J. Patrick O’Neal, M.D. is Chief of Emergency Preparedness & Response Division of the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH). Dr. O’Neal is a native of Rome, Georgia. He completed an undergraduate degree in pre-med at Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. Dr. O’Neal received his medical education at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following medical school, he completed a rotating internship at Providence Hospital, Portland, Oregon, prior to entering the United States Air Force for training in flight medicine. Dr. O’Neal served as a flight surgeon in Viet Nam in 1970 through 1971.
Upon his return to civilian life, Dr. O’Neal served in Macon, Georgia, as the Director of the Outpatient Clinic at the Medical Center of Central Georgia for two years prior to entering the practice of emergency medicine at Dekalb Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia, in l973. Dr. O’Neal practiced emergency medicine at that facility for twenty-nine years. During his time at Dekalb Medical Center he served as Medical Director for Dekalb EMS. For his final seven years at Dekalb Medical Center he served as the Regional Medical Director for Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) throughout the Greater Atlanta area.