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INSPIRATIONAL
MEDICINE

Bexar County Medical Society. Dr. Irving Ratner was the inspiration for The Patient Institute.
Dr. Ratner explains, “One of our first Patient Institute
stitute, created a year after his passing, at 78-years old, while making
educational programs was with a community organiza- rounds on his patients.”
tion. All the staff had health insurance; and when we
went through the program and explained that they To improve health outcomes and the experience for both patients
needed a primary care physician, literally half of them and physicians … the caregivers … you can’t just address the patients
said, ‘I can’t find one taking new patients!’ without the caregivers and providers, Ratner realized. The Patient
Institute has expanded to help on the other end of the supply chain
That triggered a conversation with the Society, and of good, caring physicians, in assisting young men and women to
working with the Institute, created an additional set of become better educated on the practical aspects of medical practice.
fields on their already well-established “Find a Doctor”
website. Now, prospective patients can find providers “I realized that physicians fresh out of training are idiot savants,
that that are specifically accepting new commercially-in- we are exceptionally well trained in our specialty but as we get farther
sured patients, or new Medicare patients, or new Medi- afield from our core specialty, our level of knowledge drops precip-
caid patients, or that accept cash paying patients. “It was itously. So I wanted to do something for medical students and resi-
a win-win situation,” said Dr. Ratner with satisfaction, dents and other trainees to address the issue.”
“with patients the principal beneficiary, but also doctors
looking to expand their practices.” Again, in collaboration with the Society, the Institute began a stu-
dent enrichment program: WE LEAP, an acronym for wellness, lead-
Identifying a problem and affecting its resolution
comes naturally to the doctor, as it does to his siblings continued on page 14
and family, a strong heritage drawn from his father … visit us at www.bcms.org 13
Boston’s Thirteenth Pediatric Surgeon – and San Anto-
nio’s first.

“My father grew up in Boston, the son of immigrants
who were so proud to be able to send him to school,”
says Dr. Ratner. “After med school, he joined the Air
Force, becoming a flight surgeon before he became a pe-
diatric surgeon.

“He finished his training in Boston, and in 1961, he
became the thirteenth pediatric surgeon in Boston,
which didn’t need more than a dozen; so he came back to San An-
tonio, which at the time, had none!”

When Dr. Irving Ratner settled in San Antonio, he envisioned a
broader use for his training, and as a private pilot, flew to under-
served parts of Texas and Central America, where he took care of
patients and educated local physicians who didn’t have access to the
level of medical care he could provide. He was a dedicated member
of the Bexar County Medical Society. He held fast to the notion that
the patient and their families come first.

“He was the kind of doctor that was common at the time, if you
went to him, he would take care of you and because he took care of
little children, he also had to address and care for whole family as
well,” said Dr. Ratner.

“When my father passed away, we wanted to do something in his
honor and memory. His legacy continues through The Patient In-