The Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians has recognized Cookeville Physician Dr. Chet Gentry with the Family Physician of the Year award.
The award goes to a family physician to recognize their commitment to the profession, their patients, and their communities. Gentry said he is committed to providing health care here because he is from Jackson County.
“Mainly because my family is here,” Gentry said. “I have always wanted to be in a rural area where primary care was needed, and it’s been a rewarding experience for me.”
Gentry said he had practiced in Sparta for about 16 years before starting his own practice. Gentry said receiving the award was a surprise and an honor.
“All of us who are in primary care in the Upper Cumberland have been working very hard to stay in business and stay true to what we went into medicine for, and it was sort of a shot in the arm of validation for a lot of the work that we have all had to be doing to continue to be in the positions that we are,” Gentry said.
Gentry said at the time he founded Innovative Family Care, the Upper Cumberland was in big need of primary care physicians.
“Since 2010, more than 40 primary care physicians have left primary care, and I think it’s more than that, just in the city limits of Cookeville,” Gentry said. “And a similar rate of attrition is happening in the rural areas, and so there was a need for it. My hope then was to build a small group practice that could be independent of any larger corporations, and I felt like Cookeville was the best place to do that.”
Gentry also founded the Wellness Center in Sparta back in 1997. The center offers services to help those with diabetes, obesity, and drug and alcohol addictions.
TNAFP is a non-profit organization representing 2,400 members across the state.