Champions of Health Care
In our third annual edition of Champions of Health Care, Edge magazine received nearly 200 recommendations from the public about health care providers, administrators and volunteers who are making health care better in Chattanooga.From among those nominations, a panel of judges comprised of top leaders from the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Medical Society and each of Chattanooga’s three major hospital systems – Erlanger Health System, CHI Memorial Hospital and Parkridge Health System – picked nine winners in eight different classifications of health care.The Champions of Health Care award winners this year have tackled major community health problems, started or promoted programs to better coordinate care and expanded initiatives for wellness and disease detection. Others are recognized for new approaches, strong leadership and simple acts of kindness during their lifetimes of achievement and service. In a variety of volunteer and professional roles across many of Chattanooga’s major health care institutions, the honorees have distinguished themselves and the community for improving the health of individuals and Chattanooga as a whole.This year’s Champions of Health Care will be honored at an awards luncheon at The Chattanoogan on Wednesday, September 5.
Dr. Eugene Ryan describes himself as “just an average Joe,” but in an era where the art of medicine is often lost in electronic frenzy, he’s more akin to an Irish Rembrandt, who also happens to love Star Trek.
“He’s personable and very interested in who you are not just your health, which is very important as a primary care physician,” says Dr. Kellie Jolley, a fellow internal medicine physician who’s shared the halls of Parkridge Health System with Ryan for 20 years.
Academic Physicians Award
Honors physicians whose performance is considered exemplary by patients and peers and recognizes one who has advanced medical research and trainingAccomplishments: Dr. Ryan earned the distinction of being an Army Major , a doctoral pharmacist, a medical doctor and a certified fellow of the Wilderness Medical Society, while still volunteering for the Boy Scouts and serving in leadership roles as chief of staff at Parkridge Medical Center, chair of the hospital’s medical executive committee and member of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society board of directors.
The son of Irish immigrants, Ryan grew up in Columbus, Georgia, and earned a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Georgia before completing med school at the Medical College of Georgia. He served in the U.S. Army for six years, as a resident at Eisenhower Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, and chief of medical service at the Army hospital in Fort Rucker, Alabama, before moving to Chattanooga in 1996.
Ryan, who is board certified in internal medicine, said the joy of primary care is fostering long-term relationships with patients and their families.
“We’re not an episodic physician, so we get to know them very well. They know us, we know them,” he says. “Taking care of patients is the ultimate puzzle in trying to figure people out and get the best treatment for them.”
Although his patients always come first, for Ryan, it’s not enough to “just go to work and come home.”
His diverse knowledge and experience – medicine, pharmacy, research – and volunteer attitude set Ryan apart from the “average” doctor. Some of his leadership roles include two terms as chief of staff at Parkridge Medical Center, chair of the hospital’s medical executive committee and member of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society board of directors.
For more than a decade, Ryan mentored youth through local Scouts programs and served five years as adviser for Venturing Crew 2172, a Boy Scouts of America program for males and females age 14 to 21 focused on adventure, leadership, personal growth and service.
Ryan led the crew on lengthy expeditions that include camping in Savage Gulf, hiking in New Mexico and sailing off the Florida coast.
“When we started going out on these adventures, I realized that my internal medicine skill set here was not the best thing for the woods You’re out there hiking for like 55 miles for over 10 days,” he says.
Venturing prompted him to complete an extra 200 hours of continuing medical education and become a fellow of the Wilderness Medical Society. Not only is Ryan attuned to the medical needs of everyone from scuba divers to astronauts, he taught wilderness first aid to crew members.
“Putting on a Band-Aid and calling 911 doesn’t work in the middle of nowhere,” Ryan says. “It’s more of the fun aspects of medicine. You get to talk about snake bites, spider bites, altitude sickness.”
The skills fostered early in his career as a pharmacist have not only served Ryan well as a doctor, but allowed him to conduct pharmaceutical research on the side.
“I enjoy the intricacies, nuances of new medications,” he says. “It helps stimulate a different aspect of medicine. When you do a drug study for the patients, it costs the patients nothing, and they get the benefit of trying a new therapy.”
Ryan has managed to squeeze the work of multiple careers into one, but Jolley said his most impressive title isn’t M.D., PharmD or Army Major, but father.
“In the midst of all this, he’s raised a fantastic family, including an Olympic swimmer, which is remarkable, because there are people who have lovely careers and spend all their time there, but their family just swirls to side,” she says. “He’s a very well rounded person and physician, which makes the best kind of physician.”