Thankful for caring family physician

Last evening while waiting in a long reception line to express our gratitude to Dr. Richard McDonough for being our trusted family physician for almost 30 years, we met a family and their special needs adult son happily inserting his jittery fingers into a toy plastic football.

The parents reminisced about the sheer joy of having their first baby and Dr. McDonough's diagnosis that something was amiss. "He stood by our side, supported us throughout this difficult journey, connected us to the best specialists and was always on call for every concern," they said. "We couldn't have done it without him."

As they approached Dr. McDonough, the young man lit up. Dr. McDonough greeted him with a warm hug and a loving hand on his back for the duration of the conversation.

William Osler, the Canadian physician credited with creating the first hospital residency program, famously said, "The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease."

Dr. McDonough has accepted a position at University of Chicago after practicing in Barrington for four decades.

Thank you, Dr. McDonough, for being a great physician - for gifting us with your exceptional competence, warmth, humor, compassion and unwavering dedication. You will be deeply missed.

The Plum family

Lorraine, Ed, Marco

Barrington