In Memoriam: Dr. Frank Thomas Bishop — Beloved And Dedicated Physician

Both online and offline, the tributes kept pouring in.

From the moment news came that longtime family physician, Dr. Frank Bishop, had passed away early Wednesday on St. Croix, it sent shock waves across the island, and, undoubtedly, the world. Soon, patients, colleagues, employees and friends, from far and near, took to the internet to express their grief and to share fond memories of the beloved St. Croix physician.

On Thursday afternoon, the VI Consortium visited the Island Medical Center in Sunny Isle where Dr. Bishop cared for many of St. Croix’s residents–often generations of families–at his modest office in the medical complex for decades. There, we caught up with some of the doctor’s colleagues and patients who were eager to share their stories of the man many considered to be much more than a skilled physician.

“It’s a tremendous loss,” said Nuclear Cardiologist Dr. Dante Galiber, who was not in the office, but could be reached by telephone. Galiber’s office is adjacent to Dr. Bishop’s. “He was a very nice man and was beloved by his patients,” the cardiologist added.

Theirs was a decades-long friendship, Dr. Galiber said, as he met the late physician in the late ’80s when Galiber first came to St. Croix as a young medical school student.

“I got to know him personally when I did a rotation with him when I came to St. Croix from the states,” Galiber explained. “He was a very patient and knowledgeable physician.”

Dr. Galiber also highlighted the tireless dedication Dr. Bishop had to his patients, noting the elder doctor would work long hours, Monday through Saturday, in order to accommodate as many patients as he could.

In fact, Galiber understood Dr. Bishop’s dedication because, he admitted, he would often work late and had done so the same evening, Tuesday, that would be Dr. Bishop’s last night in the office. Early the following morning, Dr. Bishop’s body was discovered in his office by his assistant who had arrived to open the business for the day.

A worker at Dr. Michele Berkeley’s OB/GYN office in the medical center remembered Dr. Bishop fondly.

“He was unique, very nice and very thorough, that is one thing I can say about him,” the employee said. “He was a friendly person and a nice doctor.”

She went on to say that “everybody would know when he was in the office because his white truck would be right there,” pointing outside to the parking lot.

Then, she offered some details about the doctor’s daily routine.

“His first stop is to the post office to get his mail, and then his second stop is to get to his office, because it opens at 7; but, he gets there early, so that the walk-in patients can come in; he was a beautiful doctor,” she said.

Longtime Vision Center optical manager, Elvira, also vouched for the doctor’s dedication.

“I’ve been working in this building for 25 years and he’s been here longer than I have been,” she said. “I think that he’s a doctor that cares about his people; he spends time with them; he’s a doctor that you could talk to and listen to whatever problem you would have and he’d solve it.”

The mood at the Vision Center was somber.

“I know people are saddened by his passing,” Elvira said.

Another Vision Center employee said although she did not know Dr. Bishop personally, they always greeted each other with a friendly hello and goodbye.

“I just know he was a hard worker. Whenever I saw him, he was in the office or he was walking out with his briefcase to his car, but he was always here,” she said. “The people here in the Medical Center are all going to miss him dearly.”

An ophthalmology consultant at the Vision Center, speaking with restrained emotion in her voice, fondly remembered the man that was her family’s primary care physician for more than five years. In fact, she said Dr. Bishop had come “highly recommended” to her when she and her family migrated from St. Kitts.

“Dr. Bishop, he was such a passionate and kind and understanding doctor,” she said. When asked what she would miss most about him, she highlighted the doctor’s patience when it came to explaining her lab work.

“The way that he takes when he sent me to the lab, he would try to explain everything to me; what I need to improve, what I may need to discontinue using and things like that,” she said. “He would explain every item of the results.” She said she last had a consultation with the doctor in August and was supposed to have a follow-up appointment at the time of his passing.

Maria, who works in sales at the Vision Center, said both she and her husband were patients of the late doctor. She also said she had planned on visiting him during the week in order to get her annual flu shot.

“Any little problems, we went there and he would take care of us,” she said. “So, he will be missed tremendously by everyone in St. Croix and the staff at the Vision Center. No matter how late it was or how busy he was, he would always make time for us.”

An elderly woman, also a patient of Dr. Bishop’s, while being serviced at the Vision Center, shared some of her memories. She said Dr. Bishop had been her family physician for the last four decades.

“He would always find room for me, I had my husband, my kids, my grandson, and all I had to do was call,” she said.

The woman also said Dr. Bishop was her mother’s “bed doctor” until she passed away from complications of cancer.

“Anything going on with Mammy until she died, he would help me a whole lot with her,” she said. “I’ll miss him.”

Vision Center CEO, Dr. Peter Kumpitch, also told the VI Consortium via text message that, “Frank Bishop was an excellent doctor.”

The day after his untimely passing, a large black bow could be seen adorning the front door of Dr. Bishop’s locked office.

Of the demanding work schedule that comes with the medical profession, Dr. Galiber said physicians, in general, “often forego a lot of things in our lives to take care of others.” He pointed out it was important for doctors to rest and enjoy some down time.

“Maybe it’s a wake up call for all of us as physicians to relax,” Galiber said, adding that he has made changes in his own life to enjoy recreational activities, such as tennis. “It’s a tremendous loss, a difficult loss for the community.”

According to a brief online biography, Dr. Frank Bishop received his medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in 1974. He completed an internship at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital during his transitional year, 1974 to 1975. He then completed his residency in family practice at the same hospital from 1975 to 1977.

At the time of his passing, Dr. Bishop had been in practice for 40 years. A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.