Patricia Bartlett, a clinical social worker, worked with HIV/AIDS patients in Durham, North Carolina, in the early 1980s at Durham County Regional Hospital (now Duke Regional Hospital). In 1988, she began working with Dr. John A. Bartlett's clinic on the Reynolds grant, which aimed to produce research comparing healthcare costs between home care and hospital care for dying AIDS patients. Her fearlessness and general familiarity with governmental bureaucracy became a lifeline for the AIDS patients at Duke. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on January 29, 2024 by Anthony Zhao as part of the Bass Connections Agents of Change Oral History Project. In the interview, Bartlett discusses her care for a friend with AIDS in the early 1980s; her activism for patients not only at Duke, but also Durham County General Hospital; the negative reputation of John Bartlett's HIV/AIDS clinic at Duke; the extensive resistance she met from community organizations; and memorable experiences with patients at Duke. The themes of this interview include stigmatization and discrimination, community activism, health education, and patient advocacy.
Patricia (Pat) L. Thibodeau, former Associate Dean for Library Services and Archives at the Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives (DUMCL&A), received degrees from the University of New Hampshire and the University of Rhode Island. Prior to joining the DUMCL&A in 1993, she worked as a cataloger at Rhode Island College, Director of the Health Sciences Information Center and Research Administration at the Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, and Library Director at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (AHEC). This collection includes two oral history interviews conducted with Thibodeau on March 28 and March 29, 2017 at the time Thibodeau was preparing to retire from his position as Associate Dean for Library Services and Archives at DUMCL&A. The interviews include discussions of Thibodeau's life and career history, from her upbringing in rural New Hampshire through her achievements as Associate Dean. In addition to narrating key events, Thibodeau describes the people who influenced her philosophy of librarianship, her career-long interest in learning and applying new technologies, and the challenges of administration during times of institutional restructuring.
Paul R. Newman is the Senior Vice President of the Duke Private Diagnostic Clinic (PDC), PLLC, and Executive Director of the Duke Patient Revenue Management Organization. Newman began work at the PDC in September 1994, and he was named Executive Director of the Patient Revenue Management Organization in March 2001. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on October 30, 2019 by Taylor Patterson as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. In the interview, Newman discusses his education; how he became interested in the Hospital Administration program at Duke; experiences working at the PDC, including the merger of the surgical and medical PDC; the details of his role as a hospital administrator; the creation of the Duke University Health System; and his memories of working with Sabiston.