Blackford: ‘Tom truly saved the day’
FORUM FILE PHOTO
Tom Patterson Administrator of the Nodaway County Health Center
MARYVILLE, Mo. — There are few public officials more eager than Nodaway County Health Department Administrator Tom Patterson to talk through just about anything having to do with his department, whether it’s a deep-dive discussion on the intricacies of policy, general information about the state of health services or even just listening to complaints.
But when it comes to talking about himself, Patterson isn’t usually nearly as loquacious, instead frequently deflecting praise with a self-deprecating joke or accepting blame for something that wasn’t really his mistake in the first place.
And when it comes to going above and beyond to make sure the health department is providing the resources the community needs, Patterson is always willing to meet constituents halfway. Or sometimes, even further than that.
Back in March of 2020, a month before the county would see its first case of COVID-19, Patterson had already laid the groundwork for what kind of health department he wanted to run during the crisis, and how he wanted to assist people who would have to be isolated because of the virus.
“If we had to go help them do something, if I have to go pay a water bill for them, I’ll go pay a water bill for them, you know?” Patterson said at a March 2020 emergency planning meeting. “We’ll do things to help.”
With all that in mind, it was perhaps no surprise to the Nodaway County Health Center Board of Trustees when it learned on Wednesday that last week, Patterson had driven home a COVID-19 patient who was stranded at the hospital without a vehicle. And it was even less of a surprise that the board didn’t hear about it from Patterson.
But it was a shock to find out that the patient’s home wasn’t exactly nearby — more like nearly 500 miles away.
“We also want to personally thank Tom Patterson for going above and beyond to help us with a Covid positive patient who was moving through our community,” said Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville President Nate Blackford said in a letter to the health department board. “Tom took it upon himself to drive this individual home, which happened to be 7.5 hours away (one-way). We were out of options at the hospital regarding his stay with us and Tom truly saved the day.”
Patterson said the patient had been passing through town on a bus headed to Oklahoma when he had to be hospitalized at Mosaic, stranding him in Maryville after he was released.
“I asked him if he wants to go home and I’d give him a ride home,” Patterson said. “And he wanted to go home, so I gave him a ride home.”
So the two loaded up in Patterson’s vehicle and started the long haul to the patient’s hometown of Conway, Arkansas, more than 485 miles away, where the patient was dropped off to isolate at a hotel there.
Deflecting, Patterson insisted his motives weren’t entirely altruistic, saying that if the patient had stayed here, the health department would have been required to house him at a hotel and provide meals until his isolation period ended.
“The whole situation is just kind of difficult to work with,” Patterson said of being responsible for a patient with a communicable disease. “The easiest thing to do is to go home where you’re from so you can quarantine at home — you’re around your people, your resources, all that good stuff. So that’s why I took him home.”
Even though the home was 7½ hours away.
As one might imagine, that long in a car with a sick stranger was a little awkward, Patterson admitted. Plus, “I’m not the best guy to travel with, because I don’t mess around,” he said. “We didn’t stop until we got past Joplin.”
“I think that’s called going beyond the call of duty,” board member Charlotte Knorr said at Wednesday’s meeting.
Patterson said he wasn’t so sure.
“I just felt like it was the right thing to do,” he said. “Just like we’ve been doing all along, we’re just trying to help us all get through this thing. So, whatever it takes.”
