Some of the more affluent patients, especially, go elsewhere for medical services, and that hurts the hospital. Fabec has allowed some of her poorer patients to barter. A Native American man is doing beadwork for her stethoscope to pay a bill. Another man recently brought her 2 pounds of fudge. Despite the long hours and the difficulties in serving poorer communities, the biggest reason doctors decline opportunities in small towns is for family reasons.
Physicians tend to marry someone who is fairly well-educated.
Trinidad City Councilman Brett Plant knows it will take a person who likes small towns to take the job. Our population is not big enough to offer a lot of arts and culture, although there is an effort to do that.