Dr. Johnnie C. Carter, MD

Dr. Carter is an excellent physician. Not only is he extremely patient, he is also knowledgeable, a great diagnostician, professional, and very personable. My husband and I recently moved to Athens and I needed an MD the first week I arrived. Being an RN and having lived and worked in California all of my life, I have dealt with my fair share of physicians. Dr. Carter is certainly one of the best I’ve ever known. He has a great staff and they will always accommodate an urgent request for a visit. I’ve never had to wait longer than five minutes for scheduled appointment (which is new to me, as the average wait time in California is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours!) His staff is very thorough with follow-up calls, medication refills, relaying messages, booking appointments, and obtaining referrals/authorizations to other specialists if need be.
I highly recommend Dr Johnnie Carter for anyone seeking a great family practice M.D.!!

My wife and I have had the privilege of having Dr. Carter as our guardian of health since 1990. He is knowledgeable and has an extensive knowledge of medical issues. But equally important is his patience and concern for patients.
His office staff is excellent in all aspects of patient care and friendliness.

After a very bad experience with another local physician. I searched for a new doctor. Dr. Carter came highly recommended by several people I love his care for his patients and his bedside manor has proven to be genuine care for my wel being. I would highly recommend him and his staff for your medical needs.

I've been seeing Dr. Carter for over 30 years. He is a very good doctor who will take the time to listen to any concerns and issues that you have. He genuinely cares for his patients and his staff is great.

Very caring. Thank you Doctor Carter for being quick and on the job 24/7. We have nothing but wonderful reports.

The Athens office seems to follow an odd schedule and requirement for prescription refills. Current regulations on a particular medication allow five refills before an additional appointment and documentation is required, but they will only prescribe two refills at a time. I've never been able to get a clear reasoning as to why they choose to do this. Normally I wouldn't complain about such a thing, but this requires an absurd co-pay for each visit, and essentially forces the cost of refills to triple as a result. The staff is generally friendly and welcoming though, and I've had zero issues in that regard; which is the only reason I haven't switched doctors until now.

EDIT 09/2020: I was referred back to Dr Carter via a local hospital following a possible stroke, and was told he will not see me again because they don't see patients that left for another physician. This is one of the most absurd policies I've ever heard of, as it nothing more than a childish "you picked them over me so I don't like you anymore" position. This policy speaks volumes about their intent when it comes to serving the community's medical needs.

I want to start off by saying that Dr Carter and his nurse practitioners are wonderful. This 1 star rating has nothing to do with them. However, the person that answered the phone today (May 23rd) at 9:02 am is a SNOT! Very unprofessional, and unsympathetic. I explained that my husband pulled a tick off of me this morning and I was concerned about Lyme disease. Before I could finish my sentence, she cut me off and said that “I would need to be seen for that.” Ok, fine. No problem. I asked to be seen today to which she replied, “We’re full.” I explained that Google says that there is only a 12 hour window of when you are suppose to take a certain antibiotic so that it lessens the chances of getting Lyme disease. She said that they could see me tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 10:30 am (so WAY past the 12 hour window). I told her that I used to work in a Dr’s office, and I know that they reserve a certain amount of ‘emergency’ time slots to squeeze people in for walk ins. She said……in a VERY snarky (rude) tone….”Yes, and I have already filled those slots!” So if the office opens at 9 am, and I called at 9:02am…….she filled ALL of the emergency spots in 2 minutes?? So rude. Perhaps she was annoyed that I knew about the emergency time slots…? Clearly I am nervous. Lyme disease is no joke. I worked in the medical field for 20 years. I took care of people on the ventilator that were bitten by ticks. I know the severity (possible severity) of Lyme disease. If this person that answered the phone has lost her lack of compassion….as well as empathy for a scared human being….then she needs to find a different career. I wonder what Dr Carter would say if he knew his patients were being handled this way (on the front end)…??