The story centers on Dr. Rex Morgan, who in 1948 moves to the fictional small town of Glenwood to take over a late friend's practice. Helping him grapple with a dizzying array of medical problems is his old friend's office manager and nurse, June Gale. Morgan and Gale collaborated in resolving the medical and emotional problems of patients and friends over the years. Among their patients was feisty elder Melissa Clairidge, introduced in 1951. Rex's former classmate Keith Cavell was introduced in 1957 and starred in occasional story lines until he was killed off in 1995. Young Dr. Brice Adam sometimes had a story to himself from 1970 to 1978, for example in a situation which saw him taken hostage by two felons who had meningitis.