DECADES OF DOCTORS
CASH FAMILY PRACTICE , PRINCETON , KY John David Kolter , MD
The Times Leader of Princeton , Kentucky , covering the upcoming opening of a new office for Cash Family Practice in a 2009 article , stated what generations of Princetonians knew : “ Caldwell County residents have been receiving medical care from a Dr . Cash for 102 years .” Dr . Ralph “ Buddy ” Cash , Jr . opened a new independent family practice office in Princeton in 2010 , after separating from the old Trover Clinic , continuing his family ’ s Caldwell County legacy . Opening a new clinic from the ground up at the time was no small feat , but it harkened back to the decades of small-town primary care provided by three generations of Cash doctors , focused on not just the care of the patient but also of the community .
Dr . Buddy Cash ’ s grandfather , Dr . William Louard Cash , was born in Princeton on Nov . 28 , 1880 . He taught school in Caldwell County to pay for his tuition at the Louisville and Hospital Medical College where he served as the president of his medical school class . Dr . W . L . Cash returned to Princeton to start the legacy of Cash family physicians in 1907 . His son , Ralph Louard Cash , was born in Princeton on June 9 , 1914 , and graduated as valedictorian from Princeton High School in 1932 .
He attended Vanderbilt University both for undergraduate and for medical school studies , graduating in 1940 . He completed his internship at the storied Charity Hospital in New Orleans , Louisiana before serving in the U . S . Army Medical Corps from 1941-1945 . The Drs . Cash practiced alongside one another until Dr . W . L . Cash ’ s death in 1954 . While both generations oversaw openings of different iterations of a county hospital for Caldwell County , their practice provided much of the care delivered to local residents . Dr . Ralph Cash recounted to The Times Leader , “ When I first came back to Princeton , my office was sort of an emergency room .” House calls and in-home deliveries were standard of care .
Dr . Ralph Cash had four children with his wife , Ruby Lee Butler Cash , three of whom would go on to become physicians . Much like his father , he often took his children to work with him , admitting
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