Walk into the Dorminy Medical Center primary care clinic, and you'll immediately sense something different from the typical corporate medical office. This is a place where the staff genuinely likes each other, where birthdays are celebrated together, where coworkers go out on weekends, and where people help each other without being asked. As Katherine, the Outpatient Director, describes it: “The atmosphere is more of a family.” It’s not just marketing speak—it’s evident in how the team operates. When someone is struggling with a difficult task, others step in to help before being asked. When life challenges arise—a sick child, a personal crisis—the team rallies around each other with genuine care and support. This is the kind of work environment where you'll want to come to work each day, where you'll develop friendships that extend beyond the clinic walls, and where you'll feel supported both professionally and personally.
Dr. Curtis, MD – A Fitzgerald native who returned home after residency seven years ago, Dr. Curtis initially didn’t plan to practice in her hometown but fell in love with the community during her interview visit. She’s organized, systems-oriented (she jokes about her labeled pantry boxes), and deeply committed to providing excellent patient care. She sees 20–22 patients daily and maintains a panel of loyal patients who specifically request her. Dr. Curtis is also involved in optional hospital shifts as a hospitalist, which she describes as “not fun while you’re doing it” but valuable for learning, income, and building her outpatient practice. She’s a working mother of three young daughters who attend virtual school, balancing professional excellence with family commitments. Her practice philosophy emphasizes structure and efficiency—scheduling follow-up appointments before patients leave, bringing diabetics in every three months for proper disease management, and utilizing her admin day effectively. She’s collaborative, supportive of new providers, and genuinely excited about having a partner to help shoulder the practice load. You’ll find her approachable, knowledgeable about the community (having grown up here), and invested in helping you succeed.
Chelsea Walker, NP – Chelsea is a newer nurse practitioner who transitioned from emergency department work to primary care. She’s still in her growth phase, gradually ramping up her patient volume with Dr. Curtis’s supervision and mentorship. Chelsea sees patients independently but consults with the physicians when encountering complex situations or managing patients historically followed by the physicians. She’s eager to learn, receptive to feedback, and fitting well into the practice culture. Chelsea works closely with Dr. Curtis, who provides supervision and support as she builds confidence in the outpatient setting.
The practice employs three experienced Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) who form the clinical backbone of daily operations. These are not newly graduated nurses learning as they go—they’re seasoned professionals who know the patient population intimately, understand workflows efficiently, and provide stability through transitions. They handle patient rooming, vital signs, medication reconciliation, triage calls, prescription refill coordination, and care management tasks. Importantly, they’re cross-trained and flexible, able to support different providers as needed. When Dr. Ludwick’s nurse needs coverage, the other nurses can step in without missing a beat because they all work within the same electronic system and understand the practice standards. Your dedicated nurse will become your right hand—learning your preferences, anticipating your needs, and ensuring your days run smoothly.
Renee (Clinic Manager) – If you’ve ever worked in a chaotic, disorganized clinic, you’ll immediately appreciate Renee. She runs the clinic operations with efficiency, warmth, and genuine care for both staff and patients. Renee organizes monthly team-building activities, celebrates successes, maintains morale, and ensures everyone feels valued. She describes the team as “all here for the same thing—making sure patients are seen and taken care of.” When there are differences of opinion (and in any workplace there will be), Renee facilitates working through them constructively. She’s also deeply connected to the community—she knows patients personally, sees them at Walmart, and maintains that small-town personal touch that makes the practice feel welcoming. Renee is supported by front desk staff who have recently stabilized after some turnover during the practice’s transitions over the past year.
Katherine (Outpatient Director) – Katherine oversees all outpatient clinic operations for Dorminy Medical Center. She came from Tampa, Florida, about three and a half years ago and brings a perspective from larger, busier healthcare systems. Katherine handles provider onboarding, training, scheduling, and operational problem-solving. She’s thoughtful about new provider ramp-up, ensuring physicians shadow experienced colleagues, learn the EMR thoroughly, and gradually increase their patient loads rather than being thrown into full schedules immediately. Katherine is flexible, open to creative solutions, and genuinely wants to accommodate provider preferences when possible. She describes Fitzgerald as a place where you learn to “slow down and really enjoy life itself in general.”
Beyond your immediate clinic team, you’ll be part of the larger Dorminy Medical Center employed physician group, which includes approximately four primary care physicians across three clinic locations and a general surgeon. Dr. Mann serves as the Medical Director, providing oversight and support for employed physicians. The hospitalist pool includes both full-time hospitalists and primary care physicians who pick up optional shifts. While each clinic maintains its own identity, there’s collegiality across the system—physicians consult each other, provide coverage when needed, and support each other professionally.
Dr. Ludwick has practiced in Fitzgerald since the early 1990s—more than 30 years in the same community. He raised his family here, his children are now raising their families here, and he built his practice into the busiest in the Phoebe system during their management years. Dr. Curtis has been with Dorminy for seven years and has no plans to leave. This isn’t a revolving-door practice where physicians burn out and leave after two years. It’s a place where doctors build careers, raise families, and become integral parts of the community fabric.
The recent year brought significant transitions—contract renegotiations, the departure of two mid-level providers who worked with Dr. Ludwick, and the consolidation of multiple clinics into one location. The team navigated these changes successfully but is ready for stability. They need a physician who is flexible, easy to work with, and drama-free. As Dr. Curtis emphasized, collegiality and low-conflict collaboration are essential. The practice is “very estrogenated” (their term!), and they’d appreciate a male physician if possible, both for team balance and because some male patients prefer discussing certain health issues with a male provider. Most importantly, they need someone who will embrace electronic documentation (unlike Dr. Ludwick’s paper-based approach), communicate well with the team, and respect the structures and workflows that help the practice run efficiently.
You’ll be joining a team that genuinely enjoys working together, supports each other through challenges, and finds joy in providing excellent care to a community that deeply appreciates them. This is the kind of workplace where you’ll make friends, not just colleagues—where your birthday will be celebrated, your children’s milestones will be remembered, and your contributions will be genuinely valued.