Dr. Charles Glen Swingle

Charles Glen Swingle graduated from Earle High School at 16 and went to Rhodes College, then Southwestern, in Memphis before enlisting in the military.

In the armed forces, he was sent to Clemson for an Army Specialized Training program.He served a stint in the infantry before putting his military career behind him and returning to Rhodes, where he lettered in four sports.

He graduated in 1952 and interned at the Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta before returning to the Arkansas Delta to start of his medical practice.

Swingle said he has collected a host of patients and memories in the five decades since he first opened his office.

His office has been on a parcel of land at 105 Nathan, near the railroad tracks that run through Marked Tree.

At the time he opened his practice, "you did everything," the physician said, from delivering babies to setting fractures.

For 20 years he practiced obstetrics."I've seen a lot of Charleses and Glenns," he said, noting that occasionally a husband and wife would say that they had run out of names and wondered if it would be OK to use his name.

House calls were $3 back then.An "OB check was $1," delivery and the hospital bill was $90, Swingle noted.That's a real contrast to the bill one of his relatives took home with a new baby recently -- a bill close to $5,000, he added.

Now he focuses on family practice.

"Back then," he recalled, "there was only one paved road, and that was the road to Memphis.The rest were gravel or mud."

Speaking of road conditions in the early days of his practice, Swingle remembers one evening when he was called to a patient's home.The rain was really coming down, and he wasn't sure how to get to the house.

Family members of a suspected heart attack victim met him at the intersection of a muddy road and the highway somewhere between Marked Tree and Harrisburg.From there he rode in a wagon that was attached to a tractor to the home where he tended to the patient."When I was done, they took me back to my car."

The physician said he has delivered 2,000 babies and performed hundreds of minor surgeries.

Nearly a decade ago -- in 1994 -- Swingle sold his Marked Tree practice to Crittenden Memorial Hospital, but retained the position as a physician at the clinic.He and the medical staff -- which includes two advanced practice nurses and a licensed practical nurse -- care for the patients that come through the doors Riverside Clinic.

Swingle served as interim medical director for state correctional facilities for both men and women in Newport and later as medical director of the Pulaski County Detention Center.

He also volunteers at the Church Health Center in Heber Springs, just one way he spends his free time since moving to Heber Springs four years ago.

He and an old college buddy put their heads together and pitched the notion of establishing such a facility to the Ministerial Alliance in Heber Springs.

"They jumped on it," he said, and the center has been going strong for two years.

"It's rewarding" he said of his volunteer work.

"God's been good to me," Swingle said, adding the church center work is one way he can give a little back.

The physician has remained physically active.

"I played softball until I was 65, and I scrimmaged with the football team until I was 45."

For many years he also served as the minister for an interdenominational church in Marked Tree.

The ordained minister, with the help of a deaf boy, built a 200-seat church in about 14 months.

"I preached Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesdays," for 10 years, he said.

His love for God bled through into his experiences with Arkansas inmates.He said prisoners told him he was the only person who treated them like humans.The doctor said he told the inmates: "I have to look at myself in the mirror" and that he had enough to answer to God for.

The doctor has four daughters, 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 54 years.

As an ordained minister, Swingle has performed marriage ceremonies for a number of people, including several of his grandchildren.He doesn't know exactly how many, but, "I've married a flock of 'em," he said.

"I don't want to work everyday," he said, looking toward the future."When I started there were no doctors between here and Memphis or here and Jonesboro."

"I enjoy doing what I'm doing," he continued."When I quit enjoying it, I'll quit."

Until then he plans to continue to work a half-day each week at the Marked Tree clinic and volunteer at the Heber Springs center.

Becky Shinabery and Dr. Charles Glen Swingle share a laugh at a reception held for Swingle at the Riverside Clinic in Marked Tree.
...
Charles Glen Swingle graduated from Earle High School at 16 and went to Rhodes College, then Southwestern, in Memphis before enlisting in the military.

In the armed forces, he was sent to Clemson for an Army Specialized Training program.He served a stint in the infantry before putting his military career behind him and returning to Rhodes, where he lettered in four sports.

He graduated in 1952 and interned at the Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta before returning to the Arkansas Delta to start of his medical practice.

Swingle said he has collected a host of patients and memories in the five decades since he first opened his office.

His office has been on a parcel of land at 105 Nathan, near the railroad tracks that run through Marked Tree.

At the time he opened his practice, "you did everything," the physician said, from delivering babies to setting fractures.

For 20 years he practiced obstetrics."I've seen a lot of Charleses and Glenns," he said, noting that occasionally a husband and wife would say that they had run out of names and wondered if it would be OK to use his name.

House calls were $3 back then.An "OB check was $1," delivery and the hospital bill was $90, Swingle noted.That's a real contrast to the bill one of his relatives took home with a new baby recently -- a bill close to $5,000, he added.

Now he focuses on family practice.

"Back then," he recalled, "there was only one paved road, and that was the road to Memphis.The rest were gravel or mud."

Speaking of road conditions in the early days of his practice, Swingle remembers one evening when he was called to a patient's home.The rain was really coming down, and he wasn't sure how to get to the house.

Family members of a suspected heart attack victim met him at the intersection of a muddy road and the highway somewhere between Marked Tree and Harrisburg.From there he rode in a wagon that was attached to a tractor to the home where he tended to the patient."When I was done, they took me back to my car."

The physician said he has delivered 2,000 babies and performed hundreds of minor surgeries.

