Jogging Doctor Highly Regarded Among Colleagues

Dr. Ted Houk, a well-known fixture on York Road and Charles Street who was severely injured after he was struck by a minivan Thursday, was praised admirably by his colleagues.

"He's a very pleasant, caring person, and that's what would come out every time we talked," said Neal Friedlander, chair of the hospital's department of medicine.

Houk, 50, of the 1700 block of Kurtz Avenue, was airlifted to Maryland Shock Trauma from an area near N. Charles Street and Chestnut Avenue, Baltimore County said. Emergency crews were dispatched to the scene at 8:12 a.m. Thursday.

Police said he is listed in critical condition.

Alyce Farrar, an employee at Houk's office, said she was shocked when she learned of his accident.

"I was devastated by the news," she said.

Houk has an internal medicine practice in Towson, but also sees patients at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He is locally recognized for his daily runs to and from work, which is approximately a total of six miles when he goes to his practice and 11 when he heads to the Towson hospital.

"Ted is a perfect example of how to help patients focus on taking care of themselves," Friedlander said.

The doctor also raises eyebrows with his unusual get-up during his treks. He typically runs shirtless while toting a briefcase-style bag filled with his scrubs, stethoscope, phone and at least a pound each of fruits and vegetables.

"Some of [my wife's] friends have said they felt lucky when they not only saw me, but they saw me switch hands," said Houk, who has four children with his wife Pamela Jenkins, in a 2011 Patch interview.

Friedlander said Houk's quirks might strike some as unusual, but his colleagues were unfazed.

"Although some of us might see him as an individual or different—from a physician's perspective, he's just one of us," he said.

In what is now a chilling statement, Houk told the Towson Times in 2008 that he switched from bicycling to running when he moved to Lutherville from Hampden—where he lived for six years—in 1995 because it was safer.

Friedlander, a downtown Baltimore resident, said his colleague's accident was especially poignant because he too is a longtime runner.

"You get used to cars and buses..but there's always that additional risk," he said.

Chaplain Joe Hart, director of spiritual support at the hospital, said the Greater Baltimore Medical Center community is saddened by Houk's plight.

"Even for those who might not have a personal relationship with him, he's well-known visually," Hart said.

Friedlander said others doctors in the department would pitch in to assist Houk's patients at the hospital and his private practice.

"Medicine is a profession that there's a large role for individual behavior," he said. "Ted called it the last bastion of cowboys and cowgirls."