Dr. John Farley is a busy man whose professional life changed forever when his father, a third-generation physician, died of cancer. Farley was so impressed with the hospice care his father received that he soon added another medical directorship to his portfolio.
It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough to do. Farley was already the founder of Birmingham Internal Medicine Associates, where he serves as medical director and president. He’s also the medical director of St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Health and Wellness and serves Hanover Health and Rehabilitation in its medical directorship as well.
But when one of his patients bought Community Hospices of America and moved its financial headquarters to Birmingham, he asked Farley if he would serve in an oversight capacity. Given his father’s experience with hospice, Farley said, he couldn’t resist. He said he considers it a “real honor” to be involved in the work of palliative care.
“It’s a real kind of mission,” said Farley. “They are doing good work. For people with terminal, end-stage disease, hospice puts a team of caregivers in the house that you wouldn’t normally have.”
Farley said he enjoys working with what he called a “different breed of nurses” who call him daily for direction. The team can employ excellent pain management techniques with nearly instantaneous results in addition to offering other services that benefit the family.
Farley believes it is the personal contact with these patients that is the major factor in drawing professionals to this field. They know they not only help relieve pain but are part of a team that also helps families deal with all end-of-life issues, from financial planning to spiritual counsel.
“It’s one of the great joys of being a doctor,” Farley said of this oversight of patient care. “It’s the privilege of being the one who, in a compassionate way, does what needs to be done.”
Farley is able to tend to his own patients’ hospice care and work with other physicians on their patient referrals. He tells colleagues that just because they are referring a patient to hospice doesn’t mean they are giving up.
“After all, none of us are getting out of here alive,” he said. “This is a neat way to help people.”
A desire to help people seems to be in Farley’s family bloodline. But at the age of 18 he partially broke from tradition by leaving his native Canada to pursue his bachelor’s degree at the University of Georgia-Athens (UGA). Although charmed by the friendly people, warm weather and UGA’s legendary supply of beer, Farley didn’t expect to stay in the South. He interviewed at multiple medical schools.
“I would have laughed non-stop if you’d told me I would be living in Alabama,” Farley said. But when offered the opportunity to attend the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), one of the top five internal medicine programs in the nation, he considered it a “great honor” and therefore moved to Birmingham.
He has never wanted to move since.
Farley’s northern extended family couldn’t understand why he and his wife would choose to raise their children in Birmingham, Alabama, especially considering all the places they could live in North America. But once they visit, they change their minds. Like their now-Southern relatives, they are impressed with the region’s charms, including year-round golf. It’s not perfect, Farley said, but it’s home.
“Birmingham does have such a schizoid personality,” Farley said of its multiple cities and self-consciousness history. “But the cost of living, the climate and the people are great. I’m never going to leave.”
He does leave, but just three or four times a year. That’s when this Canadian transplant indulges his passion for Colorado’s downhill skiing. But even that trip points out the assets of his adopted city, he said, since he can strap on skis in a matter of hours by flying nonstop from Birmingham to Denver without the hassle of airport transfers.
In addition to his appreciation for this region, Farley also wants his colleagues to know the value of hospice for patients and their families. When a physician doesn’t know how to discuss palliative care, Farley said, hospice can help with that, too. The primary doctor can then be reassured that his or her patient has appropriate care and that the family’s needs will be addressed, even after the patient dies.
Despite his multiple responsibilities and interests, Farley said hospice ranks high on his list of professional priorities.
“I’m honored to be involved in it.”
November 2007
