Cedar Rapids pediatrician to retire after 40 years

After four decades of caring for children and their families, Dr. Kenneth Anderson is hanging up his stethoscope.

The Cedar Rapids pediatrician is retiring at the end of the year and moving to the Des Moines metro area with his wife, Kathy, to be closer to family.

He admits that it 'feels strange” to be leaving Eastern Iowa, a place he's called home since he finished medical school at Northwestern University. Anderson completed his residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 1972 and moved to Cedar Rapids shortly after where he joined a practice with two other physicians.

At the time, UnityPoint-Health St. Luke's Hospital was one of the first hospitals in the area to have a neonatal intensive-care unit, Anderson said - which was a big draw.

In the years following, those who know him say he's mentored doctors, been a strong advocate for children and helped countless parents who have come into the UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids pediatrics clinic.

'I've loved seeing families develop,” Anderson said. 'Parents who have brand-new babies and have no idea what to do and are so nervous ...

to see them develop and grow.”

Anderson grew up on a farm in Seneca, Ill. - a town of about 2,300 - where his parents raised a large family, livestock and grain.

'A lot of farm life is watching animals grow,” he said, adding that it was the farm that got him interested in biology. 'I went to college thinking I'd be a biology teacher.”

But those ambitions shifted, he said, and he set his sights on family medicine instead. Anderson said he always admired the town doctor, who took house calls and always knew the medical histories of the families he saw.

Anderson may not have made house calls, but Kelly DeCamp said he certainly had a personal touch.

Anderson was DeCamp's pediatrician growing up and he now cares for her four children, who range in age from 1 to 18 years old. He encouraged her to breastfeed, she said, and gave her guidance on how newborn care had changed in the decade between giving birth to her third and fourth children.

'He is just one of the smartest men I've ever known,” DeCamp said. 'He is so soft-spoken and gentle, and he always had an answer. I never felt judged - he didn't always agree with all of my parenting decisions, like we decided to co-sleep, but he never judged ...

'He was like a member of our family since I was a baby,” she said.

He's witnessed a good deal of change throughout his 40 year-career - watching the health care industry move from paper records to electronic ones and seeing diseases such as polio get wiped out through vaccination.

But Anderson said one thing that's stayed constant is his desire to get parents involved in decision making when it comes to their children's health.

'I have them understand,” he said. 'I don't just write a scrip (prescription) and leave. I talk with them about preventive medicine, immunizations, safety, nighttime crying episodes. Education of the parents” is so important, he said.

Dr. Mark Reinertson - who works in St. Luke's pediatric clinic with Anderson - called him a caring advocate for children.

The two met when Reinertson was in medical school and Anderson was a resident at UIHC. Reinertson had a child in the intensive-care unit, and Anderson took care of him.

'Little did I know we'd become partners later and be partners for 25 years,” he said. 'When I was talking with the group about if I should join (the practice), he certainly was part of the reason,” Reinertson said.

But it's Anderson's positive attitude and energy that Reinertson will miss most.

'He will be hard to replace,” he said. 'He's a great partner and team player. Ken always walks an extra mile.”