William Powers, M.D., FACP
Troutdale Medical Center
67 High Country Lane
Troutdale, Virginia 24378

Phone: (276) 677-4187
Fax: (276) 677-4082

William Powers, M.D. is a board-certified internist who works as a solo practitioner four days a week at the Troutdale Medical Center and one day a week at Saltville Medical Center.

Powers was born on February 3, 1946 in Montclair, New Jersey. He received an MD degree in 1976 from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. In 1979, he completed a three-year residency in internal medicine at Tucson Hospitals Medical Education Program in Tucson, Arizona. From 1979 to 1981, Dr. Powers provided physician services at Kino Community Hospital, the Pima County jail, and the urgent care center of Group Health Medical Associates, all in Tucson. Dr. Powers practiced with Samuel D. Vernon, M. D. of Marion, Virginia (now Royal Oak Medical Associates) between 1981 and 2000. He began practicing in Troutdale and Saltville in May 2000.

Office hours at the Troutdale Medical Center for Dr. Powers are 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday, Thursday, and Friday and 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Office hours at Saltville Medical Center are 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. Dr. Powers sees about 15–25 patients a day, using three exam rooms. There are additional exam rooms available for the exclusive use of residents. Each site has a waived medical laboratory and simple x-ray equipment. Patients are referred to Smyth County Community Hospital, Marion, or Johnston Memorial Hospital, Abingdon, and Twin Counties Community Hospital, Galax for other services. Typical procedures performed in the office include suturing, nail removal, skin biopsy, joint aspiration and injections, and skin lesion/wart removal. Both sites provide urgent care for appropriate problems. He makes occasional house calls and enjoys participating in sports physicals, health education, and community health screenings.

About 45% of Dr. Power’s patients are geriatric adults and another 45% are adults under the age of 65. Children and adolescents comprise the remaining 10% of the patient population. An estimated 60% of Powers’ patients are covered by Medicaid or Medicare; private insurance covers another 30%; and the remaining 10% are uninsured.

Both the Troutdale and Saltville clinics are federally qualified community health centers and offer sliding fee scales. Troutdale has migrant health clinic status as well. Both the Troutdale and Salville practices are equipped with personal computers and T-1 lines for Internet service.

Dr. Powers has Medicine and ICU/CCU privileges at Smyth County Community and admits his own patients. He takes his own call. Residents are welcome to participate in the call schedule as they wish. Dr. Powers maintains nursing home privileges at Francis Marion Manor, a 220-bed nursing home located on hospital grounds.

Dr. Powers enjoys music, plays the guitar and is an outdoors enthusiast. He has a strong interest in primary care and enjoys cardiology. Dr. Powers and his family enjoy living in a rural community and encourage residents to experience the uniqueness and diversity of rural medicine.

Residents who rotate with Dr. Powers may stay in cabins on the lake at nearby Hungry Mother State Park or in some cottages in downtown Marion. There are several housing options available for residents including private rooms with local families, apartments in the community and cottages. Most housing for medical students has been arranged in Troutdale or Sugar Grove. Residents may choose to stay in local hotels – Budget Host, Best Western, or EconoLodge. GMEC can try to locate other furnished houses or apartments for residents, but we cannot guarantee results because short-term rentals are hard to secure in rural areas.

Smyth County Community Hospital is a 176-bed acute care facility with a broad range of services – emergency, inpatient and outpatient care, intensive care, surgery and anesthesia, obstetrics, radiology, imaging, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, laboratory, nutrition, physical therapy, pharmacy, and home health.

The hills and hollows of Smyth County’s landscape are divided into three valleys by the crests of Iron, Walker, and Little Mountains. Branches of the Holston River drain each valley. The town of Marion (pop. 6,630) lies in the middle of the central valley in Smyth County. Saltville (pop. 2,043) lies in the northeastern corner of the county. Troutdale is a secluded rural community on Highway 16 just over the southern border on Smyth County in northwestern Grayson County, Virginia, about 16 miles from Marion. Quiet homesteads, pastured hills, and patches of dense forest characterize the local landscape.

U.S. Interstate 81 bisects Smyth County about 15 minutes south of Saltville and 15 minutes north of Troutdale. Hungry Mother State Park is just outside Marion, with facilities for camping, picnicking, hiking, biking, boating, swimming, fishing, and horseback riding. Troutdale is near Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, which features the highest peak in Virginia.

Major elements of the Smyth County economy are manufacturing, transfer payments (retirement pensions, disability income, and welfare benefits) retail trade, personal services, and tobacco and stock farming. In 1995, the largest employers were Utility Trailer (truck trailers), Dana Corporation (motor vehicle parts), and General Dynamics (radomes and portable military buildings)..

For more information about Smyth and Grayson Counties, see our county/city profiles.