The Medical Director at Murray Developmental Center was surprised Sunday afternoon when presented the prestigious Dr. W.P. Plassman award. Dr. Niranjan Shrestha is only the 15th person to receive the award since it was created in 1977 by the Murray Parents Association.
Association President Rita Winkeler made the presentation.
“First time he met the families at the Murray Parents Association meeting, he gave the group his personal cell phone number and asked them to call him if they ever had a question or concerns. Guardians have called Dr. Shrestha late in the evening, in the middle of the night, early in the morning and he immediately answers, and without looking at a chart he knows exactly what is occurring with that particular individual. When he was once asked do you ever sleep, he answered I’ll have plenty of time to sleep later. Dr. Shrestha checks on each person or individual each day when they are in the hospital and calls guardians with updates. He is devoted to his patients and respected by both his Murray Center Hospital staff as well as the medical community in the Centralia area.”
Winkeler shared a story of how Dr. Shrestha had gone above and beyond in helping to transfer a patient to the hospital and ordering treatment while with family members 60 miles away on Thanksgiving.
The award was followed by a presentation by State Representative Charlie Meier of a resolution passed by the State Legislature congratulating him on winning the award.
Murray Center Director Lori Demejan added her congratulations and thanked the doctor for his compassion for center residents.
Dr. Shrestha had come to the Murray Parents meeting thinking he was going to update the parents on medical care. He was surprised and appreciative of the award. The doctor has been the Medical Director at Murray since 2018. He has been at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital since 2009 after completing his residency at the University of Toledo following medical training in his native Nepal.
Dr. Shrestha says the Centralia community and Murray Center have been very kind to him.
“First two years of my work I fell in love with this place. People are very nice and family and very easy to work with.”
Dr. Shrestha says he enjoys working with patients with disabilities like those at Murray Center. He hopes at some point after retirement to make charity trips back to his own country to provide similar treatment which is not regularly available. Dr. Shrestha says those in this country don’t realize what they have, noting the normal life span in Nepal is 10 to 20 years shorter than in the US.
Dr. Plassman became Superintendent at Murray Center in 1970 and was instrumental in starting the Murray Parents’ Association.
In other action, the Murray Parents Association voted to move forward with a 50th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, May 1st. The event will include a parade.
