March 20, 2014

Ted Mackett Receives Crystal Angel Award

, Adventist Health Gleaner correspondent

Trust is an important factor in a successful patient and
physician relationship. Ted Mackett, general surgeon at Adventist Medical
Center (AMC) in Portland, Oregon, understands this concept and specializes in
establishing remarkable trust with his patients. “He takes time to understand
the patient’s life beyond just their medical chart and gets to know intimate
details such as their family dynamics, what makes them happy, or their
hobbies,” says Wesley Rippey, AMC chief medical officer. “This is why it was an
easy decision for the Adventist Medical Center community to award Mackett with
the Crystal Angel Award.”

Each year, Adventist Medical Center honors an outstanding
physician who has put into practice the spiritual mission of Adventist Health.
This individual is presented with the hospital’s Crystal Angel Award.

“It is most fitting that the 2014 Crystal Angel Award be given
to Dr. Ted Mackett,” says Tom Russell, AMC president and CEO. “Dr. Mackett
consistently demonstrates the healing ministry of Jesus Christ in his
interactions with patients, staff, and community. His Christian compassion
coupled with his superb attention to quality outcomes makes him most deserving
of the award.”

Mackett felt the calling to be a physician from an early age.
The epiphany hit him when he fell and broke his arm while trekking the
Himalayan mountain range. Seeing how attentively his physicians cared for him
inspired him to care for others in that manner. The doctors even let him wear
their white lab coats and pretend he was a physician. As he stood proudly in
his lab coat, he was certain that he had to be a physician.

In his 20 years of service at AMC, Mackett has always tried to
put patients and their needs as his number-one priority in life. “To me the
patient comes first even before personal life and family,” says Mackett. “I
luckily have an amazing wife who is happy to take up the slack at home.”

“His commitment to his patients is really awe-inspiring,” says
Julee Thomas, director of risk and insurance services at the Adventist Health
corporate offices in Roseville, California, and Mackett’s sister-in-law. “My
sister has had supper waiting for very long at night, but he won’t leave until
he has made sure that every patient in his care has been taken care of in the
best way possible.”

“Mackett makes stressful experiences into pleasant experiences
with his demeanor,” states Rippey. He is known among his patients and
co-workers for his great sense of humor and memory of people’s lives. He will
walk into a room and have everyone laughing with his colorful storytelling, but
will also listen very attentively when they are talking and will remember every
detail.

Rippey states that these qualities have established a loyal
patient following, with some patients flying from many parts of the United
States to see Mackett. “Not everyone wants to keep seeing their surgeon, but
Mackett’s patients are often skeptical to end their surgical relationship with
him because of how well he cares for them.”

Mackett states that it is easy for him to go that
extra mile while caring for his patients when he realizes that this is why God
made him. “We physicians are God’s representatives on this earth,” he says.
“Jesus spent most of his time on this earth healing, so healing is very a
personal experience not just between the patient and physician but also with a
higher being. When I think of this, how can I help myself from loving what I
do?”

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