A Tribute

by Roger Hughes

Dr. Merlin DuVal, an Arizona healthcare icon

Here's Roger Hughes talking about a man he quite obviously loved and respected.

This month's column is dedicated to the memory of Merlin K. "Monte" DuVal, MD, a giant in the field of Arizona health care who passed away recently at the age of 84.

Monte was a friend and mentor who took me under his wing when I arrived in Arizona in late 1995. I knew something about setting up and running foundations, but very little about health policy, the field in which I now spend most of my time. Monte helped to shape my interests and sharpen my thinking. He provided me, in the form of his character and experience, with an ethical and intellectual prism through which to view the complexities of this always interesting, and occasionally disturbing, field. He was a role model for me and many others, and he will be sorely missed.

(For the balance of this column, click here