A great team, and system of care
“The Seavey Clinic’s work with medical students is important. When we learned that there was a need to help them travel to conferences and for other educational opportunities, that’s what we wanted to support. Anything we can do to encourage the work of the Seavey Clinic, to improve it or help others benefit, is an opportunity not to be missed.” – Ralph and Ree Edwards
Ralph and Ree Edwards were goal oriented in their search for a new medical team who could provide a high level of personal care. They wanted a physician they could trust implicitly, count on in a crisis, who could connect them right away to specialists if needed, and who was part of a well-resourced healthcare system.
“We asked friends, and physicians who were friends, and two people referred us to the Seavey Clinic,” said Ree Edwards. “It’s a good team.”
“We were looking for someone to navigate the path ahead of us, and they have done that for us,” said Ralph Edwards. “In every case, the Seavey Clinic has not only been attentive to us in a caring way, but could tell me the best specialist for what I needed, and help me get an appointment very quickly.”
Over the past 15 years, the couple has received the expert healthcare that they expected and more from the Seavey Clinic. In 2019, Ralph Edwards experienced symptoms that his family thought might be a stroke. They called 911 and also consulted Dr. David Roberts, the clinic director. An ambulance brought Ralph Edwards to Emory University Hospital, where a specialist and team treated him for a seizure.
“It’s that kind of attention that, from time to time, you need,” Ralph Edwards said. “We are thankful for this helpfulness in our medical pursuits and necessities.”
A comprehensive approach to one family’s multigenerational care
“We wanted to invest in the Seavey Clinic because we know the importance of primary care, and we fund research in predictive diagnoses using data analytics to figure out treatments and outcomes. We’re so excited about this work.” – John and Mary Brock
For John and Mary Brock, the value of the Seavey Clinic transcends their personal healthcare. What they have discovered at Emory has helped their parents and children, and it inspires their charitable giving.
John Brock initially sought a primary care physician when his employer, Coca-Cola Enterprises, transferred him to Atlanta. John and Mary were pleased with their comprehensive annual physicals at the Seavey Clinic.
Within six months, John’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. With the support of the Seavey Clinic, she came from her home in rural Mississippi to be treated at Winship Cancer Institute.
“The connections that the Seavey Clinic provided to us as a family in terms of total care have been exceptional,” John Brock said. “Every doctor, every surgeon and every specialist that we see has been arranged this way.”
Another important connection the Brocks made this way was Dr. W. Edward Craighead, who directs the Emory Child and Adolescent Mood Program. “Ed has become a long-term doctor and friend too,” John Brock said.
“Every member of our family has benefited from the Seavey Clinic, and we think its mission is remarkable,” said Mary Brock. “The future is to have more and more physicians doing what they do. We hope that this can be more widespread to the greater public.”
Mary Brock’s mother is another example of Seavey Clinic benefits. She lived in a small town with limited resources, and had several medical issues that her physicians could not figure out. The Brocks brought her to Emory for several days to see specialists.
“At the end of the week, we met and learned not only the diagnosis, but also what they thought should be done,” Mary Brock said. “When a physician can be a great teacher to patients, patients feel more empowered. The result for my mother was incredible. In a few months, we saw a vast improvement. She is now 90 years old, and it is because the Seavey Clinic pulled all the right people together, communicated the evaluation, prognosis, and game plan, and gave her choices and possible downsides.”
The Brocks’ daughter sought a diagnosis from several specialists in New York City, where she lives. They had no answers, so she turned to her parents’ medical team at the Seavey Clinic, and with their counsel, she found the right treatment in New York.
“The reason the Seavey Clinic works is that you have devoted and dedicated leadership,” Mary Brock said. “The reason we got involved in financially supporting the clinic is because one team can’t do it all. The solution is training more and more excellent physicians to have this outlook and team approach.”