FAIRMONT - They started their careers 35, 34 and 33 years ago; three young doctors eager to launch their careers and raise their families in a small town.
First came DuWayne Hansen, then Mark Wolverton, followed by Bart Eriksen.
As they approach retirement, the family physicians still work together under the same roof where they got their start - a rare phenomenon in this age of high physician turnover.
"It's just been a good place to live and practice," Hansen said of Fairmont. "I never had any reason to think about leaving. You know they say the grass is always greener - except it really isn't."
The three men recently took time to reflect on what led them to Fairmont and the significant changes they've experienced in their professional lives over the past three decades.
"I fell in love with the lakes," Eriksen remembered.
He had wanted to live somewhere a little warmer than his home state of North Dakota, and Fairmont seemed a perfect fit. He laughed as he recalled his logic - the winter he and his wife, Helen, moved to Fairmont was one of the coldest to date.
Both Wolverton and Hansen discovered Fairmont during their junior years of medical school when they participated in a six-week Rural Physician Associate Program. It was a new strategy the University of Minnesota was taking to get medical students into smaller towns, Hansen explained.
It worked. Hansen practiced for a year in Wisconsin before moving back to Fairmont with his wife, Rhoda. Here they would raise their children.
Wolverton and his wife, Jane, came to the same conclusion when he graduated from medical school.
"I had a family ... and we thought it was a good place to settle down," Wolverton said.
In 1973, when the Hansens moved to Fairmont, they traveled on Highway 16. There was no interstate, nor were there helicopters for transporting patients.
"Everything changes," Hansen said.
The hospital was new at that time, as was the surgical and medical areas.
"We had 75 beds in the hospital," Hansen said. "They were always full. During flu season, we had patients out in the hall with little curtains around them. ... Now we'd never be allowed to do that."
The hospital has fewer beds now, and half are usually empty because of improved treatment options, patient transfers for more serious conditions like heart attacks and shorter recovery times for standard procedures.
"It used to be a woman would spend five, six days in the hospital to have a baby," Hansen said. "Now they come in in the morning and go home the same day."
Many other changes have taken place over the years. When Hansen first came to Fairmont, most of the doctors were family physicians.
"We did just about everything" he said. "Us docs did surgery and delivered babies. Over time, more specialists have taken over those things. The scope of the family practitioner is more restricted."
Other restrictions came about through government regulations.
"Back when I first came I saw 30-45 patients (per day). Now, 15 can be a normal day but you're still ... just as busy," Hansen said. "You spend as much time or more on the paperwork as seeing the patient."
He isn't the only one who misses the good ol' days.
Eriksen still loves his job, but wishes he had more time to spend with patients.
"I still enjoy my work immensely, like when you can chat with a patient and sit one-on-one with them and get to know their families," he said, "but I think more and more medicine is getting commercialized. Hopefully, we can maintain our small-town feel and not lose our personal relationships."
He anticipates more government restrictions in the future, particularly if universal health care is enforced.
"We definitely have to have some changes made to control the costs," Eriksen said. "... It was fun back in the '70s and '80s not to have to worry about that, but now it's gotten so spendy for everything."
Time has brought about positive changes, as well, especially in regard to technology.
More tools, like MRIs, CAT scans and lab tests, are available to assist with diagnosis and treatment. Chart documentation has improved dramatically, allowing physicians to easily retrieve patient information, along with access to medical literature.
With the many transitions physicians have experienced in the past three decades, Wolverton struggled to pinpoint just one or two major changes in his field.
"There are so many," he said. "As a business, we joined Mayo in '94, and we've grown larger with more specialists here in town."
None of the three men have regretted their decision to stay in Fairmont.
"Initially I had planned to stay 2-5 years and get a pediatric residency," Eriksen said. "The longer we stayed here, the more we were digging in roots. We had children involved in the school system and we got involved in the community. We've loved it ever since and vowed we'd never leave.
"... I was fortunate to find the right spot at the right time, and I've had excellent colleagues all this time, which really helps."
Wolverton also commented on the close relationship he has developed with his co-workers and patients.
"I still enjoy what I do," he said. "Some patients I've had 30 years or more. ... I enjoy my colleagues and our work atmosphere. We're still focused in on our patients - and that's what drew me into this career to begin with."
