It was a two-year plan back in 1954.
The late Dr. Albert Maury Phillips had come to Moorhead after being educated at Millsaps and getting his medical training at Tulane University.
He thought two-years in Moorhead to fulfill part of his state supported medical scholarship requirements and then back into a surgical position.
But the Mississippi Delta and Moorhead got into the good doctor’s life and didn’t let go. Several generations of Delta residents were blessed by his decision to come and then to stay in Moorhead. He first took over the old Dr. Marshall Lynch Clinic before building his own clinic in 1964.
After decades of practice, Dr. Phillips retired and he eventually donated his clinic and its equipment to MDCC. Today, the spirit of the Phillips Clinic has been revived and the medical care and attention that the area has been lacking will now be fulfilled in his honor through the Phillips Health Center located in the former library building owned by the city of Moorhead adjacent to the former clinic. The center has been up and running and there will be an official Grand Opening some time in April.
Moorhead Mayor George Holland was happy to help bring back medical care to where the Southern Crosses the Yellow Dog.
“We came up with an idea to use the old Phillips building but it was in such bad shape we moved into the building next to that. We started applying for grant money for Small Municipality and the Delta Regional Authority and rehabbed the 100-year-old building,” Mayor Holland said. “It was in real good condition and now it’s even better since they rehabbed it.”
The clinic is “good for Moorhead” Mayor Holland noted and explained the clinic has a rich history.
“Governor Phil Bryant was born there under his hands you could say,” Mayor Holland said.
Bryant may be the most famous person Dr. Phillips helped introduce to the world but a 1980 ET article by Joe Wilson explained that the country doctor’s clinic was a busy spot for expectant mothers. Three days into his tenure on the fourth of July, five women gave birth in his office.
“That included a set of twins,” the late Mrs. Phillips said in the article.
In 1980, the town of Moorhead honored Phillips for his work. Then mayor Steve Oswalt declared a full week of “Dr. A.M. Phillips Appreciation Week” beginning on July 6 that year. Phillips ran the clinic for nearly four decades before retiring and taking on positions at South Sunflower County Hospital and Parchman Penitentiary. In looking back over his colorful career in Moorhead,
Dr. Phillips estimated he delivered more than 3,000 babies and had nearly 700,000 patient visits there. Not all were of the human variety though.
He once was convinced to x-ray a bulldog’s head and he even stitched up a prized horse. He initially balked at treating them but soon gave in.
“The man said he was going to show the horse and a scar would ruin the animal, so we took him behind the clinic and while they held his head up in the trailer, I sewed it up,” Dr. Phillips said. “I never saw the horse again but I must have done a good job because the horse won a lot of prizes later.”
Early office visits were three dollars and five if a patient got shots. A baby delivery was $50 and “included everything and a six weeks checkup.
“I remember I made $500 the first month and $1,000 the second month and I thought I was rich,” Dr. Phillips said in a 1990 ET article.
The country doctor drew patients from Blaine to Belzoni to Indianola to Itta Bena and every town in between. He passed away at the age of 70 in March of 1997 but he left a mark on the community and the Delta that remains today with the opening of the Phillips Health Center.
