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[www.DrDave.org]
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Dr. George "Skip" Gay,
founder of Rock
Medicine
1931 - 2008 |
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Memorial Service for Dr. George
'Skip' Gay
Sunday, March 30, 2008 at high noon at Shoreline
Amphitheater, Mountain View CA 94043
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Ann Salisbury, Dr David Smith, Emily Smith, Tito Gay, Ron Perez,
Joel Williams, & Robbie Porter |
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Past & Present Rock Medicine Volunteers
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Kathy Ferris - Penny Miller-Gay - Leigh Davidson |
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On February 13, 2008 the Rock Medicine founder Dr.
Skip Gay passed away. A memorial for Dr. Skip was
held on Sunday March 30th, 12 noon at
Shoreline Amphitheater. This was a catered event with a
no-host bar and was open to all who want to attend. Many
set aside that day to remember and celebrate
the life of Skip and the organization he helped create.
35 years later Rock Medicine is still vibrant and
providing free health care for concert goers and whoever
else needs us all over Northern California.
This brought family and friends from all over the
country together as Skip's passion touched so many and
sparked so many careers. I owe my life's work to Skip
and want this to be a day to remember forever. Feel free
to pass this message on to those who might not been able
to attend want to share
some photos. - Dr Dave |
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Click Here to Sign the
Online Guest Book for
George R. "Skip" Gay M.D. |
George R. "Skip" Gay, MD died February 13th, 2008 in
Anchorage, Alaska after a short illness. He was 77 years
old.
He was born January 9th, 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri. He
attended John Burroughs School and then went on to
Amherst University. He served four years as a Navy
combat air crewman during the Korean War. Upon return,
he attended medical school at the University of
Missouri, graduating in 1961. Before graduating with
honors, he served as class president and one of the
first editors and cartoonists for the student yearbook,
MUtation. He completed a surgery internship at the
University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, a residency
in anesthesiology at the University of Missouri and a
fellowship in anesthesiology at Boston Children's
Hospital. Gay was also a fellow of the American Academy
of Family Practice and the American College of Emergency
Medicine. After a stint in private practice in
Springfield, Mo., he became an assistant professor at
the University of Chicago.
As the country was caught up in the fascination of the
Hippie Movement with the corner of Haight and Ashbury
streets in San Francisco as its epicenter, so was Skip
Gay. Drawn to the events and energy of San Francisco in
the sixties, Gay opened a private practice in
anesthesiology in San Francisco in 1967. He soon gave up
his practice however, to devote more time to his
volunteer work at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic. His
dedication was intense and in time he gave up his
corvette, his apartment in Tiburon and switched his
Brooks Brothers suits for love beads and tie-dye tee
shirts and jeans.
Dr. Gay founded a heroin clinic and drug detoxification
unit at the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, where he
pioneered the treatment of drug abuse and volunteered as
an emergency medicine physician. He testified before a
National Institute Health committee in 1969 and was soon
granted funds to create a detoxification, rehabilitation
and education program. He built programs using a
multi-disciplinary approach that involved medical and
dental care, withdrawal-management therapies and
psychological counseling.
In 1973 he created Rock Medicine, a program that has
provided free medical services at thousands of concerts
- from the early days of Led Zeppelin and the Grateful
Dead to over 550 concerts and festivals last year and
tending to over 3,000 patients.
As director of the free clinic's training programs, Gay
shared what he learned with hundreds of medical
students. Throughout his first 10 years at the clinic,
Gay served as a clinical instructor for state
universities in California, Texas and Hawaii. In 1989,
Gay returned to academic medicine and joined the
department of anesthesiology at the University of
California Davis Medical Center. As an associate
professor, he mentored medical students and residents,
and was the principal investigator in several
significant research projects.
Dr. Gay also worked as a physician for the California
Department of Corrections. During his tenure as chief
medical officer at a large correctional center, he
created a program that provided emergency care for
inmates who battled floods and fires in the state.
For the last five years Dr. Gay worked in Valdez,
Alaska. He found enormous satisfaction in practicing
medicine in a small rural community. As the only
anesthesiologist for 100 miles in any direction, Gay
provided essential emergency medical and anesthesia
services as member of the Valdez Medical Clinic. Alaska
offered Gay the chance to fish for his trophy salmon and
show his champion Samoyeds.
He is survived by his wife, Penny Miller; his sons,
Roger (Lorraine) of Monte Vista, California, and Daniel
(Brenda) of Indianapolis, Indiana; his daughters,
Georganna "Janno" Gay, of Pawlet, Vermont and Tennee (Surya)
Anderson of Mendocino, California, and his sister, Tito
Gay (Findlay) of St. Louis, and seven grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held on March 3rd at the
Valdez Medical Center and on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at
Shoreline Amphitheater, One Amphitheater Parkway,
Mountain View Ca. at 12 noon. Donations in Dr. Gay's
honor may be made to: Rock Medicine, P.O. Box 756,
Roseville, Ca. 95661-9998 |
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'It's So Good, Don't Even Try It Once': Heroin in Perspective.
(Paperback 1972)
by David E. Smith & George R. Gay (Authors) |
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Dr Skip Gay in 1969 at the Medical Detox Clinic |
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Dr George Gay in front of the door he painted "No Using Dope... this
could close our Clinic. 1971 |
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Jerry Garcia's Memorial - August 9, 1995
Dr. Rick Lavine,
Dr Dave Smith, Barbara Horn, Dr Skip Gay & Rick Clayton |
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Dr Skip & Raz sitting on the back of the 'Supply Truck' |
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Dr Don & Dr Skip 1997 |
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Two docs hamming it up for the camera in 1973 |
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[www.DrDave.org]
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