Carolina Pines celebrates Mincheff’s retirement
Dr. Thomas Mincheff. FILE PHOTO
On March 31, Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville hosted a retirement party on the hospital’s campus for Dr. Thomas Mincheff, general surgeon. Mincheff has been affiliated with Carolina Pines, formerly Bylery Hospital, for 28 years. His love for his patients and staff is unmatched and he has always had a true passion for healthcare. Mincheff was born Jan. 1, 1952, in New York City to a family of European immigrants. His family moved to Croton on Hudson, Westchester County, New York, when he was 5. During his junior year of high school, his family moved with him to Germany where he attended an American high school in Augsburg and graduated with honors in 1970. Later that year, he began studies at American University in Paris. Upon graduation, he was accepted to medical school at Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich, Germany, and graduated Cum Laude in 1979 with his Doctorate in Medicine. Mincheff returned to the United States in 1982 with his wife and son and began a surgical residency at New York University Medical Center. In 1986, he joined the Air Force and was stationed with his family at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y., and worked as a flight surgeon providing medical care mostly to Air Force pilots. In 1988, he joined the Department of Surgery at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas. From 1991 until his departure from the military in 1993, he was Chief of Surgery at 416 Medical Hospital, Griffiss Air Force base. He received the rank of major in 1993 and received an honorary Air Force commendation medal. That same year, Mincheff moved with his wife and two sons to Hartsville. He began a private practice as a general surgeon and worked alongside his medical partner, Dr. Robert Harris, until 1999. Following the completion of the new hospital in Hartsville, Carolina Pines, he opened a new private practice, Hartsville Surgical Associates, beside the facility with two surgical partners, Dr. Brooks Bannister and Dr. Art Cooler. Mincheff has touched the lives of many patients and community members during his time in Hartsville.
