Dr. Charles Ruis named health director of Southwest Public Health District

ALBANY — A specialist in family medicine with deep ties to Southwest Georgia and public health has been tapped as the new health director Southwest Public Health District.

Dr. Charles Ruis, a native of Cordele, will begin overseeing the 14 county health departments and two farm worker clinics included in the health district on April 18, Interim Health Director Dr. Lawton Davis announced this morning.

Ruis replaces Dr. Jacqueline Grant, who left last June after serving as the district’s health director for 10 years in order to pursue a fellowship at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Before receiving his his medical degree from Medical College of Georgia, Ruis attended Georgia Southwestern State University and the University of Georgia. He performed both his internship and his residency in family practice at Medical Center of Central Georgia. He is board-certified in family medicine.

Most recently, Ruis served as medical director for Georgia Correctional Healthcare, providing physician services at Georgia state prisons. Before that, he was medical director for Federally Qualified Community Health Centers in Ocilla and Unadilla.

His biography also says he has experience in emergency medicine, including working at Sumter Regional Hospital from 2003 until it closed from tornado damage in 2005. He has served as the chair of the Crisp County Board of Health since 2007.

He and his wife, Barbara, have been married since 1980 and they are active in the Cordele First United Methodist Church.