Staff of the North Georgia Health
District welcome John "Jack" Kennedy, M.D., MBA, as the
district's interim health director.
Kennedy replaces Harold Pitts, M.D., who had served in that position since 2005. Kennedy is the director of the Cobb & Douglas Public Health District and will concurrently provide interim leadership of the North Georgia Health District until a permanent health director is named.
"I am excited
about getting to know everyone so we can pursue our public
health mission together," said Kennedy. "I appreciate the warm
welcome I have received here."
Born in
Providence, R.I., and reared in Richmond, Va., Kennedy practiced
general surgery in the United States Air Force and,
subsequently, in Marietta for 26 years where he also served as
the founding board chairman of the Good Samaritan Health Center
of Cobb. Presently, in addition to directing the Cobb & Douglas
Public Health District, Kennedy serves as an affiliated
professor in the Office of Applied Public Health at Rollins
School of Public Health, part of the Woodruff Health Sciences
Center of Emory University.
Kennedy is a
graduate of Duke University where he received both his Bachelor
of Arts in chemistry and his medical degree. He received an MBA
from the Michael Coles School of Business at Kennesaw State
University. Kennedy completed his surgical internship and
surgical residency at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals.
He and his wife,
Maurine, have lived in Marietta since 1986 and have two adult
children.
The North Georgia Health District, part of the Georgia
Department of Public Health, is based in Dalton and includes
Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield
Counties. For more information, visit
www.nghd.org or call 706-272-2342.
