Saturday, February 11, 2012

Beyond duty

73-year-old doctor puts skills to work at free clinic

By Nick Tabor
New Era Staff Writer 
During his 38 years running an internal medicine practice on South Main Street, Dr. Terry Fuqua says he brought in a smaller income than most of Hopkinsville’s physicians.
He’d spend an hour to do every physical thoroughly. He eschewed high-tech tests—“gobbledygook,” he says—preferring to test patients with just his stethoscope and his five senses, unless he specifically needed the assistance of a machine. He made house calls for patients who couldn’t get to his building. Often he took patients into his private office to explain their illnesses and treatment, said Patty Gamble, Fuqua’s nurse for many years.
When patients came to him and said they couldn’t pay, he’d ask them to give him $5 a month. They could pay their full bills later, but if they coughed up just a little, he’d keep treating them. It showed they were trying.
Read the full entry here.