Business Spotlight: Martin Medical Center is a County Staple

Shannon Taylor, Associate Editor

Martin Medical Center (MMC) has been a staple for wellness care in Martin for 57 years and

wants to continue to be the communities number one place to go for all their medical needs. Dr.

O.K. Smith, Jr and Dr. Enos Thurmond founded the clinic in May of 1966 and, according to their

website the founders saw a need and their mission was “to improve health care and the treatment

of illness in this community.”

In 2018 MMC became certified as a Rural Health Clinic which Hazlewood said is a way for

them to work with Medicare to take better care of the population in rural areas. According to

their brochure, “Rural health clinics are located in a rural, medically underserved area that

furnishes services with one or more physicians, physician assistants, and/or nurse practitioners

who are engaged in providing primary medical care and outpatient health services.”

MMC provides services for primary care—acute and chronic—phlebotomy services, extremity

and chest x-rays, EKG testing, minor laceration repairs, minor surgical procedures, pre-

employment physicals, DOT examinations, drug screens, hospital care, nursing home care,

wellness checkups and much more.

Administrator of MMC, Tammy Hazlewood, has been with the center for 34 years now and said

that she loves what she does. Hazlewood said most of the employees are long-term employees

and have been at the facility for numerous years so there’s always a familiar face when people

come in. “I started out as the cashier and my eagerness to learn landed me in the Administrator’s

position,” Hazlewood said.

“Primary care is the nucleus of healthcare for people. That’s where you start and your Primary

Care provider works with you to incorporate the other providers that help manage your

healthcare,” Hazlewood said.

Physicians at MMC include Dr. James W. Shore and Dr. Susan Lowry and non-physician

providers include Keely Vaughan PA-C and Angie Cursey FNP. Hazlewood said that MMC is

always looking to expand with more providers.

MMC participates in most insurance plans. They are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through

Friday. They can be found at www.martinmedicalctr.com or on Facebook.