Behind the Stethoscope: The Heart of ERx

In 2025, we are highlighting the medical directors of our ERx team. Their commitment to rural health care is the driving force behind our organization

Juan Gabriel Velázquez D.O.
Medical School Graduation: 2011
Joined ERx: 2024
Current position: ER Director of Bacon County Hospital

What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?

“I grew up in a household of doctors: my grandfather, my father, and also my mother’s family. We would go for medical mission trips for vacation. Seeing the impact my parents had on people during those trips, I just fell in love with medicine at a very young age. I even tried to rebel in college, but I always came back to medicine. I have been in love with it ever since

Why did you choose to work in a rural ER?

My grandfather had a coffee plantation and cattle ranches. I was often at the farm helping out and being in the countryside. In medical school, every aspect of medicine was enjoyable. With every rotation, I had a feeling that it was my favorite.Eventually, it got to a point where I realized that I liked it all. My father being an ophthalmologist, he kind of wanted me to go into ophthalmology. One day, I told him that I wanted to be a real doctor. It broke his heart a little bit and I decided to go into family medicine.

At first, I was at the bigger hospitals in Michigan. Then I wanted to move a little bit closer to my family so I moved to Georgia. The further I went, the smaller the hospitals got, the more I enjoyed medicine. I always had a passion for emergency medicine ever since my rotations in medical school. As a physician you see results quicker and with my background doing medical missions. I really had no other options (than to practice rural emergency medicine).

You can appreciate how much you can do in the big city. Patients chose a physician because the office is near their favorite donut shop or coffee shop or whatever. In the country, you are the only option. There is a real need. A rural physician gets to help people much more than you’re doing in the cities. In rural emergency medicine, now that is the front lines. As a physician in a rural community, you see the impact you can make. It’s just that much more dramatic. The impact of having healthcare in the community is real. It is nice to see that community grow and develop. It means a lot to me to see people getting better and knowing you are a part of that.

What is most important to you in your role as a site director?

One of the things that drives me as a physician is being able to make an impact in peoples lives. As a Director, I get a chance to help more of the community as a whole, my staff and our doctors.

I can be a bit of a mama hen. I like to watch over my flock very carefully. Being the director gives me a chance to interact and learn about different perspectives. Making protocols can sometimes have a huge impact. Building a good protocol can make the job easier and run more efficiently. Our providers devote much of themselves to helping patients in this community. Anything I can do to make their life easier or improve the work flow just makes me happy.

Anything you would like to add?

From a provider perspective, rural emergency medicine gives you more opportunity to help others and improve their outcomes. This is really the driving force for most of us here. It’s much more rewarding to be in the rural area than it can be in the urban areas with a big hospital.