Come July 1, Dr. Matthew Bitner will no longer be the city’s medical director.
Sandy Springs Assistant City Manager Noah Reiter made the announcement at a June 3 meeting.
“Yes it is true,” Bitner said in an e-mail a week later. “I am leaving Sandy Springs.”
Bitner is moving to North Carolina to become director of pre-hospital research and education at Duke University School of Medicine.
Reiter said Dr. Arthur Yancey, emergency medicine doctor and professor at Emory University, is likely to replace Bitner as medical director. A formal appointment should occur in July, Reiter said.
Bitner came to Sandy Springs in 2007 as deputy medical director and a year ago was promoted to director. He brought treatments to Sandy Springs like the ‘hypothermia’ program that cools down cardiac arrest patients to protect their brain function while they are transported a hospital.
Bitner also is an emergency medicine doctor at Emory University Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital and a professor at Emory University. In addition to Sandy Springs, he serves as medical director for the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority, Milton Fire Rescue and Emory EMS.
Bitner’s last day is June 30. But on June 9, the 33-year-old doctor said he was headed to a medical conference and planned to vacation the remainder of the month.