- April 26, 2024
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Dr. Robert Fredrick Mullins
1966-2020
Beretta Coffman will sorely miss her friend and colleague Robert Frederick Mullins.
“Dr. Mullins was a very skilled surgeon, but even more so, a compassionate physician,” said Coffman, the vice president of non-physicians providers at Burn and Reconstructive Centers of America. “He took care of the entire patient as well as the family. He was humble, kind, and he had a huge heart.”
Mullins, who was president and CEO of the organization, died Sunday at age 54. A cause of death has not been released.
“In his more than 30 years of caring for thousands of patients, Dr. Mullins helped transform burn care across the nation and the globe,” said Jason Smith, the organization’s vice president of communications.
Mullins was a founding board member of the Georgia Trauma Foundation, a member of the Georgia Trauma Commission and chairman of the JMS Research Foundation.
According to the Georgia Trauma Foundation, Mullins was a native Augustan, graduating from Augusta College before attending the Medical College of Georgia. Doctors Hospital said he completed his medical school training at the MCG School of Medicine before completing his internship and residency at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.
He practiced under the leadership of the founder of the burn center at Doctors Hospital, Joseph M. Still. The foundation said Mullins’ focus was to carry on Stills’ legacy and continue to provide the best possible care to patients.
While his work reached several corners of America, Mullins was still an active member of the Augusta community, helping patients however possible.
Mullins became medical director of the JMS Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in 2003 and led its transformation into a national presence with 15 locations in eight states.
Coffman said burn care is an ever-changing field, and she believes Mullins was excited by being constantly challenged and learning new things. She said he was able to take two well-established techniques and combine them to get better skin graft take, better cosmetic outcomes, and for the patients, better chances of survival.
The “Mullins Technique” has become a standard of care across the country, she said.
“If Dr. Mullins is going to be known for anything in burn care, it’s going to be saving the lives of patients that should have statistically not lived,” Coffman said. “To have a 90% burn (victim) that is able to play a sport, or have a 90% burn (victim) that’s able to go back to gainful employment is a win, and Dr. Mullins was able to make that happen.”
While his work reached several corners of America, Mullins was still an active member of the Augusta community, helping patients however possible.
With his brother, Joe, Doctor Mullins started the annual Christmas event Shop with a Doc. The idea was born from an event called Shop with a Jock. Every year, when Joe and Robert would take the child patients to shop, the children would shop for gifts for those dedicated to changing their lives, as opposed for themselves. The event brought much joy to Mullins and the community.
“Our hearts are broken for his family, for us – his extended family, and for the thousands of patients he would have helped had he lived longer,” said Doctors Hospital CEO Doug Welch. “Our hearts are grateful, though, for the immeasurable impact Dr. Mullins had on our hospital, our community, and his patients.
Credit to the author Miguel Legoas. Dr. Robert F. Mullins was the older brother of Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins.
