This doctor is always in the house

House calls are a way of practice for one Illinois physician.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Sept. 16, 2002.

Community Spirit
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Robert Patten stares at a wall, his face sunken. Sitting across from him with a laptop balanced on his legs, Thomas Cornwell, MD, recalls the video he saw of Patten as an Elvis impersonator, gyrating hips and all. It's hard to believe the lively person on the video is the same depressed man staring into nowhere, he tells Patten. "Come on, give me a smile."

Patten, 47, has a neurodegenerative disorder that keeps him homebound. It's more practical for Dr. Cornwell to come to Patten's Illinois apartment to review his medications, draw blood and check his condition.

Across the western suburbs of Chicago, Dr. Cornwell's practice goes curbside to bedside.

The office is the backseat of a green Ford Explorer. The file cabinet is a plastic milk crate stuffed with folders.

As medical director of HomeCare Physicians in Carol Stream, Ill., Dr. Cornwell makes house calls full-time. Since starting in October 1993, the family physician has made more than 12,700 house calls to about 2,000 home-bound patients.

He prefers it.

"You're dealing with a very sick population, and that is very challenging," said the fast-talking, energetic doctor with baby blue eyes that match his medical coat. "It's those challenges that make it so rewarding. You really get to know patients, and you can really help them through a difficult time."

For his work, Dr. Cornwell, 42, was recognized in March by the AMA with a 2002 Pride in the Profession award. In 1998, he was named House Call Doctor of the Year by the American Academy of Home Care Physicians. [...]