The Story of Jerry L. Miller, M.D.

Perhaps it was a natural, intrinsic quality ingrained within his very being. Or, conceivably it could have been the influence of the physical environment and life circumstances in which he was nurtured. Regardless of the determining factor, a single determination has¬ marked the life of Jerry Lee Miller, MD: For as long as he can remember, he’s always wanted to be a doctor.

“I’ve probably known since I was four years old that I wanted to be a doctor,” says Dr. Miller, recounting the memory of his childhood dream. “But, to really understand, I think you have to go back to my background.”

Dr. Miller’s story begins in adversity within the very heart of Appalachia in a small, soot-tainted coalmining village of Southwest Virginia—Swords Creek. His father, Bert Miller, was a hardworking coal miner who toiled long hours in the family mines—Miller Coal Mines—owned by Miller’s grandfather, Estil Miller.

“I never shall forget seeing my dad coming home. His eyes and lips were the only part of him that looked real. I think just from day one, I knew there had to be a better way for me,” explains Dr. Miller, describing his dad’s physical appearance after working long hours in the mines. “It’s difficult to explain. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. And, to this day, I consider it a privilege, an honor. In my opinion, serving the public through health care is the most noble, most rewarding, most hardworking of professions.”

Dr. Miller’s mother, Hazel Hess Miller, now 84 years old, begins laughing when she recounts the early years of her son, fully believing he knew he would be a doctor from the time he was just a preschooler.

“Jerry was an awful sweet baby and very curious. When he was two years old, I would pull his little highchair up next to the sink while I prepared the chicken for supper. I had to explain every piece of that chicken!” she says with laughter in her voice. “I had to explain what each part was for and how it worked. Jerry would ask every question he could think of about that chicken. And I’d have to say, ‘This is the heart; it makes the blood flow. This is the gizzard; it grinds up all of the food . . . .’”

Hazel Miller, is described by both of her children as a very “bright woman” who lovingly encouraged her children to excel. She taught grades 1-7 in a one-room elementary school, Miller Creek School.

According to Hazel Miller, the desire to be a doctor was something her son possessed all on his own. She says that early on it was her desire that he “grow up to be a teacher,” something to which her young son would respectfully disagree.

“In all of his years, he never sassed me; not once. I can remember him saying, ‘Now mother, I want to tell you, I am going to be a doctor when I grow up.’ I would say, ‘No, you are going to be a teacher.’ Then with a gentle look of determination, Jerry would say, ‘Mother, I want to be a doctor and that’s what I want to be.’”

Like his mother, Dr. Miller’s grandfather, Estil, also had other dreams for Jerry Lee Miller. It was his desire that young Jerry inherit the family coalmines.

“I never will forget when I was in about the 6th or 7th grade, my grandfather took me up on the head of the creek and said, ‘Now, Jerry, you will be inheriting all of this mining one of these days. I want you to go back in there and have a look around,’” explains Dr. Miller. “I remember only going back into the mines about a hundred feet before I turned around and looked my grandfather in the eye and said, ‘Papaw, I ain’t going to do this. I’m going to be a doctor.’”

With this single determination in mind, Dr. Miller achieved his goal in record time. By the time he was in the 7th grade, he was already a member of the high school debate team. He continued through school excelling in various areas of academics, graduating from Honaker High School within only three years.

Dr. Miller attributes much of his academic success to someone very special—Mary Sue Fuller, a Honaker High School teacher who encouraged and challenged him to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor.

“Mary Sue Fuller led me, told me what to do and helped me so very much,” explains Dr. Miller. “I came from a meager background. Ms. Fuller told me how to dress, how to act and set me up for the Merit Scholar exams.”

According to Jannie Miller, her elder brother by seven years made straight A’s throughout his academic career, achieving the honor of graduating as valedictorian of his class.

“If he ever made a ‘B,’ I don’t know about it!” she says, proudly telling stories of her brother. “He was a member of the Beta Club, the Honor’s Society and even found time to drive the school bus!”

In addition to driving the school bus while still a student himself, Dr. Miller’s entrepreneurial spirit and keen business mind became apparent early on with his efforts of convincing his father to lease a Texaco station. Working long hours while still going to school, his vision of turning the station into a profitable family business soon became a reality. By the time Dr. Miller graduated high school, the station was pumping 35,000 gallons a month. The profits from the station along with academic scholarships were all he needed to begin pursuing his lifelong dream.

At the age of 17, Jerry Miller set off for Richmond, Va., to attend the University of Richmond on full academic scholarships. However, as with high school, his time at the University was short; Dr. Miller completed his academic studies at the University of Richmond within three years.

