Dr. Michael A. Ponder

I have always called this area “home” since I grew up in the eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina region. Being a doctor has been my calling since childhood; I always knew that I would be a physician one day. I treat my patients with high quality and evidence-guided medical care. Cardiology is a unique specialty, and my interest has really changed over the years. Initially, I was interested because of diagnostics and imaging, being the radiology-based specialty that we are. However, in time I became more interested in the critical care aspect of cardiology and treating acutely ill patients. I actually went back for my MBA, not for the purpose of understanding the financial aspects of medicine, but rather how to deliver value and high quality care as some of the largest cost in medicine deals with cardiovascular disease. I have one child with special needs, so I do a lot of work with Shriners Hospitals for Children. I serve on their hospital board, and it has been a great joy in my life to help with their hospital systems. Shriners give away almost three-fourths of $1 billion dollars each year to support our 22 hospitals. It has been very rewarding to help administer that money, which is funded out of endowments and many individual donations. My particular Shriners Hospital is in Greenville, South Carolina, and many children from our area are treated there.

Dr. Ponder is highly rated in 8 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Mitral Stenosis, Aortic Regurgitation, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Heart Disease.