The Beginning
After spending five years in the Air Force and two in Shelby, North Carolina, Charleston native Dr. George F. Geils Sr. did what many Charlestonians do when they’ve been away a while – he decided to come “home.”
“After leaving the military, I needed time to reprogram from military life. Looking as far south as Florida and even Texas, we chose Shelby. It was a very traditional Southern town. I was happy, settling in with the academic and business aspects of private practice, but I was missing Charleston,” admitted the senior Dr. Geils.
The move was daunting, but the Geils family was determined to return and bring Dr. Geils’ special brand of care to the community, now known as Charleston Oncology.
When Dr. Geils founded the Charleston Oncology practice in 1977, the specialty of oncology did not have the focus it has today. There was no specified hospital cancer center nor board-certified oncologists in Charleston.
That’s how he knew the private sector needed his brand of practice.
“Charleston embraced the idea of an oncology practice slowly, but it was the right move for us,” recalled Dr. Geils Sr.
“We loved being home, and I enjoyed the challenge.”
Doughnuts for Doctors
Dr. George F. Geils Jr.’s inspiration to follow in his father’s footsteps was fostered by the sweet, siren song of the Krispy Kreme doughnut.
“I found out early on, accompanying my father to the hospital as a child, that the doctors’ lounges at the hospital always had Krispy Kreme donuts. That enticed me to go,” joked Dr. Geils Jr.
“Kidding aside, I was exposed to medicine by both my oncologist dad and my mother, who is a medical technologist and ran the lab in the first office,” Dr. Geils Jr. said.
From a young age, Dr. Geils Jr. gravitated towards medicine in general.
After all, not every Dr. Geils goes into oncology. Son and brother Dr. Wills C. Geils is a well-regarded cardiologist also based in Charleston. His extensive experience in his field makes Dr. Geils, like his father and brother, respected for his skill and compassionate care of patients. Wills’ wife, Dr. Meghan Ondo Geils, is an exceptional and beloved pediatrician in the community as well.
As for Dr. Geils Jr., he enjoyed studying critical care and infectious disease but found his niche in oncology and hematology: therapy for blood cancers, bone marrow transplants and other cellular therapies.
After completing his fellowship, Dr. Geils Jr. joined his dad’s practice.
“It was such a pleasure to work with my son,” said Dr. Geils Sr. “The opportunity to share the love of my profession with my sons is something I’ve always cherished. I think patients always appreciated, too, that we were a father-son team.
Occasionally, patients would think that I was either my son’s older or younger brother,” laughed Dr. Geils Sr.
“Yeah,” Dr. Geils Jr. interjected. “Sometimes there was confusion.”
“At one point, I had a beard. When it started to turn grey, patients would ask how I liked working with my son,” quipped Dr. Geils Jr. “After that, the beard came off.”
Both Dr. Geils chuckled at this memory.
Mirthful they may be, but the Geils physicians are serious about their work. Driven to help Charlestonians battle cancer, both physicians continued engaging in the academics of their specialties and also in expansion. As the needs of our area’s cancer patients grow, so does the practice at Charleston Oncology, along with the cutting-edge technology and methodology they provide.
“When I joined the practice,” said Dr. Geils Jr., “I was the fourth member. Since then, we’ve hired additional oncologists and merged with other practices in the area. We now have 12 physicians, and 20 nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants spread across six office locations in the Lowcountry.”
“It’s a wonderful time to be in this specialty,” added Dr. Geils Jr. “Growth has been exponential in terms of what we can offer patients. The complexity of care has become quite astounding. What we have available to us miraculously allows us to individualize treatment choices. Advances enable us to treat patients with less toxicity, and what ‘chemotherapy’ means to a patient is changing. Patients can be treated with far fewer symptoms than they used to. Cure rates are steadily increasing for many of the cancers that we treat.”
“Yes,” Dr. Geils Sr. said. “The toxicity of old treatments was so tough that patients frequently required hospitalization for treatment of side effects. It’s a gratifying change that’s occurred because treatment is now almost entirely outpatient, except for certain hematologic malignancies which are still a major challenge.”
The Future
“I’m so proud of him and what he’s accomplished,” said Dr. Geils Sr. regarding his son’s spearheading of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Roper St. Francis.
“He’s made a huge contribution to the community, involving hundreds of hours of personal effort, especially in establishing the bone marrow transplant unit. Based on his efforts, cure and survival rates are among the best in the country. It was a personal commitment to his patients and a phenomenal achievement to witness as a physician and a father. I’m not sure people understand how much he’s contributed.”
Dr. Geils Jr. humbly chuckled but admitted that he’s pleased with the work his efforts produced.
“We at Charleston Oncology also built the Cancer Center at Roper St. Francis so that patients could receive nearly everything needed for cancer treatment in one place. Diagnostics and therapies, apart from surgery, are offered there: chemo and other infusion therapies, radiation therapies and more.”
The Center also provides mental, emotional and physical support by offering nutritional guidance and fitness classes.
There’s also a boutique offering helpful accessories for patients who need them.
Dr. Geils Jr. won’t allow his father to escape his own well-deserved accolades either.
“Much of this wouldn’t have been possible without the sophisticated clinical trials led by my father years ago,” said Dr. Geils Jr. “Because of his work, we can offer cutting-edge therapy within a community setting.”
Oncology can be an emotionally taxing practice for physicians. For all the work they do, every win is important, even if it doesn’t soften the blow of the losses.
“We have difficult days but the highest highs. Seeing patients fully recover and return to normal life is so inspiring,” said Dr. Geils Jr.
“It’s hard to put into words the deep personal commitment that each of us makes to our patients. There are easier professions. However, in my mind, nothing is more rewarding than being in the trenches fighting alongside every patient. We don’t just subject them to treatment. We work alongside them to defeat this disease. My father established those standards, and we at Charleston Oncology will keep emulating them.”
By Amy Gesell
