Vernon Residents Hold Grand Opening for New Medical Clinic

VERNON, Ala. (WCBI) – A grand opening in Vernon helped residents feel better about their community and their health.

Demand for quality, local healthcare had a local doctor expanding his practice.

To add some detail, the last clinic in Vernon was built in 1952, and wasn’t exactly the most comfortable spot to care for patients who are already under the weather.

Lamar County is without a hospital, but this new clinic is a step in the right direction of quality medical care.

Smiles on the faces of Vernon residents, as things are now more comfortable on both sides of the welcome desk at the new Vernon Medical Clinic.

“The patients appreciate it,” said Dr. William Davis. “They have more room, more privacy, and it’s a better place to work.”

The old clinic was built back in 1952, the hospital it was once a part of closed down and weed-ridden since the mid-90’s.

Dr. Davis tells us the old building couldn’t support the patients walking through the doors every day.

“We had run out of room at the place we were, and I am the only active, full-time physician in Lamar County,” he said. “I hired a nurse practitioner. We did not have room to work.”

“There is a large need to serve this community,” said Amber Hattaway, the nurse practitioner Davis hired in November 2017.

The clinic leases the new building from Durham’s Pharmacy, and it’s everything Davis and his staff could want.

“The old clinic, we only had three exam rooms. Now, we have five,” said Hattaway. “We also have a digital x-ray, which makes it so much easier to be able to spot problems or fractures or, you know, any abnormalities that we really couldn’t see before, and we have a larger lab. We’re just able to do so much more.”

For the patients who visit, the comparison?

Well, there is none.

“Oh! It’s the difference between daylight and dark,” said long-time Vernon resident, Dave Robertson. “I went to the old clinic when I was just a child, and it hadn’t changed a whole lot since then. But this is a nice, new facility that you’d expect to see anywhere. It’s really nice.”

“I really love working here and taking care of my friends and family because this is a small community, and we know everybody, just about. That means a lot to be able to give back to them,” said Hattaway.

Williams already has 52 years under his belt, and patients always ask him when he’s going to retire.

He says with the new clinic building, he’ll be serving Vernon for years to come.