When Torrie Bond graduated from Dallas County High School in 1995, she didn’t plan on coming back to Dallas County, but she’s glad she did.

“I hadn’t planned to come back to town, but I met my husband who was from here, and that’s what happened,” said Bond, who is the director of Imaging Services at Vaughan Regional Medical Center. “He had two businesses he was running in town, so it’s not like he could move away. And it’s actually been great moving back.”

Having studied at UAB, Bond lived in Birmingham for 12 years before settling down with her husband in Valley Grande, but she said the pace of Selma and Dallas County is a better fit for her, her husband, and their two young daughters.

“When I was single, I loved the convenience of the big city, but now that I’m married and have children, I love the simplicity of Selma. It’s so much nicer for my children,” Bond said. “Everybody knows everybody here, it’s just a slower pace, and everybody is so helpful.”

Along with the personal benefits of living in a small town, Bond said she enjoys working at a hospital that serves one of the most underserved regions of the state.

“For our community, and the surrounding area, we are really the only hospital that can cover the needs of the community. We take care of the people of Dallas County, as well as the surrounding five or six counties,” Bond said. “We have so many people who it takes everything they have to get here. You don’t see as much of that in Birmingham as you do here, and that really touches home.”

Bond said the hospital serves a larger population than most people would expect, because of the remoteness of some of the neighboring communities.

“People think Selma is small and Vaughan is small,” Bond said. “But we service a lot of people because there aren’t too many other options within a reasonable drive.”

Bond said she is often humbled when seeing how important her medical expertise is.

“We see everyday how much this work matters to the people here,” Bond said. “If somebody living in Selma or Dallas County needs anything medically, they know they can almost always find whatever they need right here in town. And that means a lot to me to be a part of that.

— Jay Sowers