Eric George is an American medical doctor, best known as a hand surgeon. He is the founder and CEO of ERG Enterprises, Omega Hospital and The Hand Center of Louisiana in New Orleans. He is also a venture capitalist, real estate investor, author, and philanthropist.
Medical career
Eric George grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, and graduated from Marshall University with a double-major in chemistry and political science. After being accepted to both medical school and law school, George decided to become a medical doctor and was trained in orthopaedic hand surgery. George is a graduate of Marshall University's School of Medicine in 1989, completed a General Trauma Surgery Residency at Michigan State University and a Fellowship in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Grand Rapids Area Medical Education Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Subsequently, he completed an Orthopedic Hand and Upper Extremity Reconstructive Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. He is board-certified and holds a certificate of Added Qualifications in Surgery of the Hand. George is currently a Professor of Hand Surgery at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and Tulane University in New Orleans. George has published articles in academic journals including Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and The American Surgeon. George founded the Hand Center of Louisiana, a surgical practice based in Metairie, Louisiana. In 2003, George co-founded Omega Hospital, a specialty surgical hospital, and became its CEO. Omega became the first physician-owned hospital in the greater New Orleans area. The luxury hospital focused on improving the patient experience by offering rooms with mini-bars, microwaves, and additional beds for family members to stay overnight. Today, George continues to serve as CEO of the Hand Center of Louisiana, where he works with the Saints and regularly treats NFL and NBA athletes, including Jimmy Graham and Anthony Davis, high-profile celebrities, and professionals in the oil and gas industry, as well as other businesses. George also maintains his role as CEO at Omega Hospital, where he actively practices full-time. Since 2007, George has appeared in the annual list of Best Doctors®, a national peer-nominated survey of the best physicians across 450 specialties and subspecialties.
Business activities
George's career as an entrepreneur and investor began in 2006, when he founded and became the CEO of ERG Enterprises, a venture investment firm based in New Orleans. In its early years, ERG made investments in healthcare facilities. That changed in 2009, when it partnered with The Berger Company to purchase the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans. While the hotel was owned by London-based Orient Express Hotels at the time, the transaction would return the luxury hotel to local ownership. In 2011 George attempted to purchase the Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre when the theatre fell into financial disorder, however his bid wasn't successful. Under George's direction, ERG Enterprises bought the famed Orpheum Theater in 2013, which suffered significant damage from Hurricane Katrina, shut down, and fell into a state of disrepair. George and fellow investors began plans to restore and enhance the original theater. The upgrade, which took over a year, included an expanded marble lobby, enlarged seating, additional bathrooms, multiple bars, and an auditorium floor that used hydraulics to accommodate the different surface requirements of concerts and events. The grand reopening of the theater occurred August 2015, just in time to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In 2020, the theater underwent a second major renovation under George's ownership. The basement of the theater was converted into an underground speakeasy called the Double Dealer, which opened January 24, 2020. George's ERG Enterprises also invested in an $18 million renovation project of the Pythian building in New Orleans. In 2015, George and ERG Enterprises acquired the Pythian with Dr. William Bradshaw of Green Coast Enterprises and Crescent City Community Land Trust. They reopened the property in 2017 as an apartment building offering workforce-rate housing, a 20,000 square-foot food hall, office space, and healthcare facilities. Today, ERG Enterprises owns Windsor Court Hotel, Pontchartrain Hotel, Royal Orleans Hotel, Westin Canal Place, The Frenchmen Hotel, and Thompson Nashville. In 2019, ERG recently joined Gayle Benson and her investment company GMB Properties, The Berger Company, and Fulcrum Hospitality in acquiring the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, which is largest hotel acquisition in the history of Louisiana. In 2020, the company also purchased the old United Fruit Company building on Saint Charles Avenue. He is additionally the owner of a pineapple farm in Panama and several assisted-living facilities in the state of Louisiana. George has additionally founded and supplied a grade school in the city of Mombassa, Kenya. In 2019, George published his first book, We: Ditch the Me Mindset and Change the World. The book focuses on his life experiences as a doctor and entrepreneur, and emphasizes the importance of orienting one's life around other people and making them the primary focus.
Philanthropy
George is an active philanthropist. In 2004, he became the benefactor and namesake of George Cottage at St. Martin's Episcopal School in New Orleans. George and his family also funded and participated in the construction of a new nursery school for an orphanage in Mombasa, Kenya. George has also established the Colonel Aaron C-Dot George Scholarship at Marshall University, as well as the George Family Scholarship Fund at New York University Law School.
