PEDIATRICIAN MOVES OVER TO COUNTY CLINIC

In more than half a century in medicine, Dr. James Kinder has witnessed more major changes in his profession than he can count.

But amid the myriad leaps forward in technology and techniques, the 79-year-old pediatrician's simple dedication to his patients has remained the same.

Now, at a time when most of his contemporaries have long been settled into retirement, Kinder is taking on new challenges and providing care to the neediest of young patients.

On Jan. 6, Kinder became a full-time staff member at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center's Primary Care Clinic at 1121 Linden.

"He's a class act," said Charlotte Craig, director of the Public Health Center. "Not only can we increase the number of children we see, the staff can learn from him. He has the kind of knowledge you can't get from books."

Kinder, who at one time was the only board-certified pediatrician between St. Louis and Memphis, has been practicing medicine longer than any other doctor in Southeast Missouri.

He said his private practice had not been keeping him as busy as he would like so he approached Craig about lending more of a hand at the Primary Care Clinic. Kinder has been a strong supporter of the Public Health Center since its inception.

"He was the first pediatrician who picked the phone up to say 'Anything you need me to do, I'll do it,'" Craig said.

Center staff said that Kinder has long been helpful in contributing ideas and lending his time.

Thanks to Kinder, the clinic will be able to increase it's the patient load and cut down dramatically on the waiting time for appointments.

According to Craig, the clinic handles "patients who can't be seen anywhere else." Eighty-five percent of patients receive Medicaid or are medically indigent.

Kinder began his medical career early. Hopping on an academic fast track, he graduated from high school at age 15 and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis at 19. In 1941, at the age of 23, Kinder graduated from Washington University Medical School.

While still in his final year of medical school, a shortage of doctors turned into opportunity for Kinder, who landed a residency position at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

"They needed someone and I jumped at the chance," Kinder said. "As a senior medical student, I was actually acting as if I had my M.D. and acting as a first year resident. St. Louis Children's was great for me and got me hooked on pediatrics."

More than 50 years later, Kinder can still recall by name some of his young patients at Children's Hospital, mentioning with a heavy heart those he could not save.

"Of course, there were some bright spots, too," he said.

But it would be a number of years before Kinder was able to settle into a pediatric practice. As a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps during college, Kinder earned a commission in the Army Reserve.

"With a reserve commission, Dec. 7, 1941, made a decision for me what I would be doing for a while," Kinder said.

After going through Army medical training to work with the infantry shortly after the start of World War II, in typical military fashion Kinder was assigned to the Army Air Corps.

Asking for an overseas assignment, Kinder ended up serving a two-year stint in the Chinese Air Force, serving as a flight surgeon and gunner on a B-25 bomber.

After the war, he served four years in the Army Reserve before transferring to the Navy Reserve, in which he served for 30 years before retiring.

Upon returning to Cape Girardeau in the mid-1940s, Kinder didn't initially intend on returning to pediatrics.

"I originally thought I'd take surgical training and do general practice," he said. "But when I came back from the war specialization really started to take hold here in Cape."

His interest in children helped him to decide what his speciality would be.

As the only pediatrician in the region, Kinder kept extremely busy during his early days of practice, often putting in 80- to 100-hour work weeks.

In addition to local patients, Kinder travelled to Perry, Ste. Genevieve, Bollinger and Wayne counties and throughout the Bootheel to treat children.

He said he didn't mind making the long-distance house calls.

"Back in those days, house calls meant you got to get out of the office and away from the phone," Kinder said.

One of the most dreaded childhood diseases at that time was polio, which struck hard in the region from 1949-51. St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau was the only polio ward between St. Louis and Memphis.

"There were as many as 50 patients in one ward," Kinder said. "We had them stacked in the halls."

Despite the efforts of Kinder and other local doctors, a number of children succumbed to the disease.

"Then we got the Salk-Sabine vaccines," he said with a sigh. "Boy, that was wonderful."

In addition to vaccines and improved antibiotics, great gains have been made in the treatment of children.

"You can do so much more with prematures. You can do things we were scared to do," Kinder said.

For example, years ago doctors would never risk doing a spinal tap on an infant. Now the technique is commonplace.

While he is dedicating full-time efforts at the Public Health Center, Kinder will still continue to see his old patients on a private pay basis.

Said the center's Craig: "He is seeing the grandchildren of children he took care of and did not want to just let them go."