In 1975, Crandall resident Cutene Millsaps had her gallbladder removed in what was the first-ever surgery at the newly opened hospital in Chatsworth.
“They found out I had gallstones — and that was in March of 1975 — and (the doctor) wanted me to wait until July when they opened the new hospital,” Millsaps recalled. “He didn’t want to do surgery in the old hospital.”
The successful procedure and two-week stay at what was then known as Murray County Memorial Hospital left Millsaps, now 94, with a 6-inch scar in her abdomen.
Fast forward to today, advancements in medical technology, such as using minimally invasive surgery techniques, leave little to no visible scarring and allow for shorter hospital stays with this type of surgery. Board-certified general surgeon Craig Murray, MD, FACS, now removes gallbladders at the same hospital, now AdventHealth Murray.
At AdventHealth Murray, Dr. Murray is able to repair hernias, remove gallbladders/appendixes and complete other laparoscopic surgeries by using specialized instruments to make keyhole-sized cuts in a patient’s abdomen.
“The platforms allow us to do complex operations through small incisions,” Dr. Murray said.
Dr. Murray, who is also trained in robot-assisted surgery, said smaller incisions mean quicker recovery periods with less pain, reduced need for pain medications and less chance of infection.
“The goal is to get them back in the game and doing the things they want to do,” he said.
Dr. Murray joined AdventHealth Medical Group General Surgery at Chatsworth in January 2024 to meet what hospital leaders said is a growing need for surgical services in the community.
“A lot of people don’t even know we have surgeries here,” said Donny Abraham, Vice President and Administrator of AdventHealth Murray. “Having Dr. Murray here full time gives us a lot of ability to do surgical cases in our community and keep patients here instead of them having to go elsewhere.”
Fellowship-trained general surgeon Carl Lokko, MD, who practices with AdventHealth Medical Group General Surgery at Calhoun, had been managing the Chatsworth hospital’s surgical cases on a part-time basis, Abraham said.
“Our focus is to build a good team and be particular about who we recruit, but we also need to meet the needs we see in the community,” he said.
Dr. Murray has also started doing Bravo pH testing by which he implants a small capsule in a patient’s esophagus which measures acid levels over a 48-hour period to determine whether a patient has acid reflux.
“We are having a good year with regards to our growth and ER volume and admission volume,” Abraham said of the 42-bed hospital, which saw roughly 20,000 emergency room patients last year. “Access to health care is important in any community and being in a smaller community, when you come to the emergency room, you want to be treated well and get excellent care.”
Brenda Holcomb, Millsaps' daughter, said she’s always had a positive experience when bringing her mother or other family members to AdventHealth Murray. Millsaps’ most recent ER visit in October came after she hit her head on a piece of furniture after becoming unsteady on her feet.
“They were really worried about the knots on my head,” Millsaps said. “We went straight in and didn’t have to wait at all.”
Holcomb said her mother had a CT Scan performed right away which showed Millsaps didn’t have a concussion. Additional tests determined she had a urinary tract infection, and she was administered antibiotics through an IV.
“They checked her out thoroughly,” Holcomb said. “She had excellent care. I couldn’t ask for a better experience.”
Millsaps spent many years doing scrollwork on chenille bedspreads that were displayed on clotheslines along Highway 41 as part of Dalton’s textile boom and famed Peacock Alley. She also worked in Dalton’s carpet mills before doing other part-time jobs, including a seven-month stint working as an ICU housekeeper at AdventHealth Murray.
“I loved it,” Millsaps said of her time working at the hospital. “I liked the people, and the nurses were so sweet.”
She said the kindness of the AdventHealth Murray team is what keeps her coming to the hospital on Old Dalton Ellijay Road. In addition to a two-week stay there with whiplash from an automobile accident in the late 1970s, she spent seven days there in 1981 for bronchitis. In the mid- 1980s, an abscessed tooth landed her back in the hospital for a week. She also spent time there with her first husband, who had muscular dystrophy.
“We’ve got a lot of history with that hospital,” Holcomb said.
Her more recent stays have been for pneumonia.
“I was in the hospital just about every year with pneumonia,” Millsaps said. “They were just really nice and really good to me there. I felt like I was cared for. I knew they were trying to do something for me.”
Today, Millsaps keeps her mind active by doing crosswords, reading and swapping jigsaw puzzles with her twin sister, Ilene Teasley. Should she need medical care again, she doesn’t hesitate to say she’ll choose AdventHealth Murray.
“It was just comfortable because I felt like I knew the people and felt like I trusted them,” she said. “I just think it was a great place to go, and we will definitely go back if we need to.”