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The arrival of two dozen new doctors in Stafford County is due in part to Stafford Hospital Center Date published: 7/26/2009
BY JIM HALL During the four years that Dr. Kurian Thott was in residency in Reading, Pa., the city grew by 170 people. Stafford County, he discovered, was growing by that much each month. In addition, Stafford was an hour from Washington, with an educated population and a new hospital in the works. "I would love to start a practice here," he concluded. Thott moved to Stafford last fall to found the Women's Health and Surgery Center, an obstetrics/gynecology practice, on U.S. 1. Dr. Lia Shorter, who trained with Thott in Reading and was already working in Fredericksburg, moved her practice to Stafford to join him. Thott and Shorter are among two dozen doctors who have started or expanded their practices in Stafford in recent months. They were drawn, at least in part, by the new Stafford Hospital Center. The opening of the 100-bed hospital five months ago and the arrival of the new doctors signal a change for Stafford residents, who have mostly gone to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg or Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge for their care. Now they have options closer to home. The changes also offer a preview of what could happen in Spotsylvania County, when the new Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center opens there next year. "Prior to Stafford Hospital, you could almost draw a line," said Dr. Kenneth Josovitz, a gastroenterologist. "Some patients would go to Mary Washington, and some would go to Potomac. With the new hospital you solidify the community and strengthen the base." Josovitz has practiced in North Stafford for 13 years, but the main offices for his Associates in Gastroenterology practice are in Woodbridge and Manassas. When his Stafford patients needed surgery, he usually did the operations at Potomac. Now Josovitz can operate on his Stafford patients at Stafford Hospital Center. "On April 1, when they said 'go,' I had a full day," he said. Other doctors tell similar stories of being drawn by the new hospital and the prospect of building their practices in a growing but under-served area. "This really is a community now," said Dr. Arthur Vayer. "We needed this sort of facility."
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 7/26/2009
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