Paul Hendricks, M.D., has joined the staff at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department as its new health officer.
The health officer is the top medical position in the Health Services Division of Hamilton County government. Hendricks’ medical background spans hospital medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine and rural medicine.
Hendricks will provide public health leadership to Health Department staff, medical providers and the community. Hendricks will have a pivotal role in public health emergency preparedness and response.
He also will serve as an ex-officio member of the Regional Health Council and will have relationships with other health department boards and advisory councils. As health officer, his focus will be on the health of the community as a whole. Hendricks succeeds Valerie Boaz, M.D., who retired earlier this year after 32 years in the position.
After earning his medical degree from the University of Florida, Hendricks completed a family practice internship at the University of Colorado and a family practice residency at Poudre Valley Hospital through the University of Colorado at Fort Collins.
After residency, he spent three years practicing family medicine with the U.S. Public Health Service in North Carolina. He came to Chattanooga in 1993 and spent 23 years practicing emergency medicine at Parkridge and Memorial Hospitals. He was a medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee for the last three years.
Hendricks holds certifications through the American Board of Family Medicine and Fundamentals of Critical Care Support and is a fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Hendricks’ civic involvement includes leadership in the Boy Scouts of America, school PTA activities and Lion’s Club. He is a former Signal Mountain Town Council member and was mayor of Signal Mountain 2006-2008.