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In Remembrance of Dr. John Hautala
On August 21, 2020, we lost a beloved member of our own medical community, Dr. John Hautala. He was just 54-years old when he died from suicide.
Dr. John Hautala graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1993 and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Michigan State University in 1996. John joined the emergency medicine group at Mason General Hospital in 1998. At that time, the group consisted of five fulltime board-certified emergency medicine doctors. He was happy when the group finally hired their sixth member and he was no longer the junior partner.
Dr. Hautala was an incredibly gifted, caring and highly skilled physician with extraordinary diagnostic acumen. He was highly regarded by his peers and the community. A shining example of how deeply he cared for his patients and families was when he lent his car to a family so they could get home from the emergency room in the middle of the night.
He loved children and was particularly fond of working with pediatric patients, often seeing them for his partners. John was incredibly generous and often spread cheer through the hospital and the department with anonymous gifts to staff, giving out chocolates, and donations for those in need. He loved the Apple iPhone and was the first to obtain the latest version every year. He was proud of his Finnish heritage. He was funny, bright, friendly, and a joy to have as a colleague and a friend. His closest colleagues thought of him as the most generous person anyone had ever met.
His life was a gift to us and a benefit to all our patients, staff and community for over 22 years of service. We would like to honor and remember his legacy by sharing our own love and compassion for each other, our patients, our colleagues, and our families.
Kevin Roscoe, MD
Chief of Staff, Mason General Hospital
TMCMS Trustee
Crisis Intervention/Prevention Resources
As most WSMA/TMCMS members are too sadly aware, physicians, who devote their lives to easing others' suffering, die by their own hands at higher rates than the general population. The WSMA offers the following reminder to its members that physician-focused help and resources are available to them and their colleagues in times of need.
Vital Signs
To help raise greater awareness about the physician suicide epidemic and to provide physicians the tools to attend to their own well-being, the Physicians Foundation has launched Vital Signs, a new educational campaign. Vital Signs features a webpage to help understand the warning signs to look for in someone who may be suicidal and provides a guide to help start a conversation with a physician about whom a colleague may be concerned. Learn more.
Dr. Pamela Wible
Pamela Wible is an American physician and activist who promotes community-designed medical clinics; she also maintains a suicide prevention hotline for medical doctors and medical students. The following are articles written by her on the subject.
Doctor revived after suicide. Here's what he says.
Why happy doctors die by suicide.
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