News

Wind sculpture honors Dr. Volk

Dr. James Volk cuts the ribbon on a wind sculpture that honors his 41 years of service in pediatric medicine.

By Bill Moss, Published: August 4, 2016

A sculpture that spins in the wind will now remind youngsters and their parents of a physician who advanced pediatric care in Hendersonville over the past two decades.

A crowd of 45 well-wishers, business leaders and medical colleagues gathered on Monday to dedicate the wind sculpture to Dr. James Volk, who spent 41 years caring for his patients from infancy to adulthood.
“He’s done so much,” said Dr. Ora Wells, one of 10 pediatricians at Hendersonville Pediatrics, which has offices here and in Brevard. “He was always the innovator, he was always pushing the envelope. He started the office in Fletcher. He started the office in Brevard. If it wasn’t for him, we’d still be just an itty-bitty practice.”
A graduate of Valparaiso University and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Dr. Volk arrived in Hendersonville in 1975, joining Drs. Donald Thomas and Fletcher Raiford at the small practice. Challenging cases and premature babies often had to be treated in Asheville or Greenville, S.C.
Volk pushed to elevate the quality of care for preemies and helped establish a pediatric care intensive care unit at Pardee Hospital. He served as chief of pediatrics at both Pardee and Park Ridge hospitals and helped expand Hendersonville Pediatrics into the largest children’s practice in Western North Carolina.
Saying “this feels strange,” Mayor Barbara Volk read a proclamation honoring her husband. It was “James Volk, MD, Day.”
Active in the Four Seasons Rotary Club, Mount Pisgah Lutheran Church and the Boys Scouts of America, Volk has served on a medical missions to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Haiti ad Madagascar. Volk retired from practice in March.
The wind sculpture, purchased from Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, is the work of Lyman Whitaker, who works out of Provo, Utah. His kinetic art can he found all over the world.