National Doctors’ Day: Thank a Provider Today!

March 30 is National Doctors’ Day, the annual celebration of physicians, their work and contributions to the community. It’s a day to say thank you to our physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants for all that they do for us. At Swope Health Services, we’re planning to recognize them with greeting cards and cookies.

We invite all patients to join us in thanking our physicians and providers for helping us live healthier lives.

If you’d like to share a message for our providers, you can do so in the comment box below or on our Facebook page.

The cards are fitting, since the first Doctors’ Day — March 30, 1933 — was celebrated by mailing greeting cards to physicians and their spouses and by putting flowers on the gravesites of deceased doctors. A red carnation is the symbol of Doctors’ Day.

Kansas City-based Hallmark Cards provides a history of Doctor’s Day and offers greetings for the annual observation. Hallmark Cards reports that March 30 was selected as the date because it is the anniversary of the first use of general anesthetic in surgery.  Dr. Crawford Long of Jefferson, Georgia, used ether for the first time in 1842 to remove a tumor from a patient’s neck.

Doctors’ Day was officially made a national day of celebration in 1991 with a resolution signed by President George H.W. Bush. The resolution, in part, states:

Whereas society owes a debt of gratitude to physicians for the contributions of physicians in enlarging the reservoir of scientific knowledge, increasing the number of scientific tools, and expanding the ability of health professionals to use the knowledge and tools effectively in the never-ending fight against disease;

and Whereas society owes a debt of gratitude to physicians for the sympathy and compassion of physicians in ministering to the sick and in alleviating human suffering:

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That March 30, 1991, is designated as ‘National Doctors Day.’

Providers share in our deepest joys and sorrows, providing guidance, care and empathy at all stages of life. Please join us celebrating our extraordinary physicians and providers today — and every day.

Thank you, providers!

Have you been touched by a doctor’s care? Please share your story with us here. If you haven’t seen a health care provider in a while, please take time to call us to schedule an appointment at 816-923-5800 — even a same-day walk-in visit.