Fairbanks, Leland Dr.
SchoolDonor
BiographyDr. Fairbanks, retired public family physician, is famous for working "to ban smoking in hospitals, a campaign that spread worldwide." In Tempe he succeeded in getting smoking banned in bars and restaurants, Proposition 200, May 2002. He especially felt workers should not "have to choose between health and job."From his early years in medicine he was known as "the civil rights doctor" for working to desegregate hospitals and general communities. In New Orleans he sat in the back of the bus for "colored" and rode the segregated elevator.
He went into U.S. Public Health Service for 30 years on Indian reservations with four years out to work in Iberia, West Africa, 1962-64 in the U.S. Peace Corps and 1968 to train others in medicine. From 1993-2000 when he retired, he worked for Cigna Healthcare of Arizona in Mesa. Then he lectured at the U. of A. College of Medicine.
He has many honors: Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal (1988), Arizona Family Physician of the Year (1998), Councilman Dennis Cahill referred to him as "St. Leland." He was recognized by Blue Cross-Blue Shield's Business Journal in 2002 as a Health Care Hero for the Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002.
His education includes B.S. from Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Medical degree from U. of Minnesota; Master's of Public Health from U. of Oklahoma.
During Tempe smoking ban campaign someone left a huge swastika on his lawn, signs were defaced and some owners affected told him he might not be safe going into restaurants/bars. But he was known at work for kindness and overtime, often calling patients in the evening.
Source: "Business Journal Health Care Heroes" Aug. 23, 2002.
(phoenix.bizjournals.com)
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