Two new doctors join River Park staff
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General surgeon Dr. Philip Ludwig and family physician Dr. Michael Questell have both rounded out their office staff and are accepting new patients. Both are board certified.
Dr. Ludwig comes to McMinnville from North Carolina. He lived in the small town of Bladenboro and worked at the hospital in Elizabethtown.
‘Bladenboro was a town of about 300 and they were just thrilled to have a surgeon move to town,’ said Dr. Ludwig. ‘But it was tiring because I had to drive 60 miles to get to work. And I didn’t like all the sand. So I traded in the beach for the mountains and we just love it here in McMinnville. I’m five minutes from work.’
The addition of Dr. Ludwig gives River Park three general surgeons on staff. Dr. Ludwig says he handles all the ‘lumps and bumps’ that come with the general surgery field. That includes everything from breast and colon surgery to hernia repair and biopsies.
Dr. Ludwig has worked at hospitals in a number of different cities, including the granddaddy of them all, New York City. He also worked in Livingston, Tenn., just above Cookeville from 1995 to 2000.
‘I left in 2000 and I’ve been trying to get back to Tennessee ever since,’ said Dr. Ludwig. ‘I’ve used Tennessee as the gold standard to judge every other place I’ve lived. We had already decided we would like to come back and retire to Middle Tennessee, even if I didn’t get a job here.’
Dr. Ludwig enjoys a few jokes and he says that’s especially helpful in his profession.
‘I have a sense of humor because no one wants to see the surgeon coming,’ said Dr. Ludwig. ‘Humor is the best medicine.’
Dr. Ludwig’s office can be reached at 815-4580.
Dr. Questell comes to McMinnville from a remote town in North Dakota named Rolla, which is near the Canadian border. Temperatures frequently dipped to minus 40 degrees in the winter ‘ so cold you had to plug in your car so it would start in the morning.
In Rolla, Dr. Questell was far removed from the luxuries we take for granted. For example, he was 75 miles from the nearest McDonald’s and 125 miles from the closest Wal-Mart.
‘Everyone had a survival kit in their car,’ said Dr. Questell. ‘Because if you broke down in the middle of nowhere, you could be there awhile.’
If you’re wondering how he found his way from North Dakota to McMinnville, as I was, Dr. Questell has the answer.
‘Dr. Trey Kirby was my best friend in medical school,’ said Dr. Questell. ‘And ever since he’s been out of the service and come back to McMinnville, he’s been after me to get out of North Dakota and come here before the boredom killed me.’
Being in family practice, Dr. Questell sees all members of the family, from infant to elderly. In Rolla, because the town is so small, he delivered his fair share of babies, something he doesn’t foresee himself doing here.
‘Kids are the best because they almost always get better,’ said Dr. Questell. ‘One of my patients in North Dakota was a 104-year-old lady, and she’s still going.’
Dr. Questell’s practice has been open about a week and he’s accepting new patients. That includes new Medicare patients.
‘You can’t make a living off Medicare patients which is why it’s so hard to find a doctor who will take new Medicare patients because it only pays a fraction of the bill,’ said Dr. Questell, whose office can be reached at 815-7200.