Georgia Academy of Family Physicians President-elect Eddie Richardson, M.D. and his wife Jameelah Gater, M.D. are two brilliant doctors who have taken health and holistic care to new heights.
There’s Dr. Richardson who after receiving his Doctor of Medicine from Morehouse School of Medicine, completed his residency at The Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia. In 2009, he also completed his Fellowship in Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at the Medical Center of Central Georgia located in Macon, Georgia. Dr. Richardson has two practices and serves as medical director at multiple entities. He’s the medical director of Lake Oconee Urgent and Specialty Care Center as well as Harmony Hospice, both in Eatonton, Georgia. Additionally, he’s chief of staff at Putnam General Hospital, creator and medical director of PGH’s Hospitalist program, a rehab program and also Medtronic which resort medicine practice in Puerto Rico, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Mexico.
“Those are just some of the hats that I wear at this time,” offers Dr. Richardson.
A native of Detroit, Dr. Gater is a board-certified family medicine doctor with a focus on integrative and emergency medicine. She earned her medical doctorate at the University of Michigan and completed family medicine residency at Emory University in Atlanta. In 2009, she completed her integrative medical training at the University of Tucson under Andrew Weil, M.D. Integrative Medicine is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle — emphasizing the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative.
She’s received numerous honors, including “Resident of the Year” from Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and the Thomas C. Davies Family Practice Award from the University of Michigan.
The couple has been married 13 years.
Gater expounds on the breadth of their practices. “Like Dr. Richardson said, we have a couple of different practices. We [also] have Lake Oconee Concierge Medicine, which is a VIP concierge practice where members pay an annual membership to receive a broad level of service and personalized healthcare. About two and half years ago, we opened RYSE Wellness in Buckhead, which is an acronym for Rejuvenate Your Sexy Everything. It’s a medical spa. I tend to do most of the services … BOTOX, fillers, liposuction and Brazilian butt lift. We work on both men and women and help them to stay healthy and happy. We do a lot with weight loss and nutrition. And of course, we have traditional spa services — facials and massages.”
How did they meet?
“When I met Dr. Gater, I was on the board of American Academy of Family Physicians. I was student board member representing 125,000 medical students and physical throughout the country,” Dr. Richardson starts. “We were at our student national meeting and she came for her visit. She actually decided to run for a position while at the conference in Kansas City. She said I blew her off at the conference.”
Dr. Gater adds jokingly, “He didn’t pay me any attention or any mind.”
He finishes, “She was elected the national chair, which meant she was coming to our national meeting for the academy in Orlando … 15 years ago. Using grace and insight I put her on my committee.”
“So I had to work with him the whole weekend,” she says.
And as they both say, “the rest is history.”
As part of the 2016 Georgia Academy of Family Physicians (GAFP) annual meeting, GAFP will host a special private fundraiser dinner featuring celebrity chef Roblé. The Bravo star will co-host the event with Dr. Richardson. During this event, attendees will enjoy a fine dining meal curated by Roblé as well as a discussion about integrating healthy habits into our live to better allow us to do what we love so we can love what we do. This event is open to the public.
Guests will enjoy a fine dining meal that he will have curated at Atlanta’s Oriental Mandarin Hotel and hear how the couple has integrated healthy habits into their lives and practices. Click here for details and tickets to “Living The Dream: Private Charity Dinner With Celebrity Chef Roble.”
