- Text
Doctor's visit costs just $5 in Illinois town
-
play Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble -
play Storm spotter: Oklahoma tornado "a nightmare" -
play Survivors pulled from Okla. school hit by tornado -
play Oklahoma tornado survivor: "Everything is gone" -
play At least 51 dead after tornado strikes Oklahoma City suburb -
play 5/20: Deadly tornado strikes Okla.; Fmr. Cincinnati IRS office ... -
play Oklahoma tornado leaves residents in state of shock -
play Oklahoma City manager: Tornado created "significant damage" -
play 5/19: Surviving the Midwest twisters; How a $4.8 ... -
play Severe weather: Where is the storm headed? -
play Elizabeth Smart reacts to Cleveland kidnapping -
play The power of a uniquely American song
(CBS News) RUSHVILLE, Ill. -- You often hear about the latest advances in medicine, but here's something completely different: a medical practice that hasn't changed much in more than half a century.
It works fine just the way it is.
Just off the town square of Rushville, Ill. -- population 3,300 -- is the office of Dr. Russell Dohner, age 87. He came to the town in 1955.
Dr. Russel Dohner of Rushville, Ill. still charges $5 per visit to anyone, regardless if they have insurance or not.
/ CBS News"There was a doctor here by himself and so I came here, except all of a sudden he left," he says.
Dr. Dohner charged $2 a visit. He pushed it up to $3 in the '60s. Then, in a bow to inflation, raised it to $5 a few decades ago and left it there. Most of his income comes not from medicine but from his share in a family farm.
87-year-old Illinois doctor charges $5 per visit
He admits he digs into his own pocket sometimes to help people who need medical care.
"We'll be sure to take care of whatever comes," he says. "Always have, anyway."
His office is cluttered. Patients wait their turn. There are no appointments.
There are no computers either. No copiers. But there are lots of cards, rotary phones and his two 80-something assistants, Edie and Rose.
Many of the doctor's patients are unemployed and have no health insurance, but that's not a problem when they sprain an ankle or step on a nail, like Sue Engelbrecht did.
"We love him here," Engelbrecht said. "We don't know what we'd do without him. ... You get the best service. This man knows what he's doing."
He still makes house calls, and still makes his rounds at the local hospital.
Dohner doesn't remember the last time he took time off.
"If there's some things I can do for people, that's what I'm here for," he said.
It's his philosophy on life.
"That's always been the way it was," he said.
Was, is, and will be for as long as he can.
-
Dean Reynolds Dean Reynolds is a CBS News National Correspondent based in Chicago.
- Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble
- Storm spotter: Oklahoma tornado "a nightmare"
- Survivors pulled from Okla. school hit by tornado
- Oklahoma tornado survivor: "Everything is gone"
- At least 51 dead after tornado strikes Oklahoma City suburb
- Okla. family mourns child killed at school following tornado
- 5/20: Deadly tornado strikes Okla.; Fmr. Cincinnati IRS office worker speaks out
- Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico
- Inside the IRS office that targeted conservative groups
- Injured third-grade teacher tells of trying to protect students
- Oklahoma tornado leaves residents in state of shock
- 16-year-old finds a new way to detect cancer
- Oklahoma governor: We need lots of prayers tonight
- Oklahoma City manager: Tornado created "significant damage"
- Tornado in Moore, Okla., was an EF5, the most powerful there is
- Saving the kids: One teacher's mission to keep her class safe