Nearly a decade ago -- in 1994 -- Swingle sold his Marked Tree practice to Crittenden Memorial Hospital, but retained the position as a physician at the clinic.He and the medical staff -- which includes two advanced practice nurses and a licensed practical nurse -- care for the patients that come through the doors Riverside Clinic.

Swingle served as interim medical director for state correctional facilities for both men and women in Newport and later as medical director of the Pulaski County Detention Center.

He also volunteers at the Church Health Center in Heber Springs, just one way he spends his free time since moving to Heber Springs four years ago.

He and an old college buddy put their heads together and pitched the notion of establishing such a facility to the Ministerial Alliance in Heber Springs.

"They jumped on it," he said, and the center has been going strong for two years.

"It's rewarding" he said of his volunteer work.

"God's been good to me," Swingle said, adding the church center work is one way he can give a little back.

The physician has remained physically active.

"I played softball until I was 65, and I scrimmaged with the football team until I was 45."

For many years he also served as the minister for an interdenominational church in Marked Tree.

The ordained minister, with the help of a deaf boy, built a 200-seat church in about 14 months.

"I preached Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesdays," for 10 years, he said.

His love for God bled through into his experiences with Arkansas inmates.He said prisoners told him he was the only person who treated them like humans.The doctor said he told the inmates: "I have to look at myself in the mirror" and that he had enough to answer to God for.

The doctor has four daughters, 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 54 years.

As an ordained minister, Swingle has performed marriage ceremonies for a number of people, including several of his grandchildren.He doesn't know exactly how many, but, "I've married a flock of 'em," he said.

"I don't want to work everyday," he said, looking toward the future."When I started there were no doctors between here and Memphis or here and Jonesboro."

"I enjoy doing what I'm doing," he continued."When I quit enjoying it, I'll quit."

Until then he plans to continue to work a half-day each week at the Marked Tree clinic and volunteer at the Heber Springs center.

Charles Glen Swingle graduated from Earle High School at 16 and went to Rhodes College, then Southwestern, in Memphis before enlisting in the military.

In the armed forces, he was sent to Clemson for an Army Specialized Training program.He served a stint in the infantry before putting his military career behind him and returning to Rhodes, where he lettered in four sports.

He graduated in 1952 and interned at the Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta before returning to the Arkansas Delta to start of his medical practice.

Swingle said he has collected a host of patients and memories in the five decades since he first opened his office.

His office has been on a parcel of land at 105 Nathan, near the railroad tracks that run through Marked Tree.

At the time he opened his practice, "you did everything," the physician said, from delivering babies to setting fractures.

For 20 years he practiced obstetrics."I've seen a lot of Charleses and Glenns," he said, noting that occasionally a husband and wife would say that they had run out of names and wondered if it would be OK to use his name.

House calls were $3 back then.An "OB check was $1," delivery and the hospital bill was $90, Swingle noted.That's a real contrast to the bill one of his relatives took home with a new baby recently -- a bill close to $5,000, he added.

Now he focuses on family practice.

"Back then," he recalled, "there was only one paved road, and that was the road to Memphis.The rest were gravel or mud."

Speaking of road conditions in the early days of his practice, Swingle remembers one evening when he was called to a patient's home.The rain was really coming down, and he wasn't sure how to get to the house.

Family members of a suspected heart attack victim met him at the intersection of a muddy road and the highway somewhere between Marked Tree and Harrisburg.From there he rode in a wagon that was attached to a tractor to the home where he tended to the patient."When I was done, they took me back to my car."

The physician said he has delivered 2,000 babies and performed hundreds of minor surgeries.

Nearly a decade ago -- in 1994 -- Swingle sold his Marked Tree practice to Crittenden Memorial Hospital, but retained the position as a physician at the clinic.He and the medical staff -- which includes two advanced practice nurses and a licensed practical nurse -- care for the patients that come through the doors Riverside Clinic.

Swingle served as interim medical director for state correctional facilities for both men and women in Newport and later as medical director of the Pulaski County Detention Center.

He also volunteers at the Church Health Center in Heber Springs, just one way he spends his free time since moving to Heber Springs four years ago.

He and an old college buddy put their heads together and pitched the notion of establishing such a facility to the Ministerial Alliance in Heber Springs.

"They jumped on it," he said, and the center has been going strong for two years.

"It's rewarding" he said of his volunteer work.

"God's been good to me," Swingle said, adding the church center work is one way he can give a little back.

The physician has remained physically active.

"I played softball until I was 65, and I scrimmaged with the football team until I was 45."

For many years he also served as the minister for an interdenominational church in Marked Tree.

The ordained minister, with the help of a deaf boy, built a 200-seat church in about 14 months.

"I preached Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesdays," for 10 years, he said.

His love for God bled through into his experiences with Arkansas inmates.He said prisoners told him he was the only person who treated them like humans.The doctor said he told the inmates: "I have to look at myself in the mirror" and that he had enough to answer to God for.

The doctor has four daughters, 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 54 years.

As an ordained minister, Swingle has performed marriage ceremonies for a number of people, including several of his grandchildren.He doesn't know exactly how many, but, "I've married a flock of 'em," he said.

"I don't want to work everyday," he said, looking toward the future."When I started there were no doctors between here and Memphis or here and Jonesboro."

"I enjoy doing what I'm doing," he continued."When I quit enjoying it, I'll quit."

Until then he plans to continue to work a half-day each week at the Marked Tree clinic and volunteer at the Heber Springs center.