Celebrating Country Doctors

Serving rural Texans with distinction.

By:Sen. John Cornyn

Over the past several decades, Texas’ reputation for quality medical facilities has been growing. Nationally acclaimed hospitals and care centers like the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the Baylor University Medical Center, and the Texas Children’s Hospital – to name just a few – have delivered Texas into the forefront of medical research and care.

While these facilities provide excellent care to millions of patients each year, there is another kind of doctor that has for generations been an icon of Texas medicine: the country doctor. Throughout our great state country doctors serve some of Texas’ most hard to reach citizens – often traveling hundreds of miles to make house calls.

These doctors treat underserved communities with far sprawling populations long distances from larger clinics and hospitals. But despite these difficult conditions, Texas’ country doctors continue to provide their invaluable services, developing lasting relationships with each of their patients – often having been the doctor at their birth. While these country doctors seem almost antiquated in contrast to the enormous medical centers across the state, their service remains an integral part of our commitment to give every Texan access to quality health care.

Last December, one of Texas’ many dedicated country doctors even earned national distinction, being named “Staff Care’s Country Doctor of the Year.” For more than half a century, Dr. David Watson has been the primary doctor for the residents of Yoakum, Texas.

A graduate of Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Watson says he never wanted to be anything more than a family doctor. Over his years of service to Yoakum, he’s become much more. He’s served as physician, surgeon and obstetrician. On Friday nights, he walks the sidelines of the high school football games to treat any injured players and in his spare time volunteers with abused children at the Bluebonnet Youth Ranch.

Dr. Watson’s recognition as Country Doctor of the Year comes as little surprise to the families that have for so long depended on him. And while much has changed in medicine since he first opened doors offering $5 house calls, Dr. Watson’s dedication to the community has not. His service to the people of Yoakum has made him a staple of the community and an example to doctors throughout our state and across the country.

As Texas continues to grow and foster an even greater medical community, we should take the time to recognize the men and women who have pioneered Texas medicine and brought care to families living even in the remotest of Texas towns. Doctors like David Watson remind us of an older time in Texas, before the advent of large hospitals and medical research centers. But today’s country doctors remain a primary source of care for rural Texans.

I congratulate Dr. Watson on this much-deserved recognition, and I thank the many doctors like him who attend to rural communities throughout Texas. As we work to improve Texas’ medical community, we must remember our country doctors and the important work they do.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.