Breathing Easier Thanks to VCU Health
Editor’s Note: This patient perspective originally appeared in the winter 2025 issue of NEXT magazine in conjunction with the story, "Breathing New Life Into VCU Health's Lung Transplant Program".
In hindsight, Williamsburg, Va., residents Grover and Betty Lewis had an inkling from their very first meeting with Alpha “Berry” Fowler III, M.D., that their relationship with VCU Health would be different from other health care systems.
Grover’s chronic lung condition, called mycobacterium avium complex, is something he’s lived with for years. It’s a condition caused when bacteria commonly found in the environment, namely in soil and water, are inhaled through daily activities. In many cases, an individual’s immune system can fight off the bacteria, but for those with preexisting conditions — including pneumonia or COPD or an otherwise weakened immune system — the bacteria remain. They cause infections that lead to shortness of breath, chronic cough, fatigue and complications as the patient ages.

The Lewises, who are retired and moved to Williamsburg from Florida 15 years ago, had seen area doctors in both places for Grover’s condition. But when Grover’s pulmonologist retired in 2015, he sought out someone new.
Within the Lewises’ tight-knit community, Dr. Fowler’s name came up. A longtime pulmonologist, Dr. Fowler is the William Taliaferro Thompson Professor of Medicine and the former chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine.
Dr. Fowler said that within his 43 years on the MCV Campus, what inspires him still is the sense of care and commitment found throughout the campus.
The Lewises said their first consultation with Dr. Fowler in 2016 made a lasting impression.
During that initial meeting, Grover shared the details of a life well-traveled. His career led his family all over the world, from Saudi Arabia and Iran to China, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Through the years, as his condition worsened, he always wondered if he picked up something during one of their “adventures.”
In all, Dr. Fowler listened to every detail for nearly an hour and a half.
“We were shocked that we had that much time with a doctor,” Grover said. “He went over my entire history, and that gave us a high level of confidence that we were in the right place.”
Grover added: “You could tell that he cared about his patients.”
That dedication hasn’t wavered.
Betty said in recent years, and even within the last few months, Grover has needed emergency care for ongoing issues. A recent visit to VCU Health involved an interventional radiology procedure.
“I don’t know that this procedure could even be performed anywhere else outside of MCV,” Grover said.
The Lewises credit Dr. Fowler and others such as Denise Lynch, RN, director of the VCU Health Access, Support and Assistance Program, or ASAP, who quickly jumped in to help make arrangements on the MCV Campus when Grover’s needs surpassed care he could receive in Williamsburg.
“The level of expertise at MCV is beyond anything we’ve come across in a very long time,” Betty said. “You hear a lot about patient care, and the word care is not necessarily always understood the way it used to be, but they have put the ‘care’ back into ‘patient care.’”
Dr. Fowler said that within his 43 years on the MCV Campus, what inspires him still is the sense of care and commitment found throughout the campus. Pulmonary diseases are complicated because they often affect other systems within the body, he said. But the urgency with which his peers from every department — like cardiology, radiology, gastrointestinal and rheumatology — jump into action to help patients with pulmonary issues is what sets VCU Health apart.
“This institution is fabulous,” he said. “We all work for the best interests of patients, and I am happy to be in the position where I can push the buttons and make the calls to anyone, anytime, to get people like Mr. Lewis the help that they need.”