Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

New clinic opens

Nevada County has a new clinic with five medical specialists practicing in it.

According to Jimmy Leopard, chief executive officer of Medical Park Hospital in Hope, MPH has been successful in recruiting doctors to this area and now has specialists it's never had before.

Leopard said MPH wants to get these doctors busy as soon as possible and keep them busy to help them grow their practices.

To reach this goal, he said, the idea was to get them treating patients in Prescott, Nashville, Stamps and Lewisville. There is a possibility clinics, similar to the one in Prescott, will be opened in other areas as well.

The concept was encouraged by Prescott physician Dr. Charles Vermont, who suggested MPH send specialists to Prescott.

By having specialists come to Prescott, area residents will no longer have to go to Little Rock, Texarkana or Dallas for treatment for some problems.

"They'll be better served by staying close to home," Leopard said.

MPH, he added, hired a research firm, Lonestar Research, to do a survey and find what needs there were in the region.

The chief perception was of the hospital itself. People knew MPH was at Hope, but had no idea what services it offered. This perception was greater in Prescott and Nevada County.

"We wanted to increase people's knowledge and access of the care available in Hope," Leopard said.

Each of the five doctors is a specialist in their own field. Dr. Jean Wise is an ear-nose-throat specialist, while Dr. Sam Arnold is a general surgeon. Dr. Mark Sizemore is a urologist and Dr. Randy Davis is an obstetrician, while Dr. Bud Dickson is an orthopedic surgeon.

Each of these specialists will be at the Prescott clinic at different times.

Along with these doctors, Mary Alice Blevins will hold diabetic education and treatment classes through AllCare Pharmacy.

The clinic will be open Monday through Wednesday to start, with Dr. Wise being on hand Monday mornings and Dr. Arnold taking over in the afternoons.

Tuesday will start off with Dr. Sizemore in the morning and Blevins holding diabetic education classes in the afternoon.

Dr. Davis will be on hand Wednesday mornings, with Dr. Dickson coming in during the afternoon.

All five doctors are new recruits to the area, none having been in the region more than 18 months.

Doctors Davis and Dickson came to Hope in August, while Dr. Wise came from El Dorado. Dr. Arnold moved to Hope from Phoenix, Ariz. and Dr. Sizemore came from Poteau, Okla. Dr. Davis recently finished his residency at LSU-S, while Dr. Dickson has a practice in Magnolia, but is looking to expand it in a westerly direction.

"Prescott needs to be served," Leopard said. "We're still the nearest medical facility to Prescott and Nevada County and consider it our obligation to provide the residents health care.

"We need to get these specialists busy and grow their practice. If we do this, we all win."

Each of the doctors will be bringing their own nurses when they're at the Prescott clinic, which is located next door to Dr. Vermont's office.

MPH will provide a receptionist and handle the paperwork for the clinic.

Leopard said if the demand is there, MPH will look to expand the clinic's services to five-days-a-week.

Future plans for MPH, he said, include getting an oncologist available for cancer treatments, such as outpatient chemotherapy.

The hospital is also looking to expand its cardiology department. Recruiting cardiologists, he said, is difficult because most of them continue their education in the more invasive procedures and MPH isn't large enough to handle such treatment.

We could have a medical cardiologist at Medical Park," Leopard said.

However, the cardiologist and oncologist are plans for the future, the near future, hopefully, Leopard said.

To make an appointment with any of the doctors at the clinic, call 887-1125, as this is the clinic's main number.

The doctors can be reached at their Hope offices as well. Dr. Wise's number is 722-6200; Dr. Arnold's is 722-5969; Dr. Sizemore's is 777-0400; Dr. Davis's is 777-2069; and Dr. Dickson's is 777-3020. Blevins can be reached at 246-3044.