It was during his time at the University that he met Emma Lee Chase. During weekend visits to the Clinch Valley Clinic (known as the Richlands Hospital) to see his father who was recovering from an automobile accident, Dr. Miller met and fell in love with Emma Lee, a lab technician at the hospital.

After a year of dating, the two married April 21, 1960, and set out for the Medical College of Virginia where Dr. Miller again had the privilege of full academic scholarships.

By 1965, following the completion of both his doctorate of medicine and his postgraduate training in Springfield, Ohio, Jerry L. Miller, MD, was not only the father of three young boys (Mike, Greg and Todd), but was also awarded the distinction of being the youngest physician to ever be licensed in the state of Virginia.

At the request of the U.S. Army, Dr. Miller returned to rural, Southwest Virginia with his family of five in 1966. Serving as a National Guard physician, he was asked to begin private practice as a family physician in Nickelsville, Va.

“At this time, I was still enamored with the thought of being an OB/GYN,” explains Miller. “However, the U.S. Army had a need for family physicians and so that’s what I did.”

Dr. Miller fondly recalls his time in Nickelsville as the “greatest learning experience in the world.” He and Emma Lee, who worked alongside him as his nurse, would put in long hours providing care to more than 100 patients a day.

According to Emma Lee, her husband provided care to as many patients in their home as he did in his office. Patients thought nothing about coming to the Miller home in the event of a medical emergency.

“I recall one evening when we were all in bed,” begins Dr. Miller, “hearing a noise, only to look up and see a patient crawling through our bedroom window!”

On weekends, the entire family would pack into their little blue Volkswagen and make house calls, traveling from home to home.

“We knew everyone in Scott County,” says Emma Lee. “The boys would go along with us and play outside with the horses and cows. It was our life. We were young, vivacious and had a lot of energy.”

Given the challenging topography of Southwest Virginia, it was not unheard of for Dr. Miller to make house calls on horseback. When confronted with mountainous terrain not passable by way of automobile, Dr. Miller’s only option was to saddle up a horse and hit the trail.

By 1970 the Miller family had relocated to Kingsport and had grown from five to seven with the birth of their daughters, Summer and Kelly. Though residing in Kingsport, Dr. Miller continued his practice in Nickelsville.

In 1972, Jannie Miller joined her brother’s work in Nickelsville. According to Jannie, she served as his “nurse, x-ray technician and lab specialist”—only not in any particular order and usually all at the same time.

“It was a wonderful experience. He taught me more in the years that I worked with him than I could have ever gotten anywhere else,” says Jannie. “We made house calls, delivered a set of twins, and worked from sunup until sundown. He made me the nurse I am today."

Though remembered fondly, Dr. Miller’s experience in Nickelsville was a very challenging time. With an overwhelming shortage of primary care physicians, patient demand was immense.

“With only one additional doctor in our area, you had more patients than you could possibly accommodate,” explains Jannie. “The physical demands were very challenging. You never knew what you would encounter from room to room. Sometimes you would enter a room to treat a single patient and you would end up seeing the whole family, from the littlest baby all the way up to Mamaw at age 98.”

Dr. Miller’s experience in Nickelsville was not an isolated case of physician shortage—it was symptomatic of the entire region—and Kingsport, Tenn., was no exception. During this time period in the early 1970s, Dr. Miller also served as president of the medical staff of Holston Valley Community Hospital—a position that proved to be timelier than Miller could have ever predicted. In this position, Miller was keenly aware of the physician shortage facing both Kingsport and the entire Mountain Empire region.

“I tried to recruit help,” explains Miller. “But, the very thing that I was trying to sell—location and the volume of sick people—would drive physicians away. Whereas we were getting $4 for an office visit, colleagues in Richmond would get $12. Physician recruitment was a difficult challenge.”

Remarkably enough, it was the severe shortage of family physicians and the challenge of physician recruitment that served as the springboard for the formation of Holston Medical Group. With single determination, Dr. Miller set out to revolutionize the underserved medical climate of the Mountain Empire region.

Motivated by compassion, challenged in the face of adversity, and drawing upon his entrepreneurial spirit, Dr. Miller began to envision what it would take to recruit family physicians.

“I felt it would be easier to develop a group of doctors—a unispecialty group offering family practice services with a base clinic located near a hospital and static clinics in rural areas,” explains Dr. Miller, providing insight into his early visioning process.

Such was the beginning of Holston Medical Group.

Characteristic of his personality and the way in which Jerry Lee Miller, MD, time and time again meets life challenges, Holston Medical Group stands today as a paragon of what can be achieved when a man purposes in his heart to look upon adversity with a single determination.