Walter E. Afield MD

Dr. Walter Afield passed away on October 12, 2019 in Tampa, Florida, at the age of 83. He was born on December 28th, 1935, in New York City to Walter Afield and Molly McGovern, both uneducated immigrants hailing from Germany and Ireland, respectively. He grew up initially in Queens before moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, with his mother, where he attended St. Petersburg High School, graduating in 1953. Although his mother did not have any education beyond the eighth grade, she encouraged him from a young age to excel academically and to become a physician. Walter took this advice to heart, and, even as a young student in Florida, he wrote profuse essays, winning some national contests about why socialized medicine would be wrong for this country, demonstrating an early interest in the field that would become his life's work.

He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in three years, majoring in biology, chemistry, and mathematics and finding time to be a sabre fencer on the varsity Penn Fencing Team. He then graduated at the top of his class from Johns Hopkins University Medical School and went on to complete a year of internal medicine at Grady Memorial, Emory University's main teaching hospital in Atlanta. In 1961, he began his residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center Boston Psychopathic Hospital, the main Harvard teaching hospital in psychiatry. He also trained at the Boston Children's Hospital in child psychiatry.

From 1964 to 1966, he was a psychiatrist with the Air Force stationed in Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1966, he left the military and went to Massachusetts General Hospital, another major teaching hospital. In 1967, he was called back to Johns Hopkin, where he taught child psychiatry until 1970. While there, he and the chairman of the psychiatry department, Joel Elkes, created the first mental health counselor program in the country and worked to combine psychiatry and pediatrics into the single subject of child psychiatry. While the counselor program was not a popular decision at the time, programs such as this have now become very widespread as a way to train enough therapists to meet patient demand, given the shortage of psychiatrists.

In 1970, he became the founding chairman of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of South Florida Medical School, where he was at the time the youngest chair of a medical school department in the country. Dr. Afield and the dean designed a new mental health center, medical school building, and Veterans Administration Hospital as well as recruited students for the first entering class, all while facing resistance from the local medical community in the 1970s. While at the medical school, he created Florida's first community mental health center at St. Joseph's Hospital and was Chief of Psychiatry at the VA Hospital. He helped transform the practice of psychiatry in the Tampa Bay area during this time by creating the first pain clinic in the southeast (the third one in the country) with Dr. Nathaniel Hollister; the first inpatient eating disorder program; the first sexual dysfunction therapy clinic; the first alcohol and substance abuse programs; and the first interdisciplinary practice of psychiatry with social workers, psychologists, and other therapists. He recently completed a history of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, which is currently housed in the National Medical Archives, the archives of the Florida Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association, the archives of the University of South Florida, the History Museum in Tampa, and the Chesney Archives at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Always the entrepreneur and creator, Dr. Afield eventually decided to leave his academic career for a career in private practice with the Tampa Neuropsychiatric Institute (now known as the Neuropsychiatric Institute), which he had also founded in 1970. In practice, he took the same multidisciplinary approach to mental health for which he had advocated in academia, and he created a practice that harnessed the talents of psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, and mental health counselors. In 1981, he created the nation's first managed mental health care program, which he subsequently sold before becoming dissatisfied with managed care given the loss of physician control over how best to care for patients. He became one of the preeminent mental health experts in the country and was frequently sought after as an expert witness both in criminal and civil cases as well as on matters of significant national public policy, such as when he was invited to Congressman Pat Schroeder's Committee to discuss issues of abuse occurring in hospitals.

Apart from his professional commitments, he was very active culturally and socially. His love of the arts led him during his time in Baltimore to cultivate a close friendship with Rosa Ponselle, the greatest soprano of all time in the eyes of most. During his time in Boston, he worked with Sarah Caldwell and the Boston Opera to bring singer Joan Sutherland to the area. He helped to bring the Guarneri String Quartet to Tampa for a week every year for 15 years. He was active on the board of the symphony for a period of time and helped create a local opera company, the Florida Lyric Opera, which remains active today. He also worked very hard on the unsuccessful attempt to obtain a significant Picasso statue for the University of South Florida in its early years. He was a member of the Tampa Yacht and Country Club and the University Club, founded the Tower Club, and was one of the original charter founders of the Penn Club in New York City for the University of Pennsylvania.

Despite these many accomplishments, many more of which could be listed, Dr. Afield's first love was unquestionably his family and his friends. He leaves behind his wife of almost 46 years, Nancy; his daughter, Neva Browning Jeffries with her husband, Justin Jeffries; his son, Walter Edward "Ted" Afield, III, and his wife, Sarah Murphy; his half-brother Hollis Afield and Hollis's daughter Barbara; and his sister-in-law penny Fortune and her husband Russell "Jock" Fortune. He leaves behind more friends than can be counted and is now in the arms of God with many more who have predeceased him, including one of his closest friends, fellow psychiatrist Robert Ward, who predeceased him in Baltimore by just a few days.

Dr. Afield believed strongly in the underdog and in providing opportunities for the poor and for immigrants, given his personal background and his Catholic faith. He was very involved in the formation of the Diocese of St. Petersburg and created the first pastoral counseling programs for priests throughout the diocese, which at that time spread from Naples to Gainesville, and from Tampa to Orlando. In addition, he was active on the Board of Alpha House, a nonprofit whose mission was assisting unwed mothers, and a variety of other community Boards.

Dr. Afield never wanted to retire, and he never did, having practiced medicine full-time up until his death. He lived the American dream and leaves us as a man for all seasons.

A visitation will be held at The Tampa Women's Club 2901 Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629 Thursday, October 17th from 6pm to 8pm and the Funeral Mass will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tampa on Friday, October 18th at 9am followed by interment at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater. A reception will take place at Westshore Yacht Club from 3pm to 5pm.