Andalusia’s newest doctor is happy to be back in Alabama.

Dr. Lee Carney, the new obstetrics and gynecologist at Covington County OB/GYN, said after spending almost six years in Mississippi, the lure of being closer to home is what drew him here.

“I’ve been working in Mississippi for a while, and I was really looking forward to coming back to Alabama,” Carney said. “It’s home.”

Carney studied biology at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology, and also completed med school at USA.

Carney said he chose to be an OB/GYN three months into his fourth year of medical school.

“It just kind of sucked you in,” he said. “I liked the whole family practice aspect of it, and old doctors delivering babies.”

Before coming to Andalusia, Carney worked in the women’s clinic as a physician for Northwest Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale, Miss. For a little under four years before his stint in Clarksdale, Carney worked for the OB/GYN Group of Laurel, Miss.

Carney’s been in Andalusia since April 1, and he said he’s liked his time here.

“It’s like getting back home,” he said. “I grew up in South Alabama, and we’re technically in South Alabama. I like being closer to the beaches here now.”

Carney, who has been trained in robotics, will be doing outpatient and inpatient surgeries, and has minimally invasive training.

Minimally invasive training is a more “cutting edge” approach to gynecologic surgeries, he said.

Carney is an avid hunter, who also likes fishing, gardening, scuba diving and wood working.