Local surgeon credits military with giving opportunities for success
Dr. Pat Hayes has dedicated his life to serving the people around him.
The doctor and veteran has achieved success, both personally and in his long career in the medical field, and attributes his achievements to his service in the military.
Suzy Hannon, sister-in-law of Hayes, said although Hayes wouldn't ask for the accolades or attention, his family wants to see him honored for Veterans Day.
She said it was through the military that Dr. Pat Hayes, Shelby orthopedic surgeon, was allowed to go to college, medical school, residencies and fellowships.
She described him as a humble, unassuming, steady man who doesn't call attention to himself and yet helps so many people in the Shelby, Kings Mountain and Lincolnton communities who have benefited from his medical expertise.
"It is a privilege to work with Dr. Hayes," said Veronica Poole-Adams, vice president, facility executive and CNE Atrium Health Cleveland. "I think about the many sacrifices that military personnel and physicians make for the betterment of others and their dedication to make things better. I am very thankful that 22 years ago Dr. Hayes chose to serve our community and make a difference here on a daily basis."
Hayes is grateful to the U.S. Military for providing him the opportunities for higher education that allowed him to pursue a life of service.
“I couldn’t have gotten where I am or accomplished what I have without the help of scholarships from the U.S. Air Force,” he said. “It has been a rewarding path, and I recommend it as an option to anyone.”
Hannon said his story is how the military can give people opportunities and change lives.
“It's the story of Pat, along with his family quietly making a real difference in the community... quietly doing what they can for others,” Hannon wrote. “Many people in Shelby, Kings Mountain and Lincolnton know Pat as an outstanding doctor, but they don't know his military story and how it has played a vital role in his becoming a surgeon.”
A humble man, she said he would never tell this story himself but felt it was important to share.
Hayes was one of seven children born into a military family in Ohio. His father enlisted in the Air Force at 18 and served a 20 year career that included being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He went through school while in the military and completed two master’s degrees in engineering.
“Pat was raised in military housing as a child,” Hannon wrote in an email to The Star. “They were humble beginnings, and his dad lived on meager means as an enlisted man with many kids. They didn't have much growing up, no running water at times, food cans from the church, and their mom made their winter coats to survive the Ohio winters. Education was their answer to get out of their poverty.”
When Hayes was in the eighth grade, his father moved the family to Oakwood, Ohio, even though they couldn’t afford it because they had the best public school in the region.
“For him, education was always a way to a better life,” Hannon wrote. “His dad required all the children to read hours every day during the summer before they could go out and play. He valued reading, science and math and that was what helped Pat do well in high school.”
Hayes excelled, but his father told him he would have to find scholarships if he wanted to continue his education since he couldn’t afford it due to the demands of seven children, and since he had remarried, two households.
At age 18, Hayes was on his own.
Hayes knew the military was his ticket to college, and always self-motivated, he bought several SAT books and worked through them on his own.
“Foolishly, he only applied to one college, Duke University, and got in,” Hannon wrote.
He joined the Air Force and got a ROTC Scholarship which paid his way through Duke where he majored in engineering as the military required. Although he excelled, half way through, he realized that engineering was not what he wanted to do. Having stellar grades, he was able to apply for a Health Professions Scholarship which guaranteed a full ride through medical school. He switched his major to mathematics and completed his degree at Duke graduating magna cum laude. Upon graduation in 1985, he was commissioned as an Air Force officer. He immediately enrolled in Georgetown Medical School and after graduating, was selected for a competitive orthopedic residency at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1993-1994, Hayes was picked as the Resident of the Year at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh. In 1994, he won the Patton Award for Excellence in Teaching at UNC Hospitals.
Having received financial support from the U.S. Air Force for his college and medical school, Hayes owed the military eight years of active duty service as a trained orthopedic surgeon. He married Crissy Duffy, a paramedic who worked in the emergency room as well as did research in the UNC Medical School. They moved to Sacramento, California, where Pat was an orthopedic surgeon for Mather Air Force base where he became the chairman of the orthopedic department and later the head of all surgical services at Mather Air Force Base. He was also clinical staff at the University of California at Davis taking trauma calls and teaching residents. After spending four years in northern California, Hayes was loaned to the Navy and was moved to Bethesda, Maryland. He was at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda for four years as clinical staff where he cared for members of Congress and the White House. He trained future Navy surgeons as the assistant residency director during his tenure there. In 1999, Hayes earned the U.S. Air Force Meritorious Service Medal and won the Commanders Coin of Excellence at the National Naval Medical Center in 2001.
After finishing his military commitment, he and Crissy and their son moved to Shelby in 2001 where he joined Miller Orthopedics which evolved into OrthoCarolina. Hayes specializes in shoulder surgery offering arthroscopic surgery and shoulder replacement reconstruction.
His patients come from all over the state to seek his help.
Hayes now operates at three hospitals including Atrium in Shelby, Lincolnton and Kings Mountain. He has been with his current practice for 22 years. He has an intense call schedule at these three hospitals and in the past he has helped take care of Gardner-Webb athletes and presently supervises physician assistants. For years, he has been the medical director of the Gardner Webb Athletic Training Program. Though he works most of the time, he and Crissy are very supportive of the Shelby community. They have been active with the Cleveland County Arts Council, Jr. Charity League Clothing Room, The Don Gibson Theater, delivering food for the Kids of Cleveland County. They financially support Hospice, the Boys and Girls Club and Abuse Prevention Council.
Hannon said they believe it is important to give back to their community, and they do that every day.
In addition to his accomplishments, Hayes has been on four mission trips to Nicaragua to teach surgeons how to operate in a third world country and help bring modern medical techniques to that underserved population. His adult children accompanied him to offer help in the surgical unit. They painted hospital wards, worked with the orphans and held I.V. bags in the operating room.
“They are a family of givers to the community and to the world,” Hannon wrote.
In his free time, he enjoys gardening, hiking, mountain biking and camping.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Local surgeon credits military with giving opportunities for success
