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Phone: (276) 398-2292 Glen Tate is a board-certified family physician with added qualifications in geriatric medicine. He practices at the Tri-Area Health Clinic in Laurel Fork, Virginia. Tri-Area is a community health center that receives federal funds to create access for low-income patients through a sliding scale of service charges. Located near the eastern border of Carroll County, the clinic serves patients from three areas — Carroll County, Floyd County, and Patrick County. The Tri-Area practice includes two physicians, a pediatric nurse practitioner, a family nurse practitioner and two pharmacists. Tri-Area rents space to a full-time general dentist. Born May 12, 1954 in Bland County, Virginia, Dr. Tate is a citizen of the United States. He is married to Janet Tate and has two children, Adam and Lindsey. Dr. Tate holds a holds a BA degree in Chemistry, awarded in 1976 by Berea College, Berea, Kentucky. He earned an MD degree in 1981 from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. He completed a three year residency in 1984 at Roanoke Memorial Hospitals, a program affiliated with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Dr. Tate has been with Tri-Area Health Clinic since 1984 and he has been Medical Director for the community health center since 1989. Tate has held an appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor in Family Medicine with the University of Virginia School of Medicine since 1994.
Dr. Tate offers sports physicals to area students and treats injuries as needed. The Clinic operates a medical laboratory of moderate complexity and offers simple x-ray procedures, pharmacy services, emergency care, dental care, and minor surgery (skin surgery, simple orthopedics, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and culposcopy). The Clinic completed a new building in June 2003. It comprises 10,000 sq. feet with 12 exam rooms, one ER suite, x-ray suite and a new, larger pharmacy. Tate sees 25 patients a day and estimates that the three physicians and two nurse practitioners at Tri-Area see a total of 80-85 patients per day. About 10% of Dr. Tate's patients are children or adolescents — most children are seen by the pediatric nurse practitioner. The remaining 90% of his patients are adults and about half of his adult patients are over the age of 65. Tate estimates that 35% of his patients are covered by commercial insurance; 20% are uninsured; and 45% are covered by Medicaid or Medicare.
Tate is on after-hours call for Tri-Area patients every third night. He encourages residents to join the call schedule if they wish to gain real-life experience in rural medicine. According to Dr. Tate, Tri-Area call is not bad, being primarily a commitment to remain available. Dr. Tate enjoys most elements of general family practice. He does not practice obstetrics. Given the maturity of his practice, much of his time is consumed by geriatric medicine. Tate's personal interests include golf, hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, and tennis. Laurel Fork is a small rural community of about 200, but the Tri-Area Clinic serves a population of about 10,000 people who live within a 10-mile radius of Laurel Fork. The landscape west of Laurel Fork is characterized by pastoral hills and quiet hollows. East of Laurel Fork, the land rises to the scenic heights of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Major elements of the Carroll County economy include manufacturing, transfer payments (retirement pensions, disability income, and welfare benefits), retail trade, agriculture, and personal services. There is no coal or tobacco in Carroll County. In 1995, the largest employers were the school board, the Southwest Virginia Training Center (residential care), Barker Microfarads (makes electronic capacitors), and Magnolia Manufacturing. US Highway 58 traverses Laurel Fork about 15 miles from U.S. Interstate 77. Laurel Fork is 10 miles from Hillsville, a town of about 2,000, and 20 miles from Galax, a city of about 6,700. There are several shopping centers in these communities, with department stores, restaurants, cinema screens, groceries, discount stores, and specialty boutiques. There is a wonderful gourmet restaurant 7 miles from Laurel Fork at the Chateau Morrisette Winery. The luxurious Doe Run resort is just a few miles further up the Blue Ridge Parkway. Three Virginia state parks are within 25 miles of Laurel Fork — Fairy Stone, Claytor Lake, and the New River Trail. There are facilities at these parks for camping, picnicking, hiking, biking, swimming, boating, fishing, hunting, and horseback riding. The Old Mill Golf Course is just down the road from the Tri-Area Clinic. The Blue Ridge Parkway is famous for its scenic views. Just over the border in North Carolina is Mt. Airy, purported to be the town on which television's Mayberry was modeled.
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Glen
Edward Tate, M.D.
Dr. Tate works 40 hours per week
in an office setting. The clinic's office hours are 8:00 a.m.
— 8:00 p.m. on Mondays, 8:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Tuesday
Friday, and 8:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The
two physicians rotate schedules on a weekly basis. Thus, some
weeks, Tate works 8:00 a.m.— 5:00 p.m. Monday Friday.
Alternate weeks, he works 12:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. on Mondays,
8:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Tuesday — Thursday, 8:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. on Fridays and 8:00 — 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Dr. Tate maintains courtesy privileges
at Twin County Regional Hospital, a 141 bed acute care facility
in Galax, Virginia. He does not admit or round on patients in
the hospital, which is about 25 miles from Laurel Fork.