SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Walking into a hospital at three in the morning, getting off an elevator and knowing that a patient is ready to deliver her baby will never get old to Dr. Merle J. "Boo" Hodges.

"It's just you, the patient and their child. You have no safety net, and it's all on you," Hodges said. "People trust you. They put their lives and their child's life in your hands and they believe in you. There's no more rewarding profession in the world."

Earlier this month, a day after his sixty-first birthday, Hodges took that elevator ride, strolled into his patient's room and successfully deli...