West Virginia doctor kept practicing, even while a patient

Dedication and caring earned this family physician a loyal patient base and an accolade.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. Jan. 20, 2003.

James H. Blume Jr., DO, did not suspect anything serious when he first started passing blood.

"Like all good doctors, I passed it off as a hemorrhoid," he said.

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But when it didn't go away, "I stood in front of the mirror and told myself, 'You need to go to the doctor.' "

What his doctors found in August 2001 was colon cancer.

Dr. Blume underwent surgery and months of radiation and chemotherapy. But even as he battled cancer, he kept open his family practice in Forest Hill, W.Va., a town of 75 people in the southern tip of the state.

For his dedication to his patients and the community, Dr. Blume recently was honored as 2002 Country Doctor of the Year by Staff Care, a Texas-based temporary physician staffing firm.

"People don't know how close I came to being a statistic instead of a celebrity," Dr. Blume joked in his soft country drawl. "I felt like I've always been sympathetic, but now I can be empathetic with my patients."

Dr. Blume, 46, was selected for the honor from 248 nominees nationwide.

Staff Care also noted that Dr. Blume practices in a state plagued by rising medical liability insurance rates but he continues to put in time at the local hospital's emergency department and treats patients regardless of their ability to pay.

The award generated a lot of attention from local newspapers and TV stations, which ran stories about the friendly, bespectacled doctor.

Praise from his patients

His patients said he deserves to be noticed.

"He's just really down to earth. Nothing gets him real excited or bent out of shape," said patient Robin McNeer of Forest Hill. "He listens. He's compassionate and caring -- all the things you want in a family doctor."

For 11 years Dr. Blume has run his second-floor office atop a former convenience store along Highway 12, set in the hills of West Virginia. He not only treats folks in tiny Forest Hill; patients come from all over Summers County and other surrounding areas. About 7,000 people call Dr. Blume their doctor.

Some travel as far as 50 miles. One patient drove 40 miles to see Dr. Blume after he severed his thumb in a farming mishap.

"Some of them pass a dozen doctors coming to Forest Hill. I guess it's because of the way we treat them. If someone calls up sick, we say, 'Well, come on in,' " Dr. Blume said.

Dr. Blume grew up in these parts, in Forest Hill and in Hinton, about 10 to 12 miles north.

He flunked out of college his first year, then worked as an emergency medical technician for four years. That job got him interested in a medical career, so he went back to college, attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., graduating in 1982.

He then went to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, W.Va., and earned his degree in 1986.

Dr. Blume worked as an emergency physician in other parts of West Virginia, but eventually decided to return home to open his own practice.

"I wanted to be in a rural area. I wanted to be around my people," said Dr Blume, a father of seven.

He's feeling healthier these days. He finished his cancer treatment in July, and the doctors said the cancer is in remission. He's back to playing and coaching soccer. And he stays active in his Baptist church, where he served as interim pastor.

Forest Hill is home to Dr. Blume. This is where he belongs.

"This is where God has placed me," he said. "No matter how bad it gets, things always work out."

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