Staff writer
Physician Carl Turner of McPherson Hospital, a family medical doctor with training in obstetrics, will be at St. Luke Medical Clinic in Marion the first Friday of each month to provide prenatal care. His first day will be Friday.
Turner is in his fifth year caring for pregnant women and delivering babies.
Several local women responded favorably to the news.
“It would be fabulous to have an obstetrician in town,” Jenny Craft of Marion said. “It would save me a trip.”
She is eight months pregnant with her first child.
The last 2½ months, her appointments have been more often than once a month. She has been going every two weeks to her doctor in Newton. This last month she is going every week.
Her sister, Catie Zurcher, has three children. She thinks having an obstetrician in town would make it easier to remember to get regular checkups.
“You forget about regular exams if they aren’t available here,” she said.
Turner is taking appointments at (620) 241-7400 and will provide prenatal care up to 36 weeks. Appointments will include lab work and ultra sound.
Women will have appointments at McPherson the last four weeks and will deliver there.
After one initial after-birth appointment with Turner at Marion, women can continue with their regular doctors, Turner said.
Turner provides vaginal deliveries and cesarean sections, and supports women who desire future vaginal births after having c-sections.
The service won’t work for everyone. Brook Witty of Marion is 39 and has a 1-year-old baby. She has Type II diabetes, so she had many doctor appointments before her baby was born. She needed a specialist to provide critical care.
Turner completed his training at Wesley Medical Center. He is certified as a Doctor of Osteopathy and provides a variety of services at McPherson Hospital.
He is married and has four children.