For the past month, L.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital has been extending hospitality to neighboring residents of Georgiana in the form of a recently opened satellite clinic.

David Norrell, L.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital director of business development, said that the plan for the auxiliary clinic came from the need to provide some additional physicians for southern Butler County.

“We’ve added several physicians to our staff over the past two years, and of course (Georgiana) has had some doctors to leave that area, as well,” Norrell said.

“We had several people down in that area ask if we were going to do anything to help the situation, and we just felt that it would be a good thing to do to help the community out down there.”

Easier access and convenience played an equally large role in the decision to extend services to Georgiana residents, considering many of L.V. Stabler’s patients are senior adults that oftentimes lack dependable transportation.

The clinic is capable of performing lab work and running several diagnostic tests, although there are some services that remain unique to the Greenville location.

X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and similar procedures aren’t feasible at the Georgiana clinic, and patients in need of those services would instead be referred to the Greenville facility.

Despite these operating limitations, Norrell said that it was imperative for the new clinic to be able to perform lab work, despite developing trends proving it an accommodation that many other local facilities are shying away from.

“A lot of doctors’ offices, especially in the Montgomery area, are getting away from doing the lab work in-house,” Norrell said.

“We felt like that’s just another convenience that’s for the patient.”

According to Norrell, one of the biggest hurdles for the Georgiana clinic to overcome involved the misconception that the facility was meant to replace Georgiana Hospital.  That, he said, couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Our intention is to help provide physician support, physician availability and great primary healthcare options,” Norrell said.

“It’s tough enough to have one hospital in Butler County, but that hospital has been there for a long time and we hope it continues to be there for a long time.  There’s a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous need, but the main thing that we want people to understand is that we’re here in support of the community.”