BE A DR. NELSON
Sen. Terry Johnson and Dr. Robert Nelson during a legislative meeting at the 2024 ODA Day at the Statehouse.
This month as we are gearing up for Day at the Statehouse, I would like to take the time to pay tribute to a very good friend of mine, the late Dr. Bob Nelson. Dr. Nelson practiced in Portsmouth, Ohio for 64 years prior to his passing in March of this year at the age of 92. In my almost eight years with the Ohio Dental Association there is not a dentist I spoke to more than Dr. Nelson. It was a rarity for a week to pass without a phone call to discuss politics, legislation, the military or to just check in on how things were going in Columbus. On the off chance that I was not in the office, he would always leave a message stating that this was Bob Nelson from Portsmouth, as though I wouldn’t recognize him in the voicemail. Coming from rural southern Ohio myself, it was always nice to hear about what was going on in that part of the state that still means a lot to me. Dr. Nelson held many positions within the ODA and the Southern Ohio Dental Society and achieved much success in shaping the practice of dentistry in southern Ohio and throughout the state. His CV was chalked full of accomplishments, but what I admired most about him was his ability to connect with anyone he talked to and create conversation and engagement. That ability was ever on display with his patients, legislators and those lucky enough to meet him.
Outside of being a fellow southern Ohioan, what brought Dr. Nelson and I together the most was his passion for the legislature and his understanding of the impact that he could have on relationships with those who represented him. I often joked that if I could clone him and put him in all parts of the state, our relationships with legislators would be second to none. He usually replied to that statement with, “I do not think you want 100 of me running around the state,” always humble in his approach. I also know that there are many of you reading this that do have the same approach to advocacy as Dr. Nelson and I see it every day in different parts of the state. What Dr. Nelson did to communicate and connect with legislators was the same approach he took with his patients and his community. His office in Portsmouth served so many over the 60 plus years he practiced much like all your offices serve your communities. Just as many of you are pillars of the community, so was Dr. Nelson. The care in which he treated his patients and his community extended directly to those who represented southern Ohio in Columbus. In my time with the ODA and well before there have been many different representatives from his district and every time that I met one of them in Columbus they already knew Dr. Nelson.
If Dr. Nelson were writing this article, he would say that nothing he did in creating relationships was groundbreaking, however, executing the building of a relationship isn’t always as simple as he made it seem. The care and time that he put into talking with each of his representatives and getting to know them was extraordinary. His relationship building was always focused on the individual and not about what they could do for him. He would ask me constantly what was going on at the Statehouse and if his senator or representative had any bills or achievements of note. After our conversation he would let me know that he was going to write or call the legislator and thank them for what they were doing and make sure that they knew that members of the community were supportive of their efforts in Columbus. Mind you, very seldom did any of this legislation have to do directly with dentistry, but if there ever was a dental issue, due to his relationship with these lawmakers, they were certain to reach out to Dr. Nelson to get his input. He knew the legislators as friends and treated them as such because he took the time to get to know them and care about them. So much so that he also notified me of legislator’s birthdays, spouses’ birthdays, pets or other life events to make sure that if I saw them to wish them well. Simply put, he was sincere, he cared and he showed up for his patients, his community and his representatives.
I hope that by reading this you are inspired to be a Dr. Nelson in your community and with your representatives, and if you are already doing this bring another dentist along with you just as he did. I know that every time I got the chance to talk to Dr. Nelson I left that interaction with a laugh because he always left with a joke, but after the conversation I was also inspired and energized to continue to do my job in advocating for the profession of dentistry because I knew there were many Dr. Nelsons across the state that were counting on the ODA to do our part. I will miss him at Day at the Statehouse, which he attended every year he was able, and I will miss our phone conversations, but I am very thankful for getting to be a part of his world and to feel the positive impact he left. So, I encourage you to be a Dr. Nelson, reach out to those who represent you and get to know them, have a positive impact on your community and inspire those around you to do the same.
