Dr. John L. McDonald, Jr. – A Physician Dedicated to Life
REACH was founded in 1987 by Dr. John L. McDonald, Jr. Dr. McDonald passed away in October of 2000.
He dedicated his life to helping others through the enhanced delivery of emergency medical care. His guiding principle was to "always do what is right for the patient".
Dr. McDonald was born near Boston, Massachusetts in 1937. His father was a candy maker. His mother stayed home and took care of him, his brother Paul, and his sister Mary. After graduating from Boston College High School in 1954, Dr. McDonald left Massachusetts to attend the University of Notre Dame.
After graduating from Notre Dame, Dr. McDonald attended Loyola University Medical School in Chicago. After graduating from medical school, he stayed in Chicago and spent his residency at Cook County Hospital.
Dr. McDonald joined the United States Navy shortly after his residency ended. He was commissioned as an officer and assigned to the United States Marine Corp. Thus, he moved his young family to Cherry Point, North Carolina where he served as an air wing medical officer for a number of years.
Upon leaving the military service in 1966, Dr. McDonald and his family moved to California. The family lived in Sacramento for a short period of time and then relocated to Santa Rosa. In settling in Santa Rosa, Dr. McDonald truly found a new home. He loved the beauty of Sonoma County. He enjoyed the rugged coastline with its pounding waves, and he was at peace in the redwoods. Dr. McDonald benefitted from the inspiring natural beauty of the area. In time, the residents of Sonoma County (and indeed well beyond) would come to benefit greatly from Dr. McDonald's passion for improving emergency medical services. He found a new home and the community found a leader who was unafraid to stand up for what was right.
As a Family Physician, Dr. McDonald opened a medical practice across from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital shortly after arriving in town. Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital did not have an emergency department at that time. In fact, the entire city of Santa Rosa was without one. Dr. McDonald believed it was necessary to have one. In 1971 he created Santa Rosa's first emergency department at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Soon after, Dr. McDonald became Board Certified in Emergency Medicine. He served as Medical Director of the emergency department at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for over twenty years. During that tenure, he was the Director of Sonoma County's pre-hospital care program. While in that position, he saw another opportunity to improve the level of patient care delivered in the County he loved. Sonoma County did not have a paramedic program in the early 1970s. Thus, in 1975 Dr. McDonald initiated efforts to bring paramedics to the streets of Sonoma County. Two years later, he was successful in creating the area's first paramedic program, which he led for over two decades. The presence of paramedics on ground ambulances and the advanced skills they brought to the pre-hospital environment surely saved lives and decreased disability.
In the 1980s, Dr. McDonald began advocating for the creation of a regional trauma center in Sonoma County. He believed that trauma victims who could have and should have lived were in fact dying because of the absence of a regional trauma center. With the help of others, he worked tirelessly for 13 years until Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital was officially designated as a trauma center in March of 2000.
Dr. McDonald founded REACH Air Medical Services in 1987. He believed that the presence of a helicopter air ambulance in Sonoma County would benefit the community. Dr. McDonald served as REACH's Medical Director and chief proponent of "doing what is right for the patient" until the time of his death.
His dream lives on today. REACH has continued to thrive and now operates bases throughout California, Oregon, and Texas. The company Dr. McDonald created in 1987 to help the citizens of Sonoma County has done just that–and more. To date, his vision has resulted in more than 50,000 patients being cared for and transported by REACH.
Dr. McDonald did not believe in "retirement" for himself. He believed that so long as he was capable, he should continue to contribute to society. Emergency medical care was his passion, but his life was full of so much more. He was a man of his word. He had integrity, possessed a prodigious drive to produce, and was unafraid to stick out like a sore thumb when it involved doing what was right. He believed in taking personal responsibility for one's own success or failure. He believed in freedom and was very proud to be an American. He enjoyed reading and learning. Science and American history were favorites.
Dr. McDonald was quite vocal about what he believed was right and what he believed should be done in any given situation. He expected a lot of the people around him and could be quite a taskmaster. But, he was also a kind, generous, and decent man.
As the father of emergency medicine in Sonoma County and as the father of six children who he loved very much, Dr. McDonald's legacy is assured.
