Country Doctor: The Story of Dr. Claire Louise Caudill

Claire Louise Caudill is one of those rare people who have become legends in their own time. She delivered more than 8,000 babies over the years, in and around her hometown of Morehead, Kentucky. In 1995 she was named Country Doctor of the Year, and she has been interviewed by CBS and featured in USA Today. Dr. Caudill stopped delivering babies when she turned seventy, but today, at the age of 86, she remains in practice- her patients won’t let her retire! Her friend Susie Halbleib has served as nurse in Caudill’s clinic since it opened in 1946. Caudill was instrumental in establishing a hospital in Morehead and for more than fifty years has worked to improve health care for the people of the Kentucky hill country. The first part of Country Doctor tells Caudill’s story through interviews with Dr. Caudill, Nurse Halblieb, and the people who know them best. The second reproduces a one-woman, two-act play entitled Me ‘n Susie, inspired by Dr. Caudill’s warmth and humor. Together, the play and interviews provide a vivid picture of life in the hills of Eastern Kentucky and a remarkable portrait of two great women in medicine.