By Marla Jones, Managing Editor • marla@southerntorch.com

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Dr. Jeff Cole announced on Thursday that he would be leaving Thompson Surgical Associates to shift his focus to starting his own private practice.

In a statement made to Southern Torch, Cole said, "I have appreciated the opportunity to practice with Dr. Jeff Thompson, and I think it's only natural for a physician to want his own practice. Valuable clinic space became available in the hospital complex where I currently work and that seldom occurs, so I felt this was the time to accomplish the goal of having my own office." Cole went on to say that when an office space came available just doors down from his current office that the timing was right.

Cole will continue to serve as Director at the DeKalb Regional Wound Care Center and will continue to operate the Cole MediSpa at Penny's from Heaven in Rainsville, which features botox, cool sculpting, and new services in the future.

Cole stated that the new practice will be called Cole Surgical Arts and will offer the same surgical procedures such as gallbladder and hernia, along with evaluations for different types of cancer. He is in his seventh year of practice as a general surgeon.

Cole is an alumnus of Fort Payne High School. He obtained a degree in Biology from Birmingham-Southern and attended medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Cole is hopeful that his new office will be completed by March 1, but until that time, he will continue to see patients at his current location.

The new office will be located at 323 Medical Center Drive SW in Fort Payne. The new phone number for Cole Surgical Arts is (256) 273-4300.