By Mary Curtis

In my estimation, Prentiss has always been very blessed with outstanding medical doctors. Dr. Kenneth Terrell was one of those doctors.

I recently came across information about him and wanted to share it with you. Some of you will still remember him.

He was one of my doctors when I was a little girl( long time ago), and he and my mother graduated high school together right here in Prentiss.

He was a great family man, a good Christian man, a good father, and had the best loud laugh and sense of humor.

Dr. Terrell graduated from Tulane Medical School in New Orleans in 1939.

He later completed two years of medical residency at Alabama School of Medicine in Tuscaloosa, and then completed his post graduate degree at St. Louis Hospital in Missouri.

Dr. Terrell joined the Medical Corp. serving duty in Austria, and the South Pacific. He remained at Camp Shelby for the remainder of the war, being discharged in 1946.

At that time Dr. Terrell returned home to Prentiss; that was our lucky day.

At that time Dr. Nelson Tyrone and Dr. H.G. Williams were the only practicing physicians in Prentiss.

Dr. Williams was one of the founding fathers of the Town of Prentiss (and is the great grandfather of our Editor of The Prentiss Headlight).

Dr. Terrell opened a small office to practice.

At that time the majority of medical care was rendered in the small doctor offices in town.

The rest of the medical care was delivered in the patients’ home as there were no hospital facilities here.

Seriously ill patients were transferred to areas where hospitals were available, such as Hattiesburg, Jackson and Brookhaven.

It was necessary that one use mostly the art of medicine as well as the science of medicine.

All diagnostic and traumatic x-rays were referred to the nearest hospital.

All obstetrics was done in the home with the help of a nurse or lay person from the community.

It was only necessary to transfer about 10 percent of the obstetric patients to a hospital and these cases usually resulted in a cesarean section for delivery.

The area Dr. Terrell covered was within a radius of about 30 miles from town.

Doing much of his practice in the home necessitated him being away from his office and his family for rather extended periods of time, especially during long labor and deliveries.

But medical practice in those days afforded the doctor the possibility of fulfilling his duty but also living among the families of his patients.

This valuable time spent getting to know the families of his patients and understanding some of the health issues they had. It also afforded him time to educate patients and families about personal hygiene, diet, exercise and other crucial elements of good health.

Although physically taxing there is something to be enjoyed about practicing medicine in the home which increases the personnel relationship between doctor and his patients.

The personal relationships gained by the practitioner and the patient in this environment is quite an advantage during the treatment of long illnesses.

In 1950 The Medical Center was established which consisted of a partnership between Dr. N.O. Tyrone, Dr. E.J. Holder in conjunction with Dr. S.M. Everitt, a local dentist. (the building they built was on the vacant lot beside our present Public Library).

The people in the town and out in the community could come to the doctor instead of the doctor going to the patient.

The Jefferson Davis Community Hospital was established in November 1950.

This addition greatly enhanced the medical practice in our community.

It also afforded the community folks an option of being treated right here at home with family and church members close by.

The rural practice of medicine in Mississippi has come a long way.

It has taken years and years of work, planning and finances to bring the practice of medicine in Mississippi up to standard today.

Doubtless this increases the efficiency of every physician as he/she takes advantage of local emergency rooms, radiology and lab facilities right here at home.

However, the areas of personal care are much less as we move closer to the Science and are paying less to the art of medicine.

Although there is advantage to this trend, there is still much to be said for the relationship of a physician to his patient and his patient’ s family.

All in all our medical community has grown with the addition of several medical offices in the Town of Prentiss and the Town of Bassfield.

We also boast of a wonderful nursing home facility, a fitness center and a new office building next to the Hospital.

We are truly blessed beyond measure.