The idea to write about some of my practice experiences, and at the same time point out some of the changes in medicine which were taking place during all of those years, came to me in September 2001, shortly after I received an invitation to speak at the dedication ceremonies for a recently completed, large addition to the modern Eaton Rapids Medical Center. Because I had been deeply involved with its founding and early operations, and had treated patients there during the first 26 years of its existence, I was asked to speak for five to seven minutes about the early years of the hospital, ------ years when it was known as Eaton Rapids Community Hospital. As I was thinking about what to say, I realized that the time allotted for my speech would not allow me to even begin to adequately present the subject. Here then, in these pages, are recorded some of the many things I would have liked to have told my audience in that speech. It is my story of the hospitals and medicine in my hometown, presented truthfully, accurately, and in some detail.

In August of 1946 I chose Eaton Rapids to be the town in which I would establish my medical practice and rear my family. Although it was my intent to stay for only two or three years, and then take a residency in general surgery somewhere in order to become a board certified surgical specialist, my wife and I became so deeply and pleasantly involved with its people and its hospital that we stayed until I retired from practice 38 years later.

For an overview of the early medical history of Eaton Rapids I am indebted to one of my earliest patients, W. Scott Munn, who researched the history of the area, and wrote about it in his book, THE ONLY EATON RAPIDS ON EARTH. Munn's book was apparently self-published. It contains no mention of a copyright, and there is no ISBN Number in the book. There is merely a statement on the backside of the title page that it had been printed by Edwards Brothers, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan. No publication date is given, but the author dated his autograph in my copy of the book on 8/2/52.

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Before there was a well-organized effort in Canada to encourage research by general practitioners, many individuals had the curiosity to do studies of their own work. This book is written to remind us of the work of the pioneers, many of whom are unknown in the year 2001.
In the late sixties ad early seventies there was a great surge of interest and activity in family medicine research in Canada. This interest was largely the result of pioneering work done by individuals and committees who saw the potential value of such research before it became a major theme of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, or of most departments of family medicine in our teaching centres.
In the eighties and nineties there has been a progressive increase in the volume of research in Canadian family medicine, to the point where it is difficult to keep track of it. This book is written to bring together scattered records of studies done by the pioneers, mainly limited to the third quarter of the twentieth century. It does not claim to be complete, but at least provides a record of much of the early work, and as such is archival.
In writing this book, I feel qualified mainly as an admiring observer of the early workers, as well as having some part in development of research by doing studies in my own practice and working with various research committees. Work done in other countries is mentioned, as it has has a direct and large influence on our progress in Canada.