Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for September 29, 2006 DR. ROBINSON

Did not know her, but heard much about her from colleagues while sitting in the teachers' lounge. For those of you who did...

From The Paducah Sun...

Robinson not just a doctor, but a friend to all of her patients.

By Angie Kinsey akinsey@paducahsun.com BARLOW, Ky. — Dr. Charlene Robinson wasn’t just Ballard County’s only doctor for many years.

Robinson, who many called “Doc,” knew all of her patients by name, and over the years she won their trust, their confidence and their friendship.

“She was very loved,” said Sandy Hart of Wickliffe. “She was my doctor and she was our lifeline. But more than my doctor, she was my friend. I just feel devastated. She belonged to all of us. I don’t think there’s any of us who don’t have a personal feeling about her. She was a good old, country doctor. She didn’t know all the answers, but she knew where to send you to get the answers.”

Robinson, 66, died Tuesday at Western Baptist Hospital after a battle with cancer. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. next Tuesday at First Baptist Church in La Center. (Obituary, 10A.)

Robinson lived in Kevil with her husband of 31 years, Jimmy Don Robinson, a retired Ballard district judge. She was born in the small community of Watts Creek in eastern Kentucky, and received her medical degree from the University of Kentucky.

Robinson began her career in western Kentucky at the Morgan-Haugh Clinic in Mayfield before opening her private family practice on U.S. 60 in Barlow in 1981.

Robinson was known for working long hours, sometimes until 9 at night. She sometimes saw patients as the staff doctor of Life Care Center of La Center after putting in a full day’s work at the clinic.

Licensed practical nurse Camie Byrn began working for Robinson in 1977 in Mayfield and followed her to Barlow. “She was the best friend I ever had, and I respected her more than anybody,” Byrn said. “She wanted to go back to work so bad. She loved being a doctor. She worried about her patients. Cancer was the worse thing. She hated to tell her patients they had cancer.”

Byrn said because of the demand many patients had to wait for hours to see Robinson. “Those who knew her a long time never complained,” she said. “She made a point to know everything she could about her patients. She would say if she could get them to talk about something else, then she could get their confidence and they would tell her what’s really bothering them.”

Robinson started a free health fair for Ballard County citizens more than 20 years ago. Ballard County Family Focus Director Stephanie Hooper worked with Robinson at the fair for many years. “She had a giving spirit and willingness to help at any time and any cost to her,” Hooper said. “You felt you were going to see a family member when you went to her. She made you feel like that was the only thing she had to do that day. She was a plain person. She wasn’t concerned about looks or who you were. She cared about the person and the patient.”

Hooper also credited Robinson with saving her son’s life almost nine years ago. “We just brought him home from the hospital and he choked on some of his milk,” Hooper said. “We lived across the street (from the clinic.) I saw her car was still there, and I went with that baby running across the street. She was able to get enough out of him that he started getting his color back. She basically saved his life. I owe her a lot.”

Ballard County Judge-Executive Bob Buchanan said Robinson’s office has remained empty since she was diagnosed with cancer in May. Dr. Butler and Associates on 124 Phillips Drive is the only medical clinic in the county. Internal medicine specialists Danny Butler and Troy Nelson work out of their Paducah office, while the clinic is staffed by physician’s assistant Jeff Ward and nurse practitioner Paul Holt.

Robinson was also Buchanan’s doctor. “When I had five bypasses, she sent me on to the right doctor and got things right,” Buchanan said. “She was an outstanding person. She put her heart and soul into meeting the medical needs of any and all folks who called on her expertise.”

Judge-Executive-Elect Vickie Viniard also said Robinson would be greatly missed by the county. “Dr. Robinson was more than just a doctor to the citizens of Ballard County,” Viniard said. “She was a friend.”

Although Robinson has been in and out of the hospital for several months, she mustered enough strength to ride as grand marshal in Wickliffe’s Harvest Festival parade on Sept. 9. “Nobody would have gotten away with that but Doc,” Hart said. “Doctors would have said, ‘You’re not leaving this hospital room,’ but nobody was going to tell her no.”

Robinson rode in a convertible during the parade, waving and smiling as people cheered on the side. “When she was waving and smiling, we didn’t know if she was waving good-bye or hello,” Byrn said.