I am a recently retired physician from Kaiser Permanente with two specialties. Pediatrician for 41 years, Sports Medicine Sub-Specialist for the last 8 years.

I am still working part time during the pandemic to help fill in for shortages in our staffing. I love medicine and I am a very strong advocate for vaccination to protect us from preventable infections diseases.

I have never turned a family away from my practice who refused to vaccinate because children do not choose their parents. The children not vaccinated are the most vulnerable and need my help the most, and in many cases I have been able, in time, to convince their parents to vaccinate them.

I work in a rural "redneck" area of Washington state that has a high percentage of antivaxxers. However, I do my best to connect with them anyway I can to bring them over to my side. I am an avid outdoorsman, hunter, and sportsman. I spend many hours volunteering in my community doing sideline coverage for our local high school football and wrestling teams. I believe these efforts help to build strong relationships with my community and my families. Sometimes my efforts pay off. From my years of experience I have come to believe you cannot shame people into vaccination; but you can lead them to good decisions with compassion, understanding, time and trust. Here and there, bit by bit, slowly but surely, they change, sometimes even convince their friends to change; then you have a movement in the right direction.