Richard Deming, MD, is the medical director of the Mercy Cancer Center in Des Moines, Iowa, where he is known for his compassion as well as his expertise. He visits his patients in hospice and at home, and does rounds on weekends and holidays to bring them comfort.
Monsignor Frank Bognanno writes, “Dr. Deming’s peers revere him as the finest oncologist in the Midwest. His name is a household word in the state of Iowa.”
Among his many affiliations, Dr. Deming is president of the Iowa Society of Therapeutic Radiology and serves on the expert panel for Radiation Oncology of the American College of Radiology. As a board member of his local community foundation, he created a fund to support initiatives that encourage civility and compassion.
An avid outdoor adventurer, Dr. Deming is founder and chair of the nonprofit Above + Beyond Cancer, which engages cancer survivors in the transformative experience of mountain climbing. In 2011, Dr. Deming led a team of 14 to the Mount Everest Base Camp and in 2012 he brought a group of 19 to Mount Kilimanjaro.
“I’m a four-time cancer survivor,” writes Lynnette Richey. “When Dr. Deming invited me to join his trip to Mount Everest, I didn’t even know where it was. I went, and I got my hope back. If my cancer returns, I’m ready to fight it.”
