A small-town physician offers words of encouragement to his peers.
Primary care physicians can change the trajectory of a child’s life and give access to prosperity that improves the health of a community, says William Cooke, MD. As the town physician of Austin, Indiana, Cooke has received national attention and accolades for working there when the opioid epidemic led to a local HIV epidemic. He described his experiences in his book, “Canary in the Coal Mine: A Forgotten Rural Community, A Hidden Epidemic, and a Lone Doctor Battling for the Life, Health, and Soul of the People.”