Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and Gainesville High School senior Philip Mady

Meet Dr. Antonio Rios! Dr. Rios has lived and worked within the Hall County area for the past 22 years. He attended medical school in Mexico and at Emory University. Over the years he has been a volunteer with Good News Clinic and is an internist at Northeast Georgia Medical System.

We want to thank Dr. Rios for spending time with us recently and telling us more about his life and love of Hall County.

Question: Would you mind telling me a little bit about yourself?
Answer: “I was born and raised in Mexico City. I went to medical school over there and I came to the United States after I finished medical school to do my residency at Emory University. My plan was to go back to Mexico after I finished my training but I met the mother of my girls which changed my direction and plans. I came into the United States on a J1 visa and that basically gives you a limited amount of time to study and then you must go back to your country of origin for a couple of years. There are some ways to waive that requirement and one of those ways is to work for three years and then the government,. At that time I sent a lot of CV’s and letters of interest and got one response back from Dublin, Georgia. Then the opportunity to interview at Gainesville came about and I was delighted here. So, I finished my residency in 1998, and I immediately moved here after finishing but due to a delay in the paperwork I couldn’t really start working until March of 1999. In the meantime, I was able to volunteer full time at the Good News Clinic and that helped me a lot. I got to know a lot of people at the clinic and that organization remains very near and dear to my heart. I still volunteer a half day a month and I’ve done that since I have started working. I am in internal medicine which is like a pediatrician for adults. When I first started, the traditional model was that you had your office and you followed your patients to the hospital whenever they went into the hospital. You also took calls from the emergency room for the patients that did not have primary care physicians, called unassigned, so you would follow them when they were in the hospital and many of them became my patients whom I still work with to this day. I did that for about 10 years. Now, there is a group called hospitalists that take care of patients when they are hospitalized and therefore I don’t follow my patients into the hospital anymore. I have been doing some leadership positions such as chief of medicine and the chair of a few committees. I was appointed to be the medical director for the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group. So, I have been doing that for the past couple of years. It has been 13 years now.”

Q: What inspired or led you into your current career?
A: “The funny thing is that I first wanted to be an airline pilot. At that time there was no corrective surgery for being a myopic so that was a no go. I chose plan B, and fortunately I found that I really liked medicine and biology. I would do it again if I had to.”

Q: What is advice you would give to someone?
A: “I think that you have to be open to learn from everybody. You must be humble enough that you know that anyone can teach you something or you can learn something from everyone. I think to keep that open mind and accept that there are different points of view and perspectives but we can still work towards a unified goal.”

Q: What is something people don’t know about you?
A: “I love to cook. I used to play the keyboards. I love to read fiction, that is how I destress.”

Q: Who is one of the most interesting people you have met in Hall County?
A: “The two that come to mind, Dr. Sam Poole, he was a retired cardiologist and one of the founders of Northeast Georgia Diagnostic Clinic. When I came to town he was the medical director for Good News Clinic. He was really wise and knowledgeable and had a deep passion to care for the patients that we care for at Good News Clinic. He would just pick up the phone and tell people how to take care of a patient and the patient would get taken care of. The second person that I met in Hall County is actually someone who is not from Hall County. He is a veterinarian, his name is Enrique Montiel. This gentleman is a Venezuelan veterinarian specialist in avian medicine. What is very interesting is that he very quickly assimilated into the culture of the community. He knows everybody, very well traveled and well cultured. So, I found it interesting that for someone that is not from the area, he very quickly learned the people and the community and became part of it. That always impressed me and I love the fact that this is such a diverse community. I want to ensure that I do my part to take care or improve that community.”

Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “It is a very giving community. The number of nonprofits and all the volunteer activities that go on. The geography with the lake definitely makes me call this place home.”

Q: Where do you see yourself in five to 10 years?
A: “Well, I actually still pretty much love what I do. I love patient care. My administrative role is in transition right now. I recently got named the first Chief of Population Health for Northeast Georgia Health System. What that means is that we are really able to optimize the care that we provide to our patients. Ensure that we are not just seeing them when they go to the hospital or come to the office, but we are really trying to follow them outside of that. Keep them out of the hospital and ensure they are as healthy as possible and are enjoying their lives as healthy as they can be.”

Q: Can you describe home in three words?
A: “Loving, relaxing, and safe.”