Donors: The Schumachers

Fort Worth Oil Man Sees His Family Come Alive

Tragedy breeds a strange kind of connection between a hospital, its patients and the families of its patients. But sometimes, a tragedy foiled breeds an even stronger connection. Such was the case with Scott & White Hospital, its Obstetrics/Gynecology Department and Fort Worth oil man Bob Schumacher.

Some 22 years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher, soon to be grandparents, received the news from their local physician that no expectant parents or grandparents ever want to receive: Their yet-to-be-born grandson would be born with severe birth defects, the doctor told the Schumachers. The local doctor’s recommendation was an immediate abortion.

Such news is unfathomable to those who have never faced similar trials. After months and months of waiting for this child, as sudden as a summer storm comes a medical recommendation for abortion.

It wasn’t a prognosis that the Schumachers could live with, so they sought out alternative advice from the Obstetrics/Gynecology doctors at Scott & White some 200 miles southeast of Fort Worth in Temple. Besides an accurate diagnosis and professional treatment, Scott & White’s medical staff and nurses provided months and months of caring that hasn’t been forgotten during the last 22 years by the Schumachers. And now more than two decades later, they have a healthy, successful grandson who is a daily tribute to his determined parents, grandparents and the decisions of all those involved.

To this day, the Schumacher family shows its dedication and gratitude to the staff at Scott & White by a consistently strong program of giving.

The Schumacher family is legendary at Scott & White. Their heartfelt concern for the people and medical staff has been vibrant ever since the earliest days of their involvement in Temple. And today, the Schumachers are some of the hospitals biggest advocates.

“They really practice medicine as a total clinic at Scott & White,” Mr. Schumacher said, “not as individuals.”

He cites other medical situations around the country where patients have to drift from one doctor’s office to another doctor’s office to other doctors’ offices all over town to get the kind of comprehensive care that they need. Whereas at Scott & White, each medical specialty is within a few steps of each other and all the doctors work in concert to fully serve the whole patient.

“Here [at Scott & White] they all work together. One doctor just picks up the telephone and calls another doctor, and they get things done.”

Convenience and expediency are important to Mr. Schumacher who was one of the first patients to use the hospital’s Executive Health Services. “It’s all under one roof at Scott & White,”

Mr. Schumacher said recently, “where you can go down there in one or two days and get everything done, get the report you need, and you can go home.” He said that convenience, the quality of care and the teamwork are all critical to his decision to seek medical care at Scott & White and why he is so encouraged by the direction of the hospital overall.

“I feel an obligation to the hospital,” he said, “and we definitely feel good about the direction Scott & White is growing.”

Because of the care his family has received and the routine care Mr. Schumacher receives at Scott & White, he has recommended the hospital and its staff to friends and business associates around the world. "Everybody I know, I recommend Scott & White to them, and many of them are patients now,” Schumacher said. As a matter of fact, each of his Fort Worth oil firm’s upper and midmanagement employees routinely utilizes the care and services of Scott & White for medical evaluations and treatment.

“The quality of life in Temple is excellent,” Mr. Schumacher explained, “and that’s why so many doctors like it down there.”

For Bob Schumacher and his family, Scott & White has been far more than a clinical atmosphere; it’s been a home away from home for them, which has contributed to the health and well being of their family for years upon years. . . and years to come.

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