Notebook Recollections

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a dinosaur hunter. When I was a bigger kid, I wanted to be a doctor. I am dang fortunate to have been both.

Dinosaur Hunter? We’ll get to that later.

I was born at Saint Joseph’s Hospital on an early January morning in 1948 and raised in the Homecroft neighborhood.

I remember it all like it was yesterday. Of course, I don’t remember yesterday. But I’m told things went fairly well. For that I am grateful.

Because I love West 7th the place, I always said I was born and raised in West 7th. Well, close anyway. St. Joes is kinda West 7th, The Homecroft neighborhood is kinda West 7th. And I spent nine years at Saint Theresa’s grade school on the far end of West 7th.

From 1975 to 2025 (the last three years consulting ) I was privileged to work as a family doctor at four different West 7th locations. The high point was when my office was actually in the western end of Mancini‘s Restaurant, 1978 to 1981. Our office “back door” opened into Mancini’s Fireplace Room.

Nick Mancini was proud to have a doctor‘s office on site. And, true story, when I once said we had a number of people who couldn’t pay, Nick said, “you and all those people in charge gotta take care of them. I can help some of them too .”

During a nasty St.Paul summer heat wave in the 1980s (temp 103) Northern States Power said there would be an electrical shut off for 24 hours. We had $10,000 of refrigerated vaccines and injectable meds in our clinic fridge. Nurse Aleda said she’d talk to Nick Mancini.

I said “what could Nick do?”

She said Nick’s got his own emergency power back-up for his meat freezer.

Our meds and vaccines spent the next 24 hours chilling at Mancini‘s.

Nick and Nurse Aleda should’ve been eligible for that year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Let’s get back to that clinic history.

1972-1974

The Helping Hand Health Center was started in a former Hub Cap Shop next to Mancini’s by a group of committed West 7th folks in 1972 to “provide affordable, quality healthcare to our community.” A Grant from the James J Hill Foundation put things in motion.

Dr. Mike Brabec, Internal medicine, was the first medical director and attending physician.

Doctors in the Minnesota National Guard did part-time evening clinic sessions for several years that counted for their “duty“ hours.

There were dental services in the building basement.

Founding board members included Dorothy Mills, Susie Redman, Harriet Salaba, Jimmy Carter and Laurie Hausely.

I was just finishing medical school at the University of Minnesota.

1974 -1978

The “Hand” moved across 7th to the former Little Bohemian Café and Bakery.

Expanded dental services were added to the downstairs.

Many clinics like the “Hand” were popping up all around the twin Cities and the nation. This “Free Clinic Revolution” created medical care and counsel to teens and young adults, but included adults and elderly seeking affordable and community-available healthcare.

Dr. Brabec passed the baton to me in July 1975. Two weeks after I had just completed my medical internship at Minneapolis General Hospital.

What about that dinosaur hunting thing ?

That’s next month. Promise …