Bourbon Family Medicine remains open
By Stacey Creasy
News Mirror
5-21-03
BOURBON � The Bourbon Clinic is alive and well and seeing patients on a daily basis.
A number of local residents feared the clinic would close once Dr. Ronald Sautter left town.
Sautter�s last day at the clinic was March 28. He left to take a position in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sautter had been at the clinic since it opened in 1988.
At one time there were enough patients coming into the clinic to keep two physicians busy five days a week.
That number dropped in recent years. One of the doctors left the clinic to take a position with the Community Hospital in Bremen.
Sautter said the low number of patients combined with the offer from Albuquerque prompted him to make the move. Sautter said he will miss Bourbon as well as the people in the community.
The clinic closing meant Bourbon would be without a family physician for the first time in more than 150 years.
The good news is the clinic did not close.
The doctors from Plymouth Family and Internal Medicine stepped up and took a tag team approach with the clinic.
�The physicians from Plymouth Family and Internal Medicine have been providing coverage at the clinic,� said Lori Price, the Chief Administrator for the Saint Joseph Regional Medical Centers in Plymouth and Mishawaka. �They will cover the clinic until the new doctor starts July 1.�
Karen Hobgood, public relations spokesperson for Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, said she cannot reveal the name of the doctor until all the paperwork is signed.
�We are happy that we have someone coming July 1,� Hobgood said. �Until all the papers are signed, we just cannot give out their name.�
Town officials worked with representatives from Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center to find a physician.
At first it seemed like every doctor interviewed was not willing to take a gamble on a small town practice. The first four doctors interviewed for the job were not interested.
However with a new Garden Court going up for local seniors and an active pharmacy in town, local officials are certain there will always be enough traffic to keep one doctor busy in Bourbon.
�We are just glad that we can continue to bring the type of quality service the people of Bourbon deserve,� Price stated. �We hope to have a doctor in that office for a long time.
Details of the arrangement between the Saint Joseph Health Care group, the clinic and the new doctor will be announced later.
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