James Thomas Dove

James Thomas Dove, MD passed away on November 7, 2010 in the St. John's Hospital Hospice unit. He was surrounded by family and friends as he has been since the onset of his recent illness. He married Carol Ann Proctor on August 27, 1960. She survives him. He is also survived by his daughter Laura Ann (Mathew) Therrien of Litchfield, New Hampshire; his son Steven Todd (Paulette) Dove of Springfield Illinois; nephew Richard Allen (Patty) Dove of Dublin, Ohio; niece Sheryl Lynn (Todd) Lehnhart of Lexington, Ohio; six grandchildren: Noah, Adam, Connor, Ainsley, Sierra and Madison; grandnieces Amanda Lehnhart (James) Boyd and Chelsea Lehnhart; and a grandnephew Zachary Lehnhart. Dr. Dove graduated from Wittenberg University in 1961 and from Case-Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio in 1965. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine and a fourth year as Chief Resident at Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Medicine in New York City. Dr. Dove spent two years in Public Health Service, assigned to Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. VA Hospital, and the National Institute of Health. His cardiology training was completed at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. In 1973 Dr. Dove began practice in Springfield, Illinois at the Springfield Clinic and in 1979 he left to form what was to become the Prairie Heart Institute. He was a founding partner of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants Ltd., which grew to become a 50+ member group of cardiovascular specialists, and was honored as President Emeritus of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants Ltd. Dr. Dove was affiliated with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, where he served as Chief of the Division of Cardiology from 1991 until 1999. At the time of his death, he was the Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, at SIU School of Medicine. The medical residents honored him as an outstanding subspecialty teacher. Dr. Dove was very involved in educational program development for students, residents, paramedical personnel, and primary care physicians. Dr. Dove was actively involved in clinical research and served until 2005 on the Board of Directors of the Prairie Education and Research Cooperative (PERC), a practice-funded, non-profit research foundation. His interests were in coronary artery disease, quality initiatives, and more recently in the use of an electronic medical record to facilitate quality performance, which includes software that improves adherence to practice guidelines and performance measures at the point of care. Dr. Dove also had a longstanding interest in improving patient access to quality cardiovascular care and facilitating care delivery between subspecialty physicians and primary care physicians. He was a past Governor for the American College of Physicians, Downstate Illinois Chapter and received the Outstanding Clinician Laureate Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American College of Physicians. In recognition of his clinical expertise and leadership Dr. Dove was awarded a Mastership in the American College of Physicians (MACP) in April 2002. He served on the Illinois Chapter American College of Cardiology (ACC) Board of Councilors since the beginning of the Chapter and was elected President and Governor of the Illinois Chapter in 1997. Nationally, Dr. Dove served on numerous ACC committees, working groups, and task forces. He also served the American College of Cardiology as Chair of the Board of Governors, Secretary, Chair of the Budget, Finance & Investment Committee, Treasurer, Chair of the Nominations Committee, Vice President, and President. In recognition of his leadership and clinical skills, Dr. Dove was awarded Mastership in the American College of Cardiology (MACC) in 2008. In March 2010, the ACC honored Dr. Dove for his countless contributions to improving the quality of cardiovascular care by endowing a lectureship in his name at the Annual Scientific Session, as well as naming its annual Chapter Recognition Award for Quality the "James T. Dove Chapter Recognition Award for Quality." Dr. Dove was a board member on the Health Level Seven, Inc. (HL7) Advisory Committee since 2006 and Co-Chair of the Clinical Information Interchange Collaborative (CIIC) for Health Level 7 since April 2009. He served on the Clinical Decision Support Technical Expert Panel for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality since 2008. Dr. Dove served as a member of the Expert Panel for the Integrated Clinical Guideline for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction for the National Institutes of Health since 2008. He also served on the National Quality Forum's Clinical Decision Support Technical Expert Panel since October 2009. He was a member of the Cardiovascular Medicine Work Group for the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT(r)) since June 2009. In June of 2009 he was appointed to the Wittenberg University Board of Trustees. He led a People to People Ambassador Delegation Program on cardiovascular health to Egypt in October 2009. Locally, he served on the United Way Board of Central Illinois since 2005 and the Network Knowledge Board (WSEC public television station) since 2004. He received the John Paul Harris Fellowship Award for outstanding community achievement from the Springfield Rotary Club in December 2004 and was awarded the first Trailblazer Award for the Abraham Lincoln Council, Boy Scouts of America. On October 15, 2010, Dr. Dove was awarded the 2010 First Citizen award by The State Journal-Register. He was so proud to receive this recognition from the community he enjoyed serving. Family will receive friends from 4:00-8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 12, 2010 at the James T. Dove Conference Center at the Prairie Heart Institute. The family will greet extended family, colleagues, friends and past patients during this time. A funeral ceremony will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. 7th St., Springfield. Burial will follow at Oak Ridge Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the James T. Dove Endowment for Cardiovascular Care at the Prairie Heart Institute, 619 E. Mason, Springfield, IL 62701 or Public Television (WSEC) Network Knowledge, P.O. Box 6248, Springfield, IL 62708.