COOK— Dr. Harold Johnston sat in his office Tuesday morning last week reflecting on a career that has now spanned more than four decades. It’s a small office, and as he pondered his retirement at the end of the week, he was trying to work through what among his old files and computer would go and what would remain behind.

The occasional nurse still knocked on his door to ask questions on a patient, part of a daily routine that, for Johnston, is now part of the past.

From Jamaica to north woods

The road to Cook for the doctor would take him across two continents and across the Atlantic twice before he’d find himself in the north woods of Minnesota.

Dr. Johnston was born in Jamaica, but much of his early education was across the pond in Europe.

“My mother took me to England for an education,” he said. “I came to the United States for better opportunities after that. I’ve been here since I was 19.”

Dr. Johnston would go on to earn his medical degree from the University of Michigan before heading to Illinois for his residency.

It was there, that what is now history for the city of Cook would be made.

“I wanted to be in a small town,” he said. “I had finished my family practice residency in Illinois. Somebody associated with the program had some connections with Cook. They gave them my name. We flew up here, had a meeting. It was nice enough.”

45 years later

When he took the job in the summer of 1974, Dr. Johnston only planned to stay for a year or so.

“When I came, the hospital had been closed,” he said. “The physician they had had died the previous fall. The nursing home was still operating with visiting physicians from Virginia, but the acute care was closed down.”

“Maybe it was inertia to begin with,” he says slowly after a moment of wondering why he’d stayed 45 years ago. Being the only physician in the community, he had his work cut out for him.

“For a few years I thought of leaving to take fewer calls and have less stress,” he said. “Afterwards, we got other people to help.”

By 1976, the hospital would begin adding more physicians to its staff, averaging three permanent doctors at any given time for the rest of Dr. Johnston’s career.

A career

of change

A lot has changed since 1974.

“It’s busier than it used to be,” Dr. Johnston said. “I was just looking over the old reports. The emergency room used to see 700 patients per year, now it is stable at 2,400 per year. A lot of those patients come through in the summer. It’s always something.”

The emergency room numbers aren’t the only thing that has changed.

The hospital used to house a small obstetrics ward from 1977 until 1989. On average, the ward delivered around 30 babies each year.

Patients with heart issues are also no longer housed at the hospital beyond initial intake.

“We used to keep patients that now we would not keep because of the developments in care,” Dr. Johnston said. “When I started, if you had a heart attack, you would be put in a coronary care unit that would monitor you. We did some of that here. Nowadays, there is so much more a cardiologist can do, like an angiogram. The treatments have changed dramatically.”

The hospital also used to perform surgeries, but now only does basic procedures such as colonoscopies.

But services have been added as well.

“We have much better imaging,” the doctor said. “We have our own CT scanner and an MRI that visits once a week.”

With the change in care, so too, has the building changed.

“The hospital is coming up on its 60th anniversary,” Dr. Johnston said. “When I came it was 15 years old or so. Just about everything is new now compared to what it was. It was old and getting older. In about 1994, we started redoing everything. Nothing of the old remains.”

Before the renovations, the hospital even featured something you wouldn’t be allowed to have legally in a medical facility nowadays.

“When I came, there was a cigarette machine and I joked with people I got the profits,” he said. “Things are different now.”

Public life

If you’ve never visited the Cook Hospital, you may recognize Dr. Johnston from somewhere else - City Hall.

For more than a decade, Dr. Johnston has served as the mayor of Cook, with another 20 years or so as a city councilor.

“I had mentioned to one of the ladies who was on the council I would be interested,” he said. “I was on the council since the early 80s.”

Dr. Johnston plans to continue his service to the city. He recently won re-election to another term.

“It’s been a good community for me and my wife,” he said. “This is my home, I am grateful for the community. I plan to stay here.”

He said one thing he wants to do in the coming years is devote more time to his city job and sort out some of the city’s more confusing bylaws.

Retirement

After a career packed so much change, even for such a small place like the Cook Hospital, Dr. Johnston has a hard time deciding where life goes from here, aside from continuing as mayor.

“I am not totally sure what’s next,” he said. “I am sure I will (figure it out), I want to keep my medical license.”

As to why he’s chosen now to retire, he said he feels it’s the right time to step aside.

“I’m probably 10 or 11 years beyond the usual retirement age,” he said. “Right now, you have several practitioners at the clinic. They are really good. It seemed to be the time to retire.”

A party in honor of Dr. Johnston will be held on Friday Dec. 28 at the Doug Johnson Community Center from 5 to 8 p.m. with a program honoring his career at 6 p.m.

Until then Dr. Johnston will have plenty of time to reflect on four decades in Cook and remember what made it all worth it.

“When you actually save a life, that’s rare. Usually we make little differences,” he said. “Let’s say someone comes in in cardiac arrest and you get them back, that’s something. Or if you meet someone on the street, and they say ‘you really made a difference in my life.’ Those things would stand out.”