2/4/10
CMH gains new Palmetto Primary Care provider
By Cathy Gilbert

CATHY GILBERT/Manning Times

Dr. Rebecca McNair, seated, has joined the team at Palmetto Primary Care. As a family medicine doctor, she joins Dr. Clarence Coker and Family Nurse Practitioner Suzanne Johnson.

Just because politicians are wrangling over healthcare reform, it doesn’t mean that the need for physicians or an on-going heathcare crisis has gone away. In fact, the need for physicians in rural areas like Clarendon County and most of South Carolina is greater than ever.

A 2002 report by the American Academy of Family Physicians described the situation for healthcare in rural areas:

“Despite a reported surplus of physicians in the United States, the country’s rural areas have been medically underserved for decades. While about 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, rural physicians comprise only about 10 percent of the total number of working physicians in the country. In rural communities of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, there are about 90 physicians per 100,000 persons. In major metropolitan areas, the ratio is about 300 physicians to every 100,000 persons.”

To help meet that shortage, Clarendon County has gained a new provider, Dr. Rebecca McNair, who has joined Dr. Clarendon “Butch” Coker and Family Nurse Practitioner Suzanne Johnson at Palmetto Primary Care in Manning.

A native of Florence, Dr. McNair, 33, is a graduate of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

Following a three-year residency in family medicine in Columbia, she worked for two years in Darlington and two-and-a half years in Myrtle Beach.

“I wanted to be closer to home so Clarendon County was a big draw for me,” said Dr. McNair, also known as “BJ.”

She said she chose family medicine because it allowed her to care for patients of all ages.

“I have a special interest in pediatrics as well as gynecology, and family medicine lets me practice in both those areas,” she added.

“I am interested in educating my patients,” she said. “I want to hear that my patients are in control of their condition rather than their condition is in control of them.”

Married to Will McNair, a computer technician, the couple is making their home in Manning.

In her spare time, McNair enjoys swimming, writing historical fiction and travelling regionally.

McNair and Palmetto Primary Care join several other family medicine offices affiliated with Clarendon Memorial Hospital, including Manning Medicine, East Clarendon Medical Center in Turbeville and the Dr. J. Daulton DuBose Medical Center in Summerton.

“Dr. McNair already has ties to our community because many of her family members and friends live in this area. We are pleased to welcome her to the Clarendon Health System family of physicians,” said Ed Frye, chief executive officer of Clarendon Health System. “I know Dr. McNair will be a wonderful addition to Palmetto Primary Care.”

Dr. McNair has begun seeing patients and is accepting new patients now. Contact her at 435-8828.