Community Health Line signing off — for now anyway

UNMC’s William Gust, M.D., left, and Tom O’Connor will host Community Health Line today for what could be the last time. The radio show, which has aired on KIOS-FM for almost 30 years, is going off-the-air while the radio station restructures its programming.

Today, an era in Omaha radio will end and it might be the last time you hear William Gust, M.D., quote Groucho Marx or W. C. Fields on the air.

So, tune into KIOS-FM, that’s 91.5 on your dial, at 10:30 a.m. to hear the final show of Community Health Line, with Dr. Gust and his 20-year co-host Tom O’Connor.

For nearly 30 years, people have tuned into Omaha’s Public Radio station to hear one-half hour of free health information from UNMC experts.

“KIOS is evaluating all its programming in the 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. weekday time slot,” said Keith Neisler, station manager. “This has made it necessary to pull back all our local public affairs programming, which airs between 10:30 and 11 a.m.

“Due to these programming changes, Community Health Line is going on a hiatus while we evaluate new directions for public affairs programming,” he said. “There is a strong possibility that UNMC will be back on the air in a new format next fall as we have always considered UNMC to be a premier health resource in Omaha.”

In the interim, nationally syndicated shows will fill that hour time slot.

CHL Podcasts Click here to access up to six years of archived Community Health Line programs in podcast format.

The radio station is undergoing other changes as well. A news department has been formed and will provide local news and features throughout the day. Also, studios in the station will be renovated over the next year, putting a cramp on physical space in the station.

KIOS Program Director, Bob Coate said, “We’ll continue to draw from UNMC in our coverage of local health issues. We want to maintain a relationship with UNMC.

“KIOS thanks UNMC, Tom and Dr. Gust for the valuable service given to the people of Omaha,” Coate said.

Memories are fuzzy, but the best recollection of when the show began is in the early 1980s. Dave Ogden, Ph.D., assistant professor of communications at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, started the program when he was UNMC’s assistant director of public affairs. His resident expert was Mohsain Essa, M.D., a psychiatrist.

Quotable The following are some of the famous quotes Dr. Gust has repeated in his years of hosting Community Health Line: “I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll make an exception.” — Groucho Marx “She got her good looks from her father, he’s a plastic surgeon.” — Groucho Marx “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson “Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to.” — Mark Twain “Familiarity breeds contempt — and children.” — Mark Twain “Come and trip as ye go on the light fantastic toe” or “Long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.” — John Milton, who was born this week in 1608

When Ogden was promoted to director, he turned the show over to his successor, LaDonna Hoffman who continued the show with Dr. Gust. In 1987, O’Connor took the co-host seat.

“It’s easy to start something, but it’s hard to keep it going. It’s a tribute to Tom and Bill that they’ve kept this show going for so long,” Dr. Ogden said.

Best estimate is that at least 1,350 shows have aired over the years.

The show has had its ups and downs, especially for Dr. Gust, 67, who has been dogged by health issues throughout his life. But no matter what, the internist who still sees patients at the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, would return to the air as soon as he was able. He loved being on the radio.

At the age of 33, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Treatment at that time was high dose radiation, which was applied to his upper chest and neck. Although the cancer never returned, the treatment destroyed his thyroid, scarred his esophagus and vocal chords, and affected his heart.

In 1994, a serious throat infection required an emergency tracheotomy, which forever gave his voice a gravelly quality. Then, 10 years ago while standing in line to board an airplane in Omaha, he suffered a heart attack that resulted in a quadruple bypass.

“I was lucky there were other doctors in line and they started CPR. Eppley Airfield had just installed defibrillators and I was the first person they used it on,” Dr. Gust said.

Finally, while traveling in Europe this past fall, he found it difficult to swallow and developed aspiration pneumonia. Severe coughing then caused a hernia. Now he is on nutritional feeding.

Despite it all, you’ll hear him on the radio today.

He’ll begin the show as he always does, with some quotes, birthdays of famous people and significant events in history from this week.

“The show is something I’ve always enjoyed,” Dr. Gust said. “The different guests allow me to explore areas of medicine that I don’t know about. And, it’s given me the opportunity to talk with people from the community about various topics.”

The weekly show featured a guest, usually from UNMC, who would discuss a health issue. Often, members of the community were invited on the show as well.

“We’ve had Eddie Staton on from Mad Dads, as well as firemen and police officers to discuss public safety,” he said.

“One show that stands out is the one we did the day after Sept. 11, 2001. KIOS let us go to an hour and we brought on mental health experts to talk about issues of vulnerability and loss of control. We had a lot of calls that day. It was our best show,” Dr. Gust said.

O’Connor said the show was a great public relations tool for UNMC.

“We covered everything from the top of the head to bottom of the feet,” he said. “It was a way to expose the community to the great things happening at UNMC. I thank KIOS for putting us on the air for nearly 30 years without charging us a cent.”

“We really have been their guest,” Dr. Gust said.