Dr. Klas joined the Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Family Medicine Residency faculty within the last year, after working as the founding program director for a family medicine residency in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Dr. Klas moved to Gainesville to be near his daughter and grandchildren.
Dr. Klas received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin and completed his residency training in family medicine at the University of Virginia. He subsequently worked in the public health service in rural North Carolina before returning to the University of Virginia as a core faculty in family medicine. After four years, he left to provide full-spectrum family medicine care including OB, ICU and inpatient at a community hospital. In 2007, he returned to Wisconsin to care for his aging parents, and within two years was the division head for the family medicine department at Gundersen Health System. In 2015 he was asked to develop a new family medicine residency, which he did until his retirement in 2022.
Dr. Klas “failed retirement” and by doing so, was blessed to find the Family Medicine Residency program at NGMC. He loves the culture of learning and team based care, and is excited to continue to pursue his passion of teaching family medicine and point of care ultrasound.
Outside of medicine, his interests are primarily his family. He is married to his wife Karen for over 40 years, has three children and five grandchildren. Dr. Klas loves watersports including slalom water skiing and stand up paddle boarding, as well as biking.