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Monday, November 9, 2026Nov 9

Kennedy: Seven traits of effective family doctors

Doctor with stethoscope. / Getty Images
Doctor with stethoscope. / Getty Images Doctor with stethoscope. / Getty Images

Chris Haddock is a family medicine doctor in Ringgold, Georgia, and by all accounts a good one.

A native of Ringgold, Haddock works in an Erlanger Primary Care office on Nashville Street about two miles from his home, where he resides with his wife, Rachelle, and two sons Landon, 9, and Grady, 11.

“I love what I do,” says Haddock, a 2000 graduate of the Georgia College of Medicine in Augusta and an avid fan of the University of Georgia Bulldogs sports teams. “When I sit in a room and listen to a patient’s story and come up with a plan, that’s by far the best part of my job.”

Haddock came to our attention as a perennial winner of the North Georgia Best of the Best reader’s choice contest sponsored by the Times Free Press. He has won in the primary-care physician category seven times.

photo Contributed by Erlanger / Dr. Chris Haddock

There’s something clearly special about this practice. Part of it may be the favorite-son halo. Although he attended East Ridge High School across the state line, where his parents were educators, Haddock’s family roots run deep in Ringgold.