Gastroenterologist begins medical practice here

While much of the hospital's physician recruiting efforts for the past two year were focused on bringing general surgery back to the area, it has been the response to the reintroduction of G.I. services which has hospital officials amazed.

Gastroenterologist Richard F. Carter, MD, FACP, who has more than 30 years of experience in the field, opened his practice here last Apri, and his offices was immediately flooded with new patients. Carter who previously practiced in LaGrange, GA, said he has been surprised by the response to the the return of G.I. speciality services. Four months into the practics, appointments continue to run two to three weeks out.

And Carter and the hospital's G.I. endoscopy lab are averaging 70-80 procedures per month. Patients have been coming from a wide area, including Franklin, Sylva, Clayton andother areas around the region.

“We new that the return of gastroenterology and endoscopy services to our area was important to people,” said Ken Shull, president and CEO of the hospital. “And We knew there would be an initial backlog of patients that have needed these services. But we had no idea that the response would continue to be so strong. Part of it is undoubtedly due to the popularlity of Dr. Carter himself. His patients really love him."

Dr. Carter is board certified in both internal medicine and in the subspecialty of gastroenterology, and is a Fellow of the American College Physicians. He is part of Mountain Medical and Surgical Group, which also has general surgeons F. Augustus Dozier, MD, FACS, and William J. Noell, Jr, MD, FACS. The group's offices are located on Level 1 of the Jane Woodruff Clinic on the hospital campus.

Anyone wishing to make an appointment should call the offices of Mountain Medical and Surgical Group at (828) 526-2371.

A Virginia native, Dr. Carter graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, in 1969 and went on to earn his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. He completed his medical internship and his residency in internal medicine at that same institution, as well as his fellowship in gastroenterology. During his fellowship, he was an instructor in medicine in the G.I. Division of the Department of Medicine.

Upon entering private practice, he joined the staff of the Greenbrier Clinic, located in White Sulphur Springs, WV, where he practiced for six years. He then joined the Clark Hold Clinic in LaGranage, GA, where he practiced for 15 years before joining the large group practice of Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates. He opened his own practice back in LaGrange in 2000. From 1984 until 2005 he was chief of Gastroenterology at West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange.

Dr. Carter has training and experience in all areas of gastroenterology, including endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP), sphincterotomy, stone extraction, stent placement, ultrasonography, and liver biopsy.
In addition to being a fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Carter is a member of the American Gastroenterology Association, the Georgia Gastroenterology Society and the Medical Association of Georgia.