HBO Original Documentary “Country Doctor” Debuts October 28 [VIDEO]

The HBO Original documentary short COUNTRY DOCTOR, directed by Emmy®-winning filmmakers Shari Cookson and Nick Doob (HBO’s “Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life & Times of Katrina Gilbert“), debuts Tuesday, October 28 (7:00-7:38PM ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Since 2010, over 140 hospitals in rural America have closed, leaving just one doctor for every 2,500 people. Filmed over three years in intimate cinéma vérité style, COUNTRY DOCTOR follows Dr. James Graham in Fairfax, Oklahoma (population 1,263), who has spent over 40 years dispatching medicine, comfort, and wisdom to his patients. As Fairfax Community Hospital files for bankruptcy, Dr. Graham and his team fight to provide adequate healthcare for their community. Amid staff shortages and uncertainty for the future, a new buyer for the hospital provides a cautious beacon of hope.

With a severe lack of medical facilities in rural communities, Dr. Graham takes on multiple roles, dividing his time between Fairfax Hospital, a nursing home, and three clinics, one of which is 60 miles away and serves four counties. In addition, he makes house calls, treating an often poor and uninsured population. Having known some of his patients for their whole lives, he provides an essential, human lifeline to care, even traveling to the Oklahoma State Capitol to lobby for more governmental assistance. The film also features the publisher and editor of the local Fairfax newspaper, who investigates the motives of the hospital’s new owner.

Fairfax is a microcosm of a larger national crisis: vulnerable, rural hospitals are under-resourced, at risk of closure, and facing a severe shortage of doctors. COUNTRY DOCTOR captures that crisis with clear-eyed compassion, and positions Dr. Graham’s story as a powerful lens through which to understand both the fragility and the fierce resilience of rural healthcare.

Featured Participants: Dr. James Graham, Darlene Graham, the staff of Fairfax Community Hospital, Joe and Carol Conner, publisher and editor The Fairfax Chief, and Dr. Elizabeth Pusey, MD.

Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents COUNTRY DOCTOR, a Mackerel Sky Films production. Directed and produced by Shari Cookson, Nick Doob; co-producer, Charlton McMillan. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Tina Nguyen.