Founding Doctor Asked to Leave Winters Health Care

Note: My family lives in Winters and I know Dr. Bill Davis's family. 

Dr. Bill Davis made national headlines back in 2000, when he nearly quit working as a physician because of mounting bureaucracy and frustration with HMOs. When the news broke in Winters, the community rallied around him.

The result was the Winters Healthcare Foundation – a nonprofit health-care foundation owned by the community. Articles showed up in publications like the LA Times, People Magazine and Time Magazine – all celebrating Davis as a small-town hero and the characterizing the practice as a model for small town medicine. 

But that was all more than 10 years ago. Last week, Dr. Davis was told to resign or be fired, according to the Winters Express.

Details aren’t yet available and Davis himself is not speaking publicly.

The man who served as the foundation’s first chairman of the board is at a loss for words.

“It’s just a real loss to the community,” said Joe Martinez, who helped secure WEF’s nonprofit status, in the Winters Express. “I don’t know what else to say.”

Executive Director of WHF, Chris Kelsch, told the Express he would not discuss the details, calling it a human resources issue. He says they’re currently seeking a new medical director/physician.

To get some background on Dr. Bill Davis’s story and to see how the Winters Healthcare Foundation was formed:

• Time: The Single-Doctor HMO
• People: The Best Medicine
• AP: Small Town Rallies to Keep Doctor
• LA Times: Town Defies HMO, Rallies Around Doctor