WRMC Welcomes New Doctors

With a new state-of-the-art hospital scheduled to  open next year, is actively recruiting new medical professionals to staff the hospital. Dr. Michel Jeannot is one of those professionals.

A specialist in pulmonary and sleep medicine, Jeannot and his family took up residence in about a month ago when he opened his clinic in the professional building adjacent to the current hospital. He will, however, be moving onto the new campus next year when the hospital is complete.

“I have to,” he said. “I have to - or I would be allowing history to leave me behind.”

Jeannot said he is excited about the benefits the new hospital, as well as his services, will add to the community. Jeannot, who specializes in sleep disorders as well as diseases of the lungs, such as asthma and other respiratory disorders, said the opportunity to move to Walton County presented itself at just the right time.

“I was thinking about having a private office and this gives me the opportunity to do that,” Jeannot said. “It allows me to have my own diagnostic equipment and I choose to have the best. I also have a completely interactive webpage that allows my patients to check their own records, make their appointments online or ask questions.”

Included in the equipment Jeannot has at his office is an Elite Body Plethysmography machine, which tests for pulmonary function, as well as an ultraportable NanoMaxx Ultrasound system.

“I can use (the portable ultrasound system) here in the office or I can take it with me to see my patients in the hospital,” Jeannot said, adding the equipment and his services will allow for the hospital to treat more critical patients in-house without having to move them to another hospital.

Jeannot, who already has property to build a home in Walton County, said in the short time he’s lived in the county he has been impressed by the welcoming reception and friendliness of the community.

“I love the small town atmosphere here - and it’s a very scenic area,” Jeannot said. “The people are really nice – they stop and say hi and talk to us. I’m really looking forward to spending a long time here and I’m excited to make the hospital a great place for the community. I wasn’t expecting Harvard, but we can make it our own Harvard.”

Jeannot, who was born in Haiti, earned his medical degree and began practicing medicine in Mexico City before scoring more than high enough, "95 percent," to immigrate to the U.S. on his medical credentials and take up a position at the Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.. It was in Brooklyn where he met his wife, Natasha, who is now his office manager.

Jeannot comes to Monroe after leaving the Hugh Chatham Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. where he served as the medical director of the cardiopulmonary department and founder and director of the pulmonary rehabilitation services. He was also medical director of the sleep lab center and chairman of the critical care committee. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Jeannot and his wife have one young child and currently live in Monroe.