Surgeon, educator, leader: Dr. John Boxell

Dr. John Boxell talks about his career as an Ear, Nose and Throat physician in Chattanooga.
Dr. John Boxell talks about his career as an Ear, Nose and Throat physician in Chattanooga.

Champions of Health Care

In our third annual edition of Champions of Health Care, Edge magazine received nearly 200 recommendations from the public about health care providers, administrators and volunteers who are making health care better in Chattanooga.From among those nominations, a panel of judges comprised of top leaders from the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Medical Society and each of Chattanooga's three major hospital systems - Erlanger Health System, CHI Memorial Hospital and Parkridge Health System - picked nine winners in eight different classifications of health care.The Champions of Health Care award winners this year have tackled major community health problems, started or promoted programs to better coordinate care and expanded initiatives for wellness and disease detection. Others are recognized for new approaches, strong leadership and simple acts of kindness during their lifetimes of achievement and service. In a variety of volunteer and professional roles across many of Chattanooga's major health care institutions, the honorees have distinguished themselves and the community for improving the health of individuals and Chattanooga as a whole.This year's Champions of Health Care will be honored at an awards luncheon at The Chattanoogan on Wednesday, September 5.

Nearly a half century ago, a pair of Indiana University-trained physicians, who had completed their residency together in head and neck surgery in Indianapolis, headed south for a weekend trip to consider joining a surgical practice in Chattanooga.

Dr. John Boxell and his partner, Dr. Hathaway Harvey, were immediately impressed by the community and its medical opportunities. By Sunday afternoon of his weekend visit, after attending First Presbyterian Church where he is now a deacon, Boxell was convinced Chattanooga would be his new home.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Honors health care leaders who have left a legacy on the quality and diversity of health care in ChattanoogaAchievements: For more than 35 years, Dr. John Boxell was a head and neck surgeon and specialist in otolaryngology who also was an associate professor in the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and served as president of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society in 1989, chair of the Memorial hospital board from 1990-1991 and chairman of the board of Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation from 2010 to 2012. He remains active in both the Chattanooga Tumor board and the Hurlbut Cancer Fund.

"What was so appealing to me was the attitude of the people and the opportunities here for myself and my family," Boxell recalls. "Chattanooga was a great place to allow us to use what we had been trained to do and that's what fulfilled us."

In 1970, Boxell and Harvey joined what was then already a 59-year-old medical practice in Chattanooga known as the Associates in Ear, Nose, Throat/Head & Neck Surgery. Their arrival doubled the number of surgeons in the practice and added new expertise and procedures to the market in neurosurgery and head and neck cancer treatments.

At the time, Boxell was in the military reserves as an Air Force captain under the Berry plan, a feature of the military draft that allowed physicians to defer obligatory military service until they had completed medical school and residency training. Boxell initially wasn't sure how long he would practice in Chattanooga because of his military status. But with the end of the Vietnam War, he was not called to active duty.

Within their first year of practice in Chattanooga, Boxell and Harvey were so active with their surgical practices they were admitted to the prestigious American Head and Neck Surgery Society and Boxell says he was in Chattanooga to stay.

"Mid-westerners are not transients," he quips. "There was never a thought of mine to entertain another option."

Boxell has rotated his surgeries and his civic contributions among Chattanooga's hospitals. He practiced surgery on the the first day when Parkridge hospital opened in 1971 and was board certified at nine area hospitals, including Children's Hospital at Erlanger where he was a frequent Ear, Nose and Throat (E.N.T.) specialist for young children. At the urging of then Memorial Hospital administrator Sister Thomas de Salles Bailey, Boxell was first vice-chief and then chief of the Memorial hospital staff in the early 1980s and chairman of Memorial's board a decade later. He later served as chairman of the Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation as well as president of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society and the Chattanooga Surgical Foundation.

"Dr. Boxell is not a Memorial, Erlanger or Parkridge doctor. His service always transcended these limiting descriptions," says George "Chip" Faircloth, a hospital administrator who worked with Boxell at both Erlanger and Memorial. "He is egalitarian in his service, devoted to many of our fine facilities and local programs, and a great example to many."

Friends and peers who nominated Boxell for a Champion of Healthcare award point to his humble, soft-spoken approach and his ability to inspire and lead others.

"Dr. Boxell is an outstanding professional, mentor, teacher and colleague, but I believe he should be viewed first as an outstanding leader," says Lisa McCluskey, vice president of marketing at CHI Memorial Health Care System. "For decades, he has been among the most visible physician mentors and leaders within the CHI Memorial system and the surrounding community, and has served as a role model to senior physicians, as well as an inspiration to physicians at the beginning of their careers."

Boxell has served as an associate professor in the department of surgery for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and earned a surgical subspecialty award in 1991.

Boxell, who is 78 years old, retired from his active medical practice in 2005 but he remains a physician advisor for cancer services at Memorial hospital.

As a youth growing up in Marion, Indiana, Boxell said he learned early the value of helping others through church, school and scouts. Boxell, who earned his Eagle scout award in 1953, said "discipline of scouting is a very valuable" and helped shape his determination to succeed in medicine. His high school job as a janitor als0 convinced him of the value of cleanliness and the importance of all types of jobs in a hospital.

During his practice, Boxell provided free clinic service and surgical services for the underserved and uninsured population for 35 years. He was the only physician in the area to provide free otolaryngology services to what is now Siskin Children's Institute. He has also been a leader or board member for the Tennessee Valley Medical Assembly, the Chattanooga Science Fair and the United Way and remains on the Chattanooga Tumor board and the Hurlbut Cancer Fund.

Boxell's service also was exemplified every Tuesday night during the last decade of his medical practice when he would take his wife and employees from the office, have a bag supper in the car, and seeing patients in cities like South Pittsburg who wouldn't otherwise have access or be able to afford such care.

"It was something I enjoyed because there was no scheduling and I got the chance to see a variety of patients," Boxell recalls. "Chattanooga is a community with a rich tradition of volunteer service and I've been blessed to be a part of that."

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