Dr. James Gentry Retires From PCMC After 33 Years

BY BRIAN HAMILTON, Correspondent

Dr. James (Jim) Gentry, Jr. has decided to hang up the stethoscope after working as a surgeon at Pickens County Medical Center (PCMC) for the past 33 years. Dozens of friends, family members, and colleagues gathered at PCMC last Sunday to recognize Gentry for his service to the hospital.

Gentry graduated from UAB’s medical school in 1980 and did his residency at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham. It was in 1985 that Gentry had the opportunity to come back to Pickens County and work at PCMC and has been here ever since.

“Obviously, being new to Pickens County, the one thing I have found is that we have a lot of employees that have been here a long time,” PCMC CEO John O’Neal said. “That’s a real testament to the commitment by the community and by our employees.”

O’Neal recently took over as the new CEO at PCMC and said when he arrived he heard nothing but good things about Gentry.

“When I got here, I asked people to tell me about this person or that person and I asked a lot of people about Dr. Gentry,” O’Neal said. “Everything I heard about Dr. Gentry was very, very positive. I didn’t hear one person say anything negative about him.”

Dr. William Brooke, Emergency Room Director at PCMC, recounted growing up with Gentry from a young age, through college. Brooke finished medical school in three years, while Gentry spent five years at UAB to become a surgeon. The two would later reunite at PCMC.