Veterans called Dr. Daniel C. Wistran a friend for more than two decades, thanks to Wistran’s commitment to ensuring a veterans’ health clinic provides services in the 225 Boston St. medical building in Lynn.
Wistran, a former Swampscott resident who died Saturday at the age of 74, found a home in 225 Boston St. initially for a 900-square-foot clinic. A career cardiologist who helped introduce cardiac ultrasound technology to area hospitals, Wistran understood how finding a location for a Lynn veterans clinic made a difference to veterans who traveled to Bedford or Boston to receive medical care.
Wistran and fellow physicians were relentless in working with former Lynn Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. and former U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney to establish the Lynn clinic. They joined forces with elected officials and local veterans to block a federal Department of Veterans Affairs reorganization plan that threatened to close the clinic.
Wistran vowed in 2008 to honor friends killed in the Vietnam War by pushing for the clinic’s expansion. He knew that Global War on Terror veterans needed services and worked closely with Lynn Veterans Services Director Michael Sweeney to understand their needs.
“I’m in the business of doing some good while I still can,” he said.
The expansion effort succeeded and, for almost 10 years, the Boston Street clinic has provided primary care and mental-health services in a space outfitted with equipment including digital X-ray and ultrasound machines and a community room where veterans, their families and people providing resources to them can meet and discuss concerns.
Dan Wistran could have devoted his post-retirement years to his family and his passion for outdoor activities and photography. But his passion to exemplify the highest virtues of the medical profession — care and concern for the patient — drove Wistran relentlessly to improve veterans’ lives.
Dr. Wistran will be missed, but his Lynn legacy will never fade away.
