Shirley Roberson passed away earlier this year. If you ever heard Shirley and her story about the blue chair, I’d wager something stuck with you.
There are countless stories of her impact out there. Here’s one from a physician, David Debono, who happened to reconnect with her a few years ago.
“In clinical medicine, much like life, you meet people for brief encounters along their journey and yours: and you don’t know if you have impacted their life in a significant way. I was honored to care for Shirley during my time at Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit, Michigan.
“She was honest, courageous, and a wonderful advocate for herself and for other patients. She spoke and I listened. I left Karmanos in 2017 to join Anthem (Elevance). In 2019, I attended the CTAC Summit, and the centerpiece of that meeting was a blue chair. Soon Shirley took the stage to explain the blue chair story but also related the story of the first palliative care physician she met and what an impact that visit had on her.
“I was blown away: I recognized Shirley immediately, but never dreamed that she would relate the story of when we first met.
Looking back over the last 14 years, Shirley has impacted countless clinicians, healthcare leaders, patients, and patient advocates in the telling of her story and the reminder that all patients have inherent dignity and unique needs. She reminded us to sit down in that blue chair, to listen, and hear the extraordinary story of our ordinary patients.”
“She spoke and I listened”. That was Shirley.
– Jon Broyles, C-TAC CEO
