PRACTICE PROFILE
(l-r) Douglas Whitehead, MD; Sara Velky, PA-C; and Mark Zeigler, MD, practice patient-centered care.
Greer Family Medicine
From the day in 1994 that Greer Family Medicine (GFM) opened its doors, it has been a patient-centered practice focused on taking care of the whole patient and the whole family. “The patient’s whole person and all of his or her concerns, and the concerns of the family, are important to us,” said founding partner Douglas Whitehead, MD. “We believe people are more than the sum of their medical problems. We take into consideration patients’ personal beliefs and health philosophy as we connect them to the most up-to-date medical knowledge and practice.” Because GFM has grown with Greer over the past 22 years, the practitioners have a history with the area and understand the people they are privileged to serve. “Family medicine” is exactly what GFM practices—its providers see family members of all ages, offering newborn care, well-woman care and total wellness care for all. As family medicine practitioners, GFM providers see their strength—their “specialty”—lying in wide-ranging areas of medicine in which they are trained and practice. “I sometimes call the family physician the specialist’s specialist,” noted Dr. Whitehead. “We often are able to provide patients
with the care they need without having to find another kind of physician to care for their family or medical need, which gives them a great deal of relief and confidence in us.” Dr. Whitehead continued, “We want to maintain and to promote wellness in the person, the family and the community. The best part of our job is having an integral role in the lives of our patients and their families.” Providers Douglas W. Whitehead, MD Mark R. Zeigler, MD Sara K. Velky, PA-C Greer Family Medicine 1107 W. Poinsett St. Greer, SC 29650 (864) 879-8886 Hours Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
ghs.org/GreerFM
Editor’s note: In the Summer 2015 Inside Health, we featured GHS Eye Institute as our practice profile. In that piece, we misspelled the name of John D. Siddens, DO. We regret the error. Inside Health 18