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Dr. Taylor's Career, A Labor of Love
DR. TAYLOR’S CAREER, A LABOR OF LOVE
By MARIE WOOD
Photos by Mark Zallek and Evan Taylor
When Mark and Rhonda Taylor were a young couple, he left a note for Rhonda on the kitchen table. It said “Rhonda, A Baby!!” and he rushed to the hospital. A second-year medical student, he saw his first delivery that night and knew he wanted to be an obstetrician.
Now more than 40 years later, Dr. Taylor is hanging up his Doppler, the device used to listen to a fetal heartbeat. On September 8, 2023 – 36 years to the date of joining the Mankato Clinic Obstetrics and Gynecology department – he retired to spend more time with his family.
That note was the first of so many deliveries – roughly 7,000 deliveries throughout his career.
“I knew his personality was made for OB,” Rhonda said. “I knew that was going to be our destination.”
All Dr. Taylor ever wanted to do, besides play center field for the Twins, was to be a doctor. His mother even framed the drawing he made in the first grade that says “I want to be a doctor” and presented it to him when he graduated from medical school. For much of his career, his childhood artwork hung in his office.
Had he gone into the family business – Brett’s Department Store – he would have been the fifth generation working in the store. Still, no one was more supportive of him than his parents Brett and Gretchen Taylor. “When I graduated from medical school, Dad gave me a bear hug like you wouldn’t believe,” Dr. Taylor said.
He earned his medical degree at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and completed his four-year residency at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. During his residency, the Taylors spent all their free time heading back to Mankato to be with family.
So after completing his residency, he knocked on Mankato Clinic’s door and asked “Will you hire me?” That was 1987. The answer was yes. And he returned to his hometown to raise a family and build a practice.
In 36 years, he has seen his department grow from a practice of 4 physicians to an office of 11 providers. As a member of the Mankato Clinic Board of Directors, he helped lead the clinic’s growth to 13 locations and nearly 200 providers to meet the needs of a growing and more diverse community.
“You have to be aware of what is acceptable and unacceptable in different cultures and not compromise care,” Dr. Taylor said.
He is grateful to interpreters for breaking down language barriers. For instance, Dr. Taylor looked to the Somali interpreter to teach him how
to say “Push” in Somali. His attempts at the language brought smiles and laughter. “It was a good way to connect with the patient,” he said.
Family first
The Taylor family has doubled from their three children Ryan, Gretchen and Evan, to include their spouses Lindsay, David and Katie, respectively. They are loving grandparents of River, Finn, Porter, Mirren, Indy and Reed. Every July, they host all their grandchildren at their lake cottage for the month. River and Finn come from California, Porter and Mirren from Fargo, ND, and Indy and Reed from Mankato. That’s 6 grandchildren, 3 dogs and 4 birthday celebrations! At one of the celebrations, they were blessed to have 4 generations of Taylors!
Both Mark and Rhonda’s families are very close and deeply rooted in Mankato. In fact, their own children grew up in a band of cousins who all attended Mankato schools.
Rhonda and Mark went to high school together at Mankato West High School and attended the same church. After graduating from high school in 1974, Mark earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology and distributive science from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1978. In his gap year before medical school, he was an admissions counselor, head swimming coach and assistant track coach at Gustavus.
It was during his gap year that Rhonda and Mark started dating. Their first date was at Rhonda’s family home in 1978; they had cake for her little sister’s birthday! He knew she was the one.
“We’ve been together ever since,” Mark said.
One Christmas Eve early in his practice, Dr. Taylor did an all-nighter at the hospital. He met the family at his parents’ house where they always celebrated Christmas.
“Mark stumbled in, went to a chair, and promptly fell asleep. We’re opening gifts. He opens an eye and asks ‘What did Gretchen get this year?’” Rhonda said.
From then on, Mark joined Rhonda in Christmas shopping because he wanted to know what they were giving the kids.
“I couldn’t have picked a better wife for what I do. She was very go with the flow. Our mantra at our house is make plans, change them,” he said.
“We made it happen. The kids were our focus. With his busy schedule, we would go everywhere in two cars. I would get kids to their activities. I would give Mark the schedule and then he would attend. I would call him to say they’re coming up to bat soon or at swim meets I would look at the schedule and text it to him. And he’d get there. He’s been great about that,” Rhonda said.
Their oldest son called their marriage “teamshipness.”
“We had a wonderful family life,” Dr. Taylor said. Dr. Taylor is also a loyal and supportive community member. True to his school, he was honored to be inducted into the Mankato West High School Hall of Fame in 2017. He wore his high school letter jacket to the ceremony! For many years, Dr. Taylor hosted an annual career workshop for West students to share his passion about the miracle and messiness of childbirth. Rhonda often attended the workshops.
“All those kids were locked in. There was no snickering, no giggling, no snide comments. They were so appropriate, asked such good questions,” Rhonda said.
Babies!!
“There is nothing better than handing parents a healthy baby,” Dr. Taylor said.
Among those 7,000 babies were hundreds of twins and six sets of triplets! Dr. Taylor also delivered his two youngest children and his two grandchildren.
“My last delivery was my own grandson. For each birth, I had one of my obstetrical colleagues right there with me in case of emergency,” Dr. Taylor said.
Patients don’t have to be related to Dr. Taylor to feel like family. He truly cares for women in all stages of life and treats each and every one like family.
“It is the relationship with the patients that I love the most. I really enjoy when I’m out in public and people say hello. You see this 6-foot kid and you delivered him. I love that part of it,” he said.
In fact, many babies who were delivered by Dr. Taylor returned to him as adults when they started their own families. Caring for women through pregnancy, labor and delivery was always rewarding and he was honored to deliver two generations of babies in the same family.
“When we went shopping together, it took us forever to get through our list, but I always loved it. They knew Mark well enough to come up and say hi. And he always talked to them. I was very proud of that fact,” Rhonda said. “It’s always nice to be part of an important day in people’s lives.”
In Good Hands
Dr. Taylor loved everything about his specialty: Women’s health care,
pregnancy, labor, delivery, primary care, procedures and surgeries. He has witnessed major medical advancements throughout his career. Take hysterectomies. Typically, women would spend three days in the hospital. Thanks to less invasive techniques, most hysterectomies are an outpatient procedure today.
In obstetrical care, he cited breakthroughs in prenatal detection of genetic disorders and birth defects. With the refinement of ultrasounds, he said it’s rare when parents don’t know the baby’s gender now.
He commends the pediatric medical community for saving babies who are born as early as 23 or 24 weeks. With excellent neonatal care, many of these babies grow up without long-term disabilities such as cerebral palsy.
As he reflects on 36 years as an OB-GYN, he humbly thanks his patients who have stuck with him for all these years! And as he leaves the clinic, he will miss coming in to work every day.
“I’ve got this incredible department. They make me laugh every single day. We have established this banter as soon as I pick up my first cup of coffee,” Dr. Taylor said.
Dr. Taylor has great respect for his partners, physicians and colleagues and is proud to call them friends as well. The feeling is mutual. Dr. Heather Carlson, OB-GYN, shared that Dr. Taylor taught her as a medical student and his infectious energy first got her interested in the specialty.
“He has been the best partner someone could ever hope to work with. He has continued to mentor me and so many others at work. It has been such a comfort to walk down the hall to his office to get a second opinion,” Dr. Carlson said. “The wonderful care he takes of his patients, the concern he has to do the right thing, his excitement in teaching others, his love of family and his overall positive attitude have been appreciated by all of us over the years and will be missed greatly.”
As he retires, Dr. Taylor knows our community is in good hands with the exceptional and extraordinary staff and providers in the Mankato Clinic OB-GYN department.
“There isn’t one that I wouldn’t have a family member see,” Dr. Taylor said.
RHONDA TAYLOR ORIGINAL
Rhonda Taylor knitted pink and blue infant hats for her husband’s patients and their babies. Dr. Taylor gave out the hats as fast as Rhonda could make them. Plus, Rhonda donated many more hats to the hospital’s labor and delivery department.
“It made me feel like we were a team. I could somehow be a part of what he does. We received thank you cards addressed to both of us,” Rhonda said.
In each hat, she stitched a white thread into the top. Dr. Taylor always knew the hats with the white thread were a “Rhonda Taylor Original.”
Little things like a hand-knit infant hat can mean so much. One of Dr. Taylor’s patients cried when she received the hat and said, “This is the nicest thing I’ve ever gotten.”
After Dr. Taylor delivered his last baby, his own grandson, the nurse gave Evan Taylor the infant hat for his son.
“It’s pretty cool when you’ve watched your mom knit those hats for 30 years. And then you have a kid of your own and the nurse gives you one for your own kiddo. Life came full circle for me that day,” Evan said.
To Honor Dr. Mark Taylor
You may donate to the First Steps Fund at the Mankato Clinic Foundation. First Steps is a community collaboration that promotes healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
The First Steps coordinator links new or expecting parents free or low-cost services. Use the QR code if you’d like to give.
You may send a check to the Mankato Clinic Foundation, 1400 Madison Avenue, Suite 324B, Mankato, MN 56001. Write Dr. Taylor on the memo line. Or call the Foundation at 507-389-8716.
First Steps is a partnership between Greater Mankato Area United Way, Blue Earth County, Mankato Clinic and the Mankato Clinic Foundation.
