Satellite Med

08/12/2026

Update 8/12/2026:

Our lobby will be open from 7am until 7pm tomorrow (Thursday 8/13) to give patients more opportunity to pick up their records. There are several that are ready to be picked up that have not yet been picked up.

Note: Just because our clinic is closed for business, your medical records are safe and there is no rush to get your copy of them. State law mandates that we maintain access to them for several years. If you have not yet requested them and do need them quickly, please email : [email protected]. Once our lobby permanently closes, we will post an update about how to request them long-term.

Also - Larissa Rich PA-C will be joining the team at Family Medical Associates and Pediatrics in Lebanon beginning in October. We thank her for her many years of service and friendship and wish her the best in her future!

07/30/2026

7/30/2026 - Attention Patients:

Edit: *Our lobby will only be open from 7am-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next couple weeks to accommodate in-person drop-off or pick up of Medical Records. Our lobby will be closed all other days. *

If you'd like your records transferred to another practice, you'll need to submit a completed "Medical Records Release Form", which is linked below. The completed form will need to be mailed to us at 1120 Sams Street - Cookeville, TN 38506 . Alternatively you can email the completed form to [email protected]. There is no cost to transfer your records to another practice.

If you'd like your records exported to you personally, we have several options to facilitate that. Please note that no records will be released to you or anyone else without a signed release form.

Option 1: Mail a USB Flash drive along with your completed release form to 1120 Sams Street - Cookeville, TN 38506. We will export your records to the USB Drive and mail it back to you. Please note: Satellite Med will not provide USB Drives.

Option 2: Email the completed form to [email protected] and give us written permission either on the form, or in the body of the message to email or fax your records to the destination you choose. Make sure to be detailed in where you would like the records to be sent. If your exported record is too large for email, we will reach out to you to discuss alternative options.

Please be patient when requesting records over the coming weeks as we are still receiving dozens of requests each day. Rest assured that each request will be answered. Also, please make sure that a valid mailing address is on the form if we are mailing records back to you.

Thank you for allowing us to care for you and your families, and we wish you a blessed future full of health and happiness.

Link to the records release form:https://www.satellitemed.com/records-release-form.pdf

-Satellite Med

07/24/2026

***Officially Official***

We apologize for the variety of ways of you've encountered this information without it coming directly from our channels.

Important message to our patients and community –

After 20 years of caring for this community, we have come to the point where we must close our doors permanently. Satellite Med has been a pillar in our community to the sick and the weary, and we have strived every day to bring the light of Jesus into every visit.

Healthcare in America has been in a downward spiral for the last 10 years. Insurance companies in particular have made it almost impossible to practice medicine as an independent practice. They consistently reduce their reimbursements to providers while steadily raising premiums on our patients – all while stepping into the medical decision-making process. This has forced providers and practices to try to bring healing to our patients with one hand tied behind our back.

Word has already begun spreading about our closure, but due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable to post about it on our web presence. Our last day treating patients in the office was Thursday, 7/23/26.

Rest assured that all requests for your medical record to be transferred will be answered and accommodated, but please be patient as we are receiving thousands of requests.

It has truly been the honor of our lives to care for you and your families, and we wish you a happy, healthy, blessed future.

(Don't delete us just yet. Keep an eye out for a personalized message in the coming days.)

Sincerely,
Dr. James W. Cates M.D.

06/16/2026

Satellite Med will be closed today, 6/16/26 due to Providers being unavailable.

We will reopen 6/17/26 at 7am.

We apologize for any inconvenience..

05/11/2026

𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬

𝐃𝐫 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦, 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧.

As public concern grows following reports of a hantavirus-associated-illness cluster linked to cruise ship travel, Dr James Cates, medical director of Satellite Med and medical director of the 11:11 Covid Project, is urging the public to rely on facts, not fear.

"𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑰𝑫, 𝒇𝒍𝒖, 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒔," 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑫𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔. "𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒕."

Hantaviