Find Out Why Prattville Doctors and Nurses Love It Here

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Prattville Baptist Hospital has been part of the region since its inception in 1952. Focused on providing high-quality patient care, the facility hires individuals from in and outside the region, creating a top-notch staff that is ready to take on any challenge. On the flip side, this region is a place that Prattville doctors and nurses want to call home.

Not only are they met with great jobs in their field, but the area is home to welcoming, friendly residents, outdoor recreation options, plenty of entertainment and a growing arts scene. 

To learn more about some of the Prattville doctors and nurses who call this region home and what they love about living in the area, hear from Halley Pullen, an Autauga County local, and Dr. Kuntal Desai, a native of Toronto. 

Baptist Health

Dr. Kuntal Desai, Hospitalist 

As a native of Toronto, Dr. Kuntal Desai had never stepped foot in Alabama before arriving in 2018 to start his medical residency at Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma. But when the opportunity arose three years later for him to become a hospitalist at Prattville Baptist, Desai decided to stick around for a while. 

“I came to Alabama knowing no one, but now, I’m getting to know more and more people in Prattville,” Desai says. “The Southern hospitality has been amazing. I don’t feel like an outsider or anything like that.” 

As a hospitalist, Desai serves as the primary point of contact for patients from the time they are admitted to Prattville Baptist until they are discharged. Along the way, Desai works with numerous nurses, medical specialists and administrative personnel, giving him good insights into various aspects of health care in Prattville. 

“Prattville Baptist has a great working environment. I love it,” Desai says. “The nursing staff is spectacular, the administration is very helpful and the physicians are great team players. Everyone gets along really well. It’s a rewarding place to work.” 

Desai says the people of Prattville are making him and his wife feel right at home. “It’s a pleasure taking care of this community, and the community is very thankful for us being here,” Desai says. 

Baptist Health

Haley Pullen, Emergency Department Nurse 

Since she was a child, Haley Pullen has felt strongly about two things. She wanted to work as a nurse, and she never wanted to live anywhere other than the Prattville area. 

As an emergency department nurse at Prattville Baptist, Pullen is achieving both goals. She still lives on her family’s farm in nearby Pine Level (in a newly built house with her husband) and makes the easy 10-mile commute to the hospital where, she says, “I get to help people in need.” 

And several of those people are not strangers. Pullen says she treats someone she knows nearly every day while working in the emergency department. In fact, she says it is not uncommon for patients to ask for her specifically, simply because they have known her for years. “It’s amazing how it can put a patient or a family member’s mind at ease just knowing that a familiar face is helping them,” Pullen says. 

But even for the unfamiliar faces, Pullen is there to offer both medical care and emotional comfort. She admits it can be stressful at times, but it is also extremely rewarding. 

“We see people at their worst and get to hold their hand and try to get them to a better state,” Pullen says. “It’s amazing what you can do and how fast you can help change their situation. That’s the main thing I love about being an ER nurse.” 

And there is no place Pullen would rather perform her job duties than alongside the wonderful Prattville doctors and nurses.

“It just has that small-town feeling where people are friendly and always willing to lend a hand,” she says. “It’s the same way at the hospital. You walk down the hall and people stop and speak with you. It’s like one big family.”