Evening star., 1953-08-24
Rural Virginia Solves Doctor Problem
BY Allen Drury
ONE OF THE main problems Of ade-
n,,n&n r,nndicol nora IN rural oraas

nNE OF THE main problems Of ade-
" quate medical care in rural areas
how to persuade doctors to settle in
small towns and then make them happy
enough to stay there's being solved
by a quietly effective Virginia organi-
zation armed with patience, good will
and modest budget of $4,000 a year.
It is called the Virginia Council on
Health and Medical Care, and because
of it So doctors have been placed in
over 40 towns in the past three years.
Communities like Forest, HuddleSton,
Montevideo, Abingdon, Colony. Fisher
vile and StuartS Draft, either without
doctors before or facing the prospect
of no replacement when elderly ply
Sicians retired, now have general prac-
titioners in residence. Many also have
new clinics, built as part of the in
ducement to get doctors to settle.
Typical of the way the council works
is the situation at Montevideo, where
a brand-new clinic and two brand-new
doctors started business in July. Orig
inally the need arose in nearby McGa-
heysville I'll miles east of Harrison
burg) in 1850, when the town contacted
the council and asked it to recommend
a doctor. Then, in April, 1852, Mill
Creek miles southwest Of McGaheyS-
vile, also asked for help.
In both instances, the council re-
sponded by furnishing names Of avail
able doctors, many Of them drawn
from the graduating lists of the Uni
versity of Virginia Medical School and
the Medical College of Virginia in
soI., HAfIa
were considering the matter, the council
received letters from DR.. e. Ashby
Woods, jr., and DR.. Hugh w. Rule, who
graduated from the medical school in
June, 1852, and were then interning at
Memorial Hospital in Wilmington, Del.
The two young doctors asked for infor-
nation on a community needing two
physicians and said they were par
ticularly interested in locating in "the
section of Virginia west Of the Skyline
Drive, south of Winchester and north
of Lexington"
At this point, the councils executive
director, Edgar j. Fisher, jr., wrote to
Mill Creek and McGaheysville, sug-
gesting they might pool their resources
and ask Drs. Rule and Woods to
settle in Montevideo, halfway between
the two towns. At the same time he
wrote the two doctors. BY the time
they came to look the region over,
Goods Mill, Port Republic, Keezletown
and Montevideo had joined Mill Creek
and McGaheysville in the project. Ten
leading residents of the area put up
$1,000 apiece. another $4,000 was bor-
rowed from the National Bank of Har-
riSonburg, and the new clinic was
begun in February. It was completed
last month, and Drs. Rule and Woods
are now enjoying their ready-made
practice in the Shenandoah Valley.
In tiny Huddleston population ap-
proximately 225), the council solved
still another problem when it persuaded
the community to help young DR.. Jesse
M. Tucker. jr., and his family find
house. An old frame schoolhouse, re-
modelled by local contractor into a
cleaning white two-bedroom house and
rented to DR.. Tucker for $40 a month,
was the answer. AS an indication of his
faith in the town, DR.. Tucker purchased
Is acres of land at the edge of town,
and Huddleston residents subscribed
$4,000 to build him cinder-block Office
building comprising reception room.