The Medical Center Welcomes New Doctor

By Damon Stone,
Staff Writer

The Medical Center at Scottsville recently welcomed Dr. Pravin Avula to their team, where he will serve in the Rural Health Clinic at the hospital.

Avula serves as one of the physicians on staff at the center, practicing internal and sleep medicine, as well as taking care of patients at the hospital.

“I’ve been in this part of south-central Kentucky for 30 plus years,” Avula explained. “I actually came here in 1994, and then have practiced in Edmonson County and Brownsville for a few years, and then I came down to practice in Smiths Grove for over 20 years.”

Avula explained that a part of his practice was that he did the traditional medicine practice, in which he saw patients in his office, and followed them at the hospital.

“Along the line, I trained in sleep medicine, and I had been practicing sleep medicine at The Medical Center, as well as Graves Gilbert Clinic, up until I left Graves Gilbert Clinic at the end of last year,” Avula explained.

Hailing from Madras, a city in India, Avula has a wife and two grown children who have been attending college.

“The Medical Center offered me a position here in Scottsville, and I came over, and met the folks here,” Avula said. “I was trying to make a change because of contractual reasons with Graves Gilbert, as they did not want me to continue to practice because of a non-complete class, so I had to leave the community that I was practicing for 20 years, and so far, everything looks great. I love it.”

Avula added that physicians at Graves Gilbert are bound by a covenant not to compete with the clinic in Warren County, which required him to practice outside of the county.

Avula explained that his family physician back when he was growing up was a jack-of-all-trades in his little clinic, while being able to take care of people either in the office or remotely.

“I thought it was a holistic care that really made me interested in medicine, but you are actually helping people, and taking care of folks who need you,” Avula said.

Avula originally attended medical school in Madras, before he did some research in New Orleans, where he was brought back into clinical medicine, before training in Brooklyn in New York City in 1994 during the AIDS epidemic, before starting his practice at Wilkes Clinic in 1995.

“It was (intense), and it almost kind of prepared you for COVID,” Avula explained. “So, when COVID came, it wasn’t a shock to the system like it was for other physicians.”

Avula expressed that he always has preferred to work in smaller towns, like Smiths Grove and Brownsville, and now Scottsville, because of being able to connect with the local community.

“There’s simple, good people, and they’re honest, and trying to make a living every day,” Avula said. “I’ve always enjoyed taking care of those people who are from small communities. I’ve had opportunities over the years to travel and go outside of here, but something always keeps me here, and Scottsville checked all the boxes.”

Avula expressed that everyone he has met has been extremely nice and pleasant, and that there is a need in the city.

“The Medical Center asked me to take a look at Scottsville as a possible practice location,” Avula explained. “(The) CEO of The Medical Center started in Scottsville, and she impressed on me what a nice place it was.”

Avula added that he likes the people he met at the center, and he felt like he was plugged into a good team, and that this would hopefully be his final practice location.

“(Patients) need to realize that their health is very important to me, and by their interaction with me in the clinic, I hope to be able to make them confident that the care that they’re receiving is what they really need, and I want them to be heard, because I think that’s very important in this day and age,” Avula expressed. “I want people to know that I’m listening to their concerns and complaints, and I will try my best to address it with everything at my disposal.”

Avula added that Scottsville, as a local hospital, has most of the diagnostic tools that he needs within the building, making him more effective in what he does.