Dr. Joey L. Christmas will be joining the Effingham Hospital medical staff and begin seeing patients on July 1.

Dr. Christmas is a general surgeon and his office, Effingham Surgical Services, will be located in the professional building on the hospital campus, 459 Highway 119 South, Suite A, which is the building adjacent to the Effingham Hospital.

Dr. Christmas is currently a general surgeon at the Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla, Mo. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 2003 and completed his general surgery residency at the University of Kansas in the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education.

“We are so pleased to welcome a surgeon with the talents and abilities that Dr. Christmas possesses. He will be an asset to the hospital and the community,” said Effingham Hospital Chief Executive Officer Norma J. Morgan.

Dr. Christmas is originally from LaGrange. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have three sons. The Christmas family will move to Effingham County in June.

“We look forward to the Christmases moving to our county and becoming a part of, not only our medical family, but our civic, religious and social community as well,” Morgan said.

Starting July 1, Dr. Christmas’ office hours will be from 8 a.m-5 p.m. weekdays. Some of the surgeries Dr. Christmas performs include appendectomies, biopsies, colonoscopies/endoscopies, gallbladder surgeries, hemorrhoid removal, hernia repair and laparoscopies. His new surgery practice will accept all insurance plans, and the office telephone number will be (912)754-0185. F