Trigg surgeon retiring

Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital will be without surgical services from March through at least September, according to Presbyterian Healthcare Services officials.

Dr. Victor Davis, who has provided surgical services for the hospital, is retiring on March 2, said Trigg Administrator Don Weidemann.

A replacement for Davis is not likely to begin working for Presbyterian Health Services, which operates Trigg Hospital, until at least September, Weidemann said.

In the meantime, Weidemann said, three hospital employees who have worked in the Trigg’s surgical area will be offered other jobs at the hospital for which they qualify.

While the surgical department is shut down, Weidemann said, patients will be able to choose from physicians in Clovis, Amarillo and Albuquerque for surgeries.

Presbyterian, meanwhile, is awaiting a gastroenterologist to take on the surgical department medical duties at Trigg Hospital, said Clay Holderman, Presbyterian chief operating officer for New Mexico.

The gastroenterologist is currently finishing his specialty education and is expected to graduate in September, Holder said.

“Sometimes after they graduate, they want to spend a few weeks studying for board exams,” Holder said, “so we don’t know whether he’ll want to start immediately or take a few weeks.”

The gastroenterologist, Holder said, will perform 80 percent of the procedures the surgeon has been doing, including endoscopic and other “scope” examinations.

Holder said the gastroenterologist’s services will be part of an upgrade in medical services at Trigg Hospital, part of a multi-year strategy Presbyterian has mapped out statewide.

Trigg Hospital will benefit in this strategy, because resources will be shared between Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis and Trigg, Holder said.

In Tucumcari, he said, “this will mean additional services in family practice and the emergency department,” and more access to both medical doctors and para-professionals like nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants.