PROFESSIONIs there a mayor in the house?For 40 years a small-town Georgia doctor answers the call to serving his community as both physician and mayor.By Damon Adams, amednews staff. Feb. 4, 2002.
The Doctor is Out
A look at physician lives outside the exam room. In the office, time is a precious commodity for today's busy physicians. Away from work, many doctors find unique activities and hobbies to help them unwind and to enrich their lives. On any given day, you may find David Wetherby, MD, hustling between the doctor's office and City Hall. For in Fort Gaines, a small rural town in southwest Georgia, Dr. Wetherby, 72, is both doctor and mayor. And he has been for roughly 40 years, leaving little time to take a breather. "I never slow down," the general practitioner said in his thick Southern drawl. "I haven't had a vacation, I reckon, for 10 or 12 years." Others outside his community have appreciated Dr. Wetherby's commitment. The Georgia Municipal Assn. awarded him a pin and plaque for his 40 years of service, which he says "was a right honor." Dr. Wetherby is pretty much what you would expect of a country doctor in a town of about 1,100 people. He does house calls. His friends, neighbors and politicians are also his patients. And if someone can't afford to pay for medical care, he often tells them not to worry about it. "I have never known him to turn anyone away for not having money to pay," said Wilma Crapps, a longtime patient who has served on the Fort Gaines City Council for 10 years. Last year, one woman contacted Dr. Wetherby and wanted to pay him for delivering her baby more than 30 years ago. The woman, now living up north, asked what he charged back then, and Dr. Wetherby responded, about $75. To his surprise, the woman sent him $75. "If I got paid for all the babies that I delivered, I could have retired," Dr. Wetherby joked. Instead, he sometimes is thanked with desserts and other goodies. One lady brings him biscuits.
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Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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