Duke and Harvard universities. He is now an anthropologist and a physician with a specialty in infectious diseases currently working as professor of medical anthropology at Harvard. He also is attending physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Farmer is co-founder of the non-profit "Partners in Health," which works to provide free health care to poor residents in Haiti. The project aims to provide medication for tuberculosis and AIDS. Similar efforts are underway in Russia, Rwanda and Peru.
He has testified before a Senate committee about the challenges facing Haiti and how rich nations can help improve conditions there. He is the subject of a 2003 book by Tracy Kidder called "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World."
For his efforts, the Patel Foundation recognized Farmer in 2007 with its "Global Citizen of the Year" award.
Farmer was in Rwanda on Friday and unavailable for comment.
Jinkens called Farmer "a local boy who is making a difference globally."
"I just think he's gone beyond what I've seen a young person from this community try to achieve," Jinkens said.
She said the city council shouldn't shy away from giving Farmer the award because he didn't stay in Brooksville.
"I think most people feel as I do about Paul," she said. "We've claimed him as ours."

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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