A Peek into Summers County’s Past: Doctor Camara

HINTON W.Va. (Hinton News) - Another notable doctor of the old Hinton Hospital is Doctor Prudenecio Beduya Camara, “ Pru, ” as most people in the Hinton area called him. He was from Manila, Philippines, and became one of the staff of the Hinton Hospital on June 28, 1963.

Doctor Camara was a member of the Abdominal Surgeons Society. He had been the Chief of Surgery at Summers County Hospital. He was the first Chief of Staff at the Summers County Hospital when the old Hinton Hospital reopened in its new location as the Summers County Hospital, which is now Summers County ARH Hospital.

The photo you see is of Pru shaking hands with Doctor W.L. Van Sant recognizing him becoming the latest addition to the hospital staff. J.G. Fitzsimmons and Elizabeth Coffman, Superintendent of Nurses, stand with them on the front step of the hospital.

Pru and his wife Jean raised their children, Mecot, Teresa and Elisa, in Hinton. Mecot was killed while in the service in the terrorist attack on the Marine Corps barracks in Bierut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983. Terresa passed away in Florida in 2018. Elisa now splits her time at her house in Talcott, West Virginia and in Florida.

Elisa is a Summers County author, having published American Brother and a children's book series called Patriot Pup. Her writings are inspired by and in honor of her brother, Mecot. Her father, Pru, had passed away on May 7, 1982, at 59 years old. One of his nurses at his practice was his sister Gemma Leftwich, whom you now know from Hinton Hardware.

I had been friends with Gemma’s son James since college and instantly started to be treated like one of the family. I then met and became friends with Elisa while my mother and I were helping her with her American Brother book signing at Otter and Oak in Hinton in 2013.

Growing up in Summers County and being interested in the history of the area , I had always heard about how pleasant, kind, generous and caring doctor, Camara was. After becoming friends with Elisa, his name started coming up in more conversations. I have never heard one ill word spoken about him , everyone only has the very best to tell about him.

Pru was my great-grandmother Gladys Thompson’s doctor. My mother remembers riding to Hinton from Talcott to go with her to see Doctor Camara. Even though she was so young at the time , she can vividly remember him being one of the kindest and most caring doctors she had ever met.

While doing research for this piece, my cousin Lota Skaggs was telling me her best “ Doctor Camara story, ” as I now call it. Pru was her children's doctor when they were little. Her daughter Tammy Mounts and son John Skaggs had their tonsils removed by him around 1971.

She recalls Tammy, who was six years old at the time, being upset about her brother having surgery first and her going to have to go through it as well. You see, Pru removed both of their tonsils on the same day.

He took John back first; Tammy had been upset and crying before John left. He came out to get Tammy and commented about her being so upset. He took her back to perform the surgery, and when he was finished , he wouldn't let her be brought out on a gurney to her room where her mother Lota was.

He carried her upstairs to her room, tucked her in bed himself and sat with her to keep her and John calm until they went to sleep. This is just one story of his caring nature , there are countless others. It is only fitting that the “ Operating Suit ” at the new hospital, what is now named Summers County ARH Hospital, is named , “ The P.B. Camara, M.D. Operating Suit .”

It further says under the title of the room : “ In appreciation to the first chief of surgery for his dedication and devotion to this hospital and community. ” The description of the photo of Pru shaking hands on the steps of Hinton Hospital says, “ They will be part of The Hinton Story, a documentary film that is being produced by the U.S. Department of Labor and the ARA .”

Until writing this piece, I wasn't aware that this documentary existed. After Googling it, one of the first descriptions that popped up was from the archives at WVU that read, “ The Hinton Story - The 1964 Feature Motion picture footage of a documentary on Hinton, West Virginia. Created in 1963 by the Area Redevelopment Agency of the U.S. Government, it aimed to promote economic development in Hinton after the fading of the steam railroads ."

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