In Rural Virginia, Truckers Can Stop For Coffee And A Physical
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Medical doctors are under a lot of financial pressures these days, which is leading many of them to take jobs with large hospitals and medical practices. Last year, only 17 percent of doctors were in solo practice. But in rural Virginia, one doctor is bucking the trend with a surprising new source of revenue. For member station WVTF, Sandy Hausman reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF BABY COUGHING)
DR. ROB MARSH: Oh, you got a little cough, don't you sweetie?
SANDY HAUSMAN, BYLINE: Rob Marsh has a medical practice in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. He likes the freedom to open his office at night if a patient gets sick. He wants to make house calls, and he needs to pay a staff that has grown from two to 23.
MARSH: You also have to face reality. You've got make budgets and make payroll.
HAUSMAN: But many people in this area lack insurance. So Marsh decided to add a new group of patients.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK HORN)
HAUSMAN: About 20,000 truckers passed through Raphine, Va., every day. And the owner of White's Truck Stop wanted Marsh to open an office there. At first, the busy country doctor refused.
MARSH: As soon as I talked to him more and I looked at it, I realized this may be a good source of additional income for us so that if I don't want to charge somebody else, I can do that from doing physicals on truck drivers.
HAUSMAN: So Marsh remodeled a one-story brick building next to White's Truck Stop.
MARSH: There are, like, five or six truck stops in the nation that have a medical care. I went to two of them. They were trailers that were parked at a truck stop. I wanted to establish a practice that you would be proud to go to if you were a professional.
HAUSMAN: Truckers like 44-year-old for Christopher Sims of Blountsville, Ala. love the convenience. He's had a virus for several days, but he's got a delivery to make. And when you're driving a big rig loaded with new cars, you can't pull into the parking lot of a local urgent care.
CHRISTOPHER SIMS: Been sick for three days so I says, hey, I'm going to stop and check it out, you know.
HAUSMAN: Fortunately, Marsh accepts walk-ins who complain of back aches from sitting long hours behind the wheel, injuries suffered while hooking trucks to cabs and headaches caused by endless traffic jams. Marsh says today's trucker is more health conscious than in decades past, but driving is sedentary, stressful work.
MARSH: What do you do for exercise?
SIMS: I don't
MARSH: Exercise will make your heart work more efficiently so it won't have to beat as many times. You don't need a treadmill. You don't need to run. Running is hard on your joints. Just plain old walking.
HAUSMAN: Some patients should be monitored for ongoing medical problems or risk of recurrence. Sims, for example, was once diagnosed with lymphoma.
SIMS: I was told I had two to three months to live 13 years ago. And I told him I'd beat it, and I did. So here I am.
HAUSMAN: Now that he's found Dr. Marsh, Sims says he might make this a regular stop. And Marsh says there are others who consider him their family doctor.
MARSH: There is a significant percentage of truck drivers, I've heard being anywhere from 15 to 20 percent, that their truck is their home so they don't have a home doctor. And we're becoming that. They know that they come through this truck stop once a week or twice a month or whatever and that we'll be here for them.
HAUSMAN: And office manager Linda Helmech says she and other support staff are happy to treat these ailing road warriors.
LINDA HELMECH: They're always very nice. You ask them where they've come from, and they're always very excited to talk to someone 'cause I know that's a lonely job. It's enjoyable because, like I said, they're not at home with their families.
HAUSMAN: Sims gets some medication and is back on the road hoping to make Silver Spring, Md., this very afternoon. And the next time he comes in for medical care, he'll find another service to keep him in good health. The truck stop plans to add a full-service pharmacy. For NPR News, I'm Sandy Hausman.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.