Virginia City to get first new doctor in years

Virginia City will soon have something it hasn't had in nearly 30 years - a practicing physician.

Dr. Quinn Pauly of South Reno will be opening a second practice at 465 South C St., in a portion of the Comstock Community Church.

His first day at work at the Comstock will be June 12. The 42-year-old family physician has had a practice in South Reno on Wedge Parkway for the past six years.

He said he wants to come up the hill because there is a need.

"I have been thinking about it for awhile, and it isn't that far from my office here (in Reno)," he said. "I think it could be a real benefit for the community and a business opportunity for me."

According to Joe Curtis, longtime resident and Storey County emergency management director, the last doctor to practice in Virginia City was Thomas Hines, who left in the late 1970s, and is now retired and living in Carson City.

At that time, the full-service medical clinic was in a small building next to the fire station on North C Street, which the Storey County Fire Department now uses for training.

"That was a medical clinic from the 1920s, and when we converted it to the training building, we had to take an X-ray machine out of it," Curtis said.

Hines could not be reached for comment, but he drew kind words from Curtis.

"He was a great local family doctor and was real helpful," he said. "He was the only doctor in the community. He would see anyone and would help you. He was a super-family and super-community person."

Pauly, 42, will begin filling those shoes on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and will hold an open house on June 13, though residents can start calling now for appointments if they like.

Pauly, who worked for a few years in the San Pedro Islands in Washington state, is a native of Reno, attended Wooster High and went to medical school at the University of Nevada, Reno.

As things get busier, he plans to extend his hours and possibly hire a physician's assistant to care for patients when he is in his Reno office.

Pauly plans to accept patients with insurance or Medicare coverage, but will not accept patients on Medicaid. He will accept uninsured patients on a cash basis.

"Medicaid is a real tough one in terms of reimbursement and so forth," he said. "For a typical private practice, family doctor like myself, it doesn't make sense financially to do it."

He said he suspects the bulk of his patients will have chronic health issues, such has hypertension or diabetes, "people who don't need to be seen on a daily basis, but need chronic disease management," he said.

If and when he hires a physician's assistant to keep the office open, he would like to work with others to provide care for students, seniors and jail inmates in Storey County.

"If I'm only there one day a week, obviously that doesn't make much sense," he said. "But once it's up and running and we have a physician's assistant five days a week, we'll be able to accommodate acute injuries and illnesses."

Pauly said he has spoke to Sheriff Jim Miller about helping out with jail inmates' health-care needs, and would like to have some kind of collaboration with the public health nurse that works out of the Community Chest.

Pauly lives in South Reno with wife, Anne, and their four children, Ryan, 12, Kyle, 10, Sean, 6, and Farryn, 4. He said his kids enjoy Virginia City.

"They've been coming up with me quite a bit just getting the practice set up," he said. "They call it the Wild West. 'Can we go to the Wild West?'"

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.

If you go

WHAT: Open House at Dr. Quinn Pauly's new practice

WHEN: 3-7 p.m. June 13

WHERE: Pauly's office in the

Comstock Community Church,

465 South C St., Virginia City.

CALL: 847-7111