FAIRBURY - With one doctor dealing with a serious medical diagnosis and another planning to move to a practice closer to home, Fairbury's local hospital must now craft a plan to continue caring for its patients without the services of two primary providers. 

Jefferson Community Health & Life, an acclaimed Critical Access Hospital in Fairbury, announced this month that Dr. Brett Wergin will be departing the hospital later this summer. Wergin plans to move on to a clinic in Lincoln after seven years working in Fairbury.

“This has been an incredibly difficult decision, because I care so deeply for my patients and have truly valued by time at Jefferson Community Health & Life,” Dr. Wergin said in a June 11 JCH&L press release. “But my personal family circumstances require my time and attention and they need me to be more present. This new position in Lincoln will allow me to continue to practice medicine while also being there for the people who rely on me most at home.”

“We wish him all the best in his continued practice of medicine, and can appreciate his need to be close to family,” JCH&L CEO Holly Wolff said in the release. “His patients and coworkers will miss him very much. We are grateful for his commitment to patient care and his ongoing support during this time.”

The news of Wergin's departure coincides with a recent serious medical diagnosis delivered to Dr. Craig Shumard. Shumard has been with the Fairbury practice since 1989 but has been forced into medical leave. While that development was obviously unexpected, the hospital says Wergin's impending departure has been in the works for a while: the hospital has already been recruiting for an additional physician, and now plans to ramp up those recruiting efforts even further, Wolff said in the release. 

In the meantime, Jefferson Community Health & Life still employs six other medical professionals that are actively seeing patients in the Fairbury clinic, with seven other medical professionals employed to assist in the emergency room. 

NCN will have more on this story later this week. JCH&L says anyone with questions and concerns can call 402-729-3351.