“The Human Connection”: Dr. George Adams Brings Heart to PAD Care

By Kym McNicholas, CEO, Global PAD Association

Technical excellence in medicine is necessary, but it is not sufficient. For patients navigating the complex journey of peripheral artery disease, the quality of human connection with their physician can be as important as the procedure performed itself. This truth lies at the heart of why we recently honored Dr. George Adams, Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Cardiovascular and Peripheral Vascular Research at UNC Rex Hospital in North Carolina, with our 2025 Compassion and PAD Care Award.

What makes Dr. Adams’ compassion particularly remarkable is how he maintains this human connection despite the immense demands of his multiple professional roles. When a patient needs him, everything else pauses. We’ve heard accounts of him interrupting live educational broadcasts to check on patients from the previous day – a small gesture that may seem minor to the doctor, but speaks volumes about his priorities and means everything to these patients.

His responsiveness extends to his willingness to help patients who have exhausted all other options. When the Global PAD Association reaches out with urgent cases that have come across our leg saver hotline, Dr. Adams, no matter where he is in the world, consistently responds with immediate, compassionate intervention.

During our conversation, I asked Dr. Adams what shaped his extraordinary approach to patient care. He shared that his journey to medicine began unexpectedly. “I was going to become a mechanical engineer,” he explained. “And then I realized that I liked people interaction.”

That people-centered orientation was deeply influenced by his childhood experience caring for his grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s disease. Growing up on a farm in southern North Carolina, the young George would stay home with his grandfather while his parents worked.

“I still remember being young and having him by my side,” Dr. Adams recalled. “He was a strapping gentleman, very sharp… but he couldn’t remember.” This early experience taught him about the profound impact one person can have on another’s life – a lesson that continues to guide his practice today.

“It made me appreciate not only him, but the ability of another person to influence another, right? And to help another,” he reflected. “We helped each other and we worked together, sort of like patients, right? It isn’t just a physician that helps a patient. It’s a patient that helps a physician and physician that helps a patient and it’s teamwork.”

This philosophy of partnership shines through in Dr. Adams’ approach to even the most challenging cases. When I asked about his secret to maintaining such deep compassion day after day, he emphasized seeing each patient as an individual with unique goals.

“Every person is individualized, right? It’s a personalized approach,” he explained. “And every person matters. It’s hard to see someone suffer, right? So if you can decrease or alleviate that suffering, it means so much.”

Dr. Adams shared a story about a patient who had been referred to him – an elderly woman whose only wish was to continue playing the piano. Another doctor had recommended amputation, but she was determined to keep her leg and maintain her ability to play. Through Dr. Adams’ intervention, she not only kept her leg but lived another year or two, able to continue doing what she loved most.

“She became independent, right? She was dependent,” he noted. “And she got to do the things that she likes to do in life.”

For Dr. Adams, the goal is always to help patients regain their independence. Whether it’s a farmer who wants to pick sweet potatoes with his sons or a woman who wishes to play piano until her final days, he sees each person not as a collection of symptoms but as someone with dreams and goals that deserve respect.

What’s particularly encouraging is seeing how Dr. Adams’ approach to compassionate care is beginning to influence the broader medical community. During our conversation, he shared a remarkable story that demonstrates this ripple effect:

“I had a patient just the other day, actually it was this past week, that showed up in the ER with a note with my name on it from another facility. The other facility couldn’t do it and said, ‘You need to go to this emergency room and ask for this physician.’ And they had my name on this thing.”

This moment made him realize that his impact was spreading. “It makes me believe that the impact of what we’re doing is making an impact,” he said. “Maybe they couldn’t get them transferred, but they told the patient what to do, who to ask for and where to go.” The result was a positive outcome for a patient who otherwise would have lost their leg.

This willingness to refer patients to specialists with different capabilities is exactly the kind of system Dr. Adams advocates for. He believes strongly in the value of second opinions, especially when amputation is recommended. Rather than seeing it as a failure, he views appropriate referrals as good medicine.

“I just like to believe that it’s more ignorance rather than intent,” he explained when discussing why some doctors might not refer patients for advanced limb salvage. His approach emphasizes education over blame, understanding that many physicians are doing their best with the knowledge and tools they have. Creating a healthcare culture where asking for help is encouraged rather than penalized is part of his broader vision.

His technical philosophy parallels his compassionate one: “Just try.” Dr. Adams shared examples of cases where other physicians had determined intervention was impossible, but simply attempting to thread a wire through a blocked vessel proved successful. “The only thing that was different between me and the other people was that I tried, right? I didn’t say, listen, this is too bad. It can’t be done.”

In a healthcare environment increasingly defined by time constraints and technology, Dr. Adams reminds us that the art of medicine – the human connection between doctor and patient – remains essential to true healing. His balanced approach of technical excellence and profound compassion provides a model for how we should approach PAD care.

When discussing the importance of exercise for PAD patients, Dr. Adams emphasized, “If you don’t use it, you will lose it” – a principle he applies to maintaining circulation in the legs. But this wisdom extends beyond physical therapy. Perhaps the same could be said for compassion in healthcare – a quality that must be exercised regularly to remain strong. Dr. Adams’ daily practice of putting patients first keeps the heart of medicine alive, not just for himself but for everyone his care touches.

Watch my full interview with Dr. George Adams below:

#CompassionateCare #PADawareness #LimbSalvage #GlobalPADImpactAwards