ELIZABETH HIGGINS
Eagle Correspondent
Published February 12, 2007 10:22 PM CST

SUMITON — Sumiton’s first full-time after-hours clinic will open today as a joint effort between Dr. Scottie Twilley of Sumiton Medical Clinic and Tony Graham of Jasper After Hours Clinic. “We have been looking at the Sumiton and Dora area for awhile now,” Graham said. “We’re very excited the community and physicians have invited us into their community. The feedback I’ve received is extremely positive. It’s an ability for us to take health care to the community.”

Twilley said he has worked on establishing the clinic for almost two years. He will act as medical director and will see patients periodically. The rest of the medical staff will be provided by the Jasper After Hours Clinic.

“We’ve got a lot of doctors who are looking to relocate to Jasper and they’re going to get introduced to the community through (the Sumiton) clinic,” Graham said. “So, that’s going to work out really well for us because some of the physicians are actually from Jasper.”

The clinic will be equipped with full X-ray, a certified laboratory and an online external laboratory that will allow doctors to receive test results from outside the clinic faster. It will treat patients with illnesses, injuries, athletic injuries, lacerations, cuts, abrasions and other minor emergencies.

The clinic will also have its own after-hours pharmacy, which is planned to be provided by David’s Pharmacy. David Kelley, pharmacist and owner of David’s Pharmacy, said they are working on staffing.

“We have a list of people we’re calling,” Kelley said. “I may be able to work with the gentleman in (Jasper’s after hours pharmacy). It’s not easy to find somebody to work those hours.”

Kelley said he is glad there is finally an after hours clinic in Sumiton.

“I think it’ll be good for the community,” he said. “It will give the community something that they haven’t had, (a clinic available) without having to get in their cars and drive. It’ll add something where the people won’t have as long of a wait as they would if they had to go to Jasper or Birmingham.”

Sumiton Mayor Petey Ellis said he thinks the clinic is a great addition to the community and will be an important asset for citizens.

“We’ve needed it for a long time,” he said. “It’s just another step in providing more coverage and more care for the citizens of our community.”

Ellis also said he hopes to work with Twilley in the future to develop a health-care facility in Sumiton with specialists in a variety of medical fields.

The clinic will be located in the building that was formerly Baptist Specialty Clinic next to David’s Pharmacy on Bryan Road. Its hours will be Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. until midnight and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. until midnight.

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