BAY EYES LASER & CATARACT CENTER - Key Persons
Andrew E. Kortz, M.D. obtained his Bachelors of Science degree from University of Florida, Gainesville and went on to post graduate coursework at Cambridge University, England. Dr. Kortz earned his medical degree from Columbia University in New York, NY in 1991 then continued his training in Ophthalmology at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. while serving in the U.S. Navy. Dr. Kortz went on to complete a Fellowship in cornea transplantation and LASIK surgery at Emory University in Atlanta in 1992.
As a Naval Doctor for ten years, Dr. Kortz was able to serve his country as a staff Ophthalmologist and Flight Surgeon in several locations around the country including Oakland Naval Hospital, NAS Whidbey Island, WA, and Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital, Camp Lejeune, NC. While in the Navy he was also stationed in Pensacola. He found that he liked both the people and the climate of the Florida panhandle and has practiced in the greater Pensacola area since 2002.
Dr. Kortz is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist, certified by The American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Kortz is exceedingly well trained and has extensive experience dealing with a broad array of eye problems and diseases including cataracts, glaucoma, eye plastics, retina and cornea related problems. Dr. Kortz is a highly accomplished eye surgeon.
Dr. Myers continues that level of committed service today with each patient he sees. While he enjoys the retina in general, the core of his work at the institute revolves around Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Retinopathy.
He enjoys his long-term relationship with his patients and always takes the time to educate them, believing that the more you understand, the more comfortable you will be during treatment.
Gravlee knew from an early age that he wanted to go into medicine. "Medicine and surgery are the only professions I've ever really been exposed to," remembers Gravlee. "One of my earliest memories - it must have been around age four - is of jumping off a stool and hiding under my dad's surgical table in the veterinary clinic after experiencing an unexpected arterial bleeder in my face! The only way I ever got to see my father was if I followed him into the clinic and barnyards and later in his career into the research facilities and clinical laboratories. Many of the sights, smells and hands-on experiences - like pulling calves - are indelible upon my memory."
He comes from a long line of creative thinkers. An uncle, the late Clark Gravlee, M.D., a former OB/GYN in Birmingham, held patents on several instruments, and his father, Dr. Frank Gravlee, a retired veterinarian and patent holder, has created and produces a special nutritional formulation, Farriers Formula, that is saving the lives of horses around the world by stimulating the growth of sound, healthy hooves.
"My uncle, Clark Gravlee, was really a mentor to me, and I always thought I would become an OB/GYN like him. But a big obstacle stood in my way," explains Gravlee with a big laugh. "I really need my sleep and I just didn't think I could function properly with catnaps between labor contractions!
Gravlee choose ophthalmology, and after undergraduate training at Washington & Lee and the University of Alabama, Gravlee graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He did an internship at Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham and his residency at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
In 1985, Gravlee and his wife, high school sweetheart Glenda Ritchie of Birmingham, settled in Fairhope and he opened his practice under the name of Bay Eyes. Today he has an additional office in Foley and is soon to be opening his own surgery center in Fairhope.
In 1986, the Gravlee's bought a former hotel on Mobile Bay in Fairhope and named it "Away at the Bay." Now a bed-and-breakfast, the structure has been turned into a spacious residence for the Gravlee family which now includes two sons and a daughter. Additionally, there are six charming suites in the popular bed-and-breakfast. Occasionally, out-of-town patients will stay at the inn, allowing Gravlee to make evening rounds from the comfort of his home.
Dr. Gravlee refers to his wife as "a real partner." She manages the bed-and-breakfast and also handles the accounts payable for his practice, which currently includes two optometrists.
When not at work, Gravlee enjoys sailing, bird hunting, chess and exploring the Internet. He's been a member of the Fairhope Rotary Club for many years, having served a term as president of the club. He was presented Rotary's highest honor, the Paul Harris Fellow Award. He is active in the St. James Episcopal Church in Fairhope. "It makes me humble and thankful," says Gravlee, "to know that I have been blessed with a wonderful wife, family, community and the ability to serve God, who is the great physician."