Celebrating over 50 years of
caring
In 1953, Dr. Henry Jennings moved to Gainesville from Atlanta
to build a practice where he could care for his patients on an ongoing basis.He had been one of the founding partners of the Emory Clinic -- work he
enjoyed but which meant he rarely saw his patients more than once or twice.His
first Gainesville office was in a small house.He
converted the bedrooms into examination rooms, the kitchen into a small lab, the
living room into a waiting area and set up practice. He hired his first
employee, Louis Pickard, who stayed with the Clinic until her retirement in the
early 1990’s. “We never really had a plan for growth,” he says, “but we
treated our patients and employees with compassion and respect.” And growth naturally
followed.
In 1955, Dr. Jennings invited Dr. Sam Poole to become a partner.He had met Dr. Poole at Emory when they were in training . Dr. Poole worked with Dr.
Jennings for two years and then went back to Emory as a member of the cardiology
and teaching staff. “I was treating Dick Stribling’s dad when Dick was
finishing his training,” says Dr. Jennings.“So when Sam went back to Emory, Dick came up here.We were outgrowing this office and had plans being drawn up for a new
office on Vine Street.Sam had been
teaching for about a month when I got a call asking if we could make that office
big enough for three physicians.I
told him yes and he came back to practice with us.”
The Clinic’s reputation for excellence fueled rapid growth and
soon, after inviting Dr. Jim Butts to join the partnership, they were adding on
to their offices on Vine Street and planning another move. In 1972, the Clinic finished a two story-building back
on the site where their original office had stood. In a profession
where many partnerships dissolve quickly, The Diagnostic Clinic, one of the
first groups of its kind in Georgia, has become one of the largest,
longest-lasting groups in the state.The
Clinic has flourished because of each partner’s professional competence and
commitment to providing the best possible care for each patient.
His
first Gainesville office was in a small house.
