At his last house call, physician says serving the elderly was a calling

Though Dr. Robert Hammer is wrapping up more than three decades as medical director of St. Joseph Home for the Aged, he still believes there’s nothing he can do to repay the Little Sisters of the Poor for the kindness they’ve shown his loved ones.

Hammer retired from serving at the Little Sisters’ home for the elderly poor at the end of March. 

The Little Sisters came into his life when he was about 5 or 6 years old, he said during a recent interview at the home near Audubon Hospital. 

His great-aunt was a resident of the home in the 1960s and he accompanied his father on visits to see her. His father was so grateful for the care they provided his aunt — who was akin to a second mother — that even after her death, he remained friends with the sisters. 

Years later, when the sisters needed a physician, Dr. Hammer said his father called and said, “ ‘I told them you’d do this.’ ” 

Like an “obedient son” he accepted — and the opportunity grew into a ministry, he said.

“That seed was planted decades ago when my great aunt was a resident here,” he said. “I consider my medical practice a ministry. I was called to be a physician. That was God’s will. He called me and directed me into primary care, I’m convinced,” said Hammer, a member of Holy Spirit Church.

In addition to his great aunt, St. Joseph Home also provided care for his mother and father and another aunt in the final years of their lives.

“Because of the care they received, there’s nothing I can do for the Little Sisters that will repay them,” Hammer said, making an effort to hold back tears.

Over the years, he said his father and his five siblings, including Father William D. Hammer, volunteered at the home. Father Hammer, pastor of St. Margaret Mary and St. William churches, celebrates Mass for the residents. 

Dr. Hammer joked that he and Father Hammer are like ships passing in the night at the home. He started his rounds at 7 a.m. and left before his brother celebrated Mass later in the morning.

In addition to his service to the Little Sisters, Hammer had a private practice for close to 30 years and has spent the past 10 years as a practitioner with Norton Healthcare — he’s retiring from that, too — but that schedule never kept him from his work with the home’s elderly. 

“I made it work,” he said. “I made sure it never conflicted. I get so much more from the residents than they get from me.”

His routine was to attend patients at the home on Wednesdays, which worked out well, he said. Years ago when he started practicing he always took Wednesday as a day off. He now thinks that may have been “God’s way of making me available to come here,” he said.

As a primary care physician for the residents of St. Joseph Home for the Aged, he said, “We try to take care of as many of their needs in-house.

He liked caring for the residents, he said, because most are low-income. 

“They’ve not had the medical care like what I’m used to providing to my other patients,” he said.

Serving them was a calling, just like being a physician was a calling, he said. 

Little Sister of the Poor Mary Richards, who serves as the local mother superior, said Hammer’s service has meant a lot to the congregation and the home. 

“I’ve never been in a home where the medical director has been so available and kind,” said Mother Richards.

Hammer displayed “a kind temperament and genuine concern for residents and their preferences and our preferences. … Not all physicians have that attitude,” she said.

The Little Sisters honored Hammer with a party and presented him with their Jeanne Jugan Award, which honors an individual who embodies the sisters’ mission, vision and values, including respect for the life of the vulnerable elderly.

“As a congregation, we try to discern a person who embodies those things and lives them out in their daily lives. We thought of Dr. Hammer,” said Mother Richards.