Dr. Willaim Atchley cared, not just for ailing patients, but also about the ethics of medical care and about the environment. He died on August 9, 2007 of prostate cancer at his home in Tiburon. He was 85.
Distantly related to presidents Jefferson and Adams, Dr. Atchley grew up in New Jersey and attended Harvard College and the Harvard Medical School, after which he interned at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, the same hospital where he had been born. In 1956, he moved west. He settled in Marin County, California, first living in Sausalito then moving to Tiburon. He started practicing medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, as a cancer researcher, clinician and teacher.
Dr. Atchley loved treating patients. According to his wife, Annelies: “Late at night when a patient would call, he would never complain. East Coast physicians would often refer him patients, a number of whom were entertainers and executives”. His patients were both kings of industry and people from the streets.
Dr. Atchley practiced medicine at UCSF, during which time he served a term as Chief of Medicine. He won many accolades form his peers, including membership in the Royal Society of Medicine, fellowship in the American College of Physicians, honorary fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and membership in the Gold Headed Cane Society at UCSF. He was a soft-spoken, unpretentious man, who preferred to be known simply as “Bill”.
In 1988, Dr. Atchley founded the International Bioethics Institute. His main concern in doing so was to insure that patients received the best medical care possible, regardless of the ability to pay. He retired from practice in 1991, but continued to be active in various environmental groups, working to inform people about global warming. He was chairman of the Environmental Forum of Marin and the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies.
Dr. Atchley is survived by his wife, Annelies, sons Mark Atchley of Mill Valley, Bill Atchley, Jr. of Tahoe City, and two grandchildren.