After four years of searching for a neurosurgeon, the Corpus Christi medical community found Dr. Mathew Alexander.

Fresh from a residency program in Wisconsin and looking at a bull market that included a generous offer in that state, Alexander, 33, chose a less lucrative deal in Corpus Christi.

His brother, Thomas, is a cardiologist here, and the area seemed like a nice town and a good place to marry and raise a family when he's ready.

Physicians such as Alexander are beginning to look at the Coastal Bend as a viable job market more so than in the past. According to Christus Spohn Health System records, 30 physicians have moved to the area this year, an increase of about 10 from last year. Driscoll Children's Hospital has recruited six new doctors, and Corpus Christi Medical Center has recruited 31. Most doctors practice at multiple hospitals.

The health care community is encouraged, and attributes the influx to a combination of tort reform, recruitment efforts and the natural appeal of the Gulf Coast. Business leaders say more doctors can equal more services for patients as well as a stronger economy.

From his residency program in Wisconsin, Alexander kept a wary eye on Texas. If Proposition 12, which limited malpractice lawsuit award amounts, hadn't passed, he said, he would not have come.

"I'm here to take care of patients, not worry about the legal ramifications of my practice," he said. "Practicing defensive medicine is expensive and doesn't provide good care. I know a lot of doctors are really bitter about it."

Alexander said physicians choose their locations carefully, because they are reluctant to pull up stakes once they open a practice.

"If you put a lot of time and energy into a location, you're highly unlikely to move," said Alexander, who estimates he will be working 80 to 100 hours a week. "We work extreme-ly hard at establishing ourselves, and moving is hard on a practice and on your family."

Doctors who stay can be good for the local economy, according to local business leaders. Ron Kitchens, president and CEO of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation, said he was having breakfast recently with Kathryn McDonagh, president and CEO of Christus Spohn Health System, when she mentioned she wanted to recruit 100 physicians.

"I got to thinking, what's that worth to us?" Kitchens said. "You tend to go in a doctor's office and there's a nurse or two, a receptionist and clerical staff but you don't think about the big picture and what that means to the community. You think of them as a sole practitioner but really they're a small business."

A report prepared by Impact Data Source in Austin for the local economic development corporation estimates that one physician could create $800,000 in revenue and support five employees. Adding the indirect jobs and salaries supported by the needs of a doctor's office, the revenue jumps to $1,685,360 and seven jobs. The report was prepared using estimated figures for factors such as a physician's annual revenues and income, office equipment and staff salaries.

Kitchens said doctors' offices are often thought of as retail enterprises but he likens them more to the manufacturing industry.

"Sixty percent of all revenue from physicians is transfer payments from insurance or government, money that wouldn't be here if the doctor wasn't here," he said. "That money is paid here in wages and in taxes, so it's a real growth area for us."

Kitchens said a renewed emphasis on medical education at the universities and the hospitals may also be a powerful draw for doctors and other medical professionals.

"We won't capture every student who goes through these programs," he said. "But if we don't do anything, we're for sure not going to get them."

Gene Guernsey, who has been practicing real estate in Corpus Christi for 19 years, said he and his colleagues have seen a noticeable increase in physicians new to town this year. Guernsey said his home sales to physicians have increased 26 percent since this time last year.

"A few years ago, less than two, we saw physicians leaving the area and selling their houses," he said. "Now we see more coming in than leaving."

Guernsey said he has met more specialists than general practitioners. Guernsey, who also works with several area employers taking job candidates around the area, said the number of engineers, for example, on his tours has remained steady but tours for physicians have increased.

The influx brings a real estate challenge, Guernsey said, in that the area does not have a large number of high-end homes on the market.

"When people want houses in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, their choices are limited," he said.

Homes in that price range, he said, tend to be in the Kings Crossing, Ocean Drive and island areas.

Decrease in lawsuits

Dr. Richard Davis, vice pres-ident of medical affairs for Christus Spohn Health System, said the hospital system is encouraged by the slow but steady increase in interest physicians are showing in the area.

"There was a time when they would say, 'Practice in Texas? No way.'" Davis said. "In the mind of physicians, there was a perception that this area had a high number of liability cases and plaintiff friendly juries. (Tort reform) has made the biggest difference, especially in higher-risk specialties where the person's outcome may not be good no matter what you do."

Gov. Rick Perry, speaking at a news conference Tuesday at Driscoll Children's Hospital, said medical liability reforms are beginning to help the industry, citing statistics such as a 70 percent decrease in medical liability lawsuits and lawsuits filed against hospitals since tort reform was passed last year.

In addition to tort reform, Davis said Spohn's capital improvement plan is directly linked to physician recruit-ment.

"There's no question physicians want to practice using state-of-the-art equipment and technology in a modern, comfortable, patient friendly facility with colleagues who have high abilities," he said.

Spohn plans renovations

As part of their effort to recruit more doctors and improve patient care, Christus Spohn Health System is proposing a $131 million improvement plan, including extensive renovations to the 40-year-old building that houses Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial.

Recruitment goals, Davis said, are formed in part by look-ing at the number of physicians in relation to the population, and how the population will change over time. In the Coastal Bend, for example, Davis said the 45-64 age group is the fastest growing, with 65 and older close behind. Pinpointing such age groups can show planners what kinds of physicians might be needed most.

Meanwhile, the medical community is aging, and stressed doctors are retiring earlier, Davis said, adding to the need to recruit more doctors. Internal medicine, surgery and obstetrics remain high priorities but Davis said there's more to recruitment than finding a physician who practices in a high-need area.

"Corpus Christi is a nice area," he said. "Certainly for the kind of person who likes outdoor sports, hunting and fishing We don't just want to get a physician to come but one who matches up with the lifestyle and culture and who will stay."

Some drawbacks remain

Dr. Vicente Juan, a general surgeon and president of the Nueces County Medical Society, is not as optimistic.

"We lost five or six surgeons last year," Juan said. "That's 25 percent of the workforce."

Juan said Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements make it difficult for doctors to make a good living in the area, where it's not unusual for 70 percent of a patient's costs to be covered by Medicaid. Reimbursement times and rates make moving to an area where patients are less reliant on government funded care attractive. Add the availability of more cultural and dining options in bigger cities, Juan said, and recruiting becomes a formidable task.

"We also have a high rate of taxation, insurance is expensive and employees are expensive," he said.

However, Juan said physicians have seen a noticeable drop in lawsuits since the tort reform, which will help foster a positive environment for doctors.

"It used to be every two or three months we would see eight or 10 (lawsuits)," he said. "Now we might see one or two."

Still, Juan said, more needs to be done to improve morale and wages before Corpus Christi becomes a competitive job market for physicians.

"It used to be you worked hard and weren't appreciated but you could make good money," he said. "But if you work hard, aren't appreciated and you aren't making good money, it's going to change medicine as we know it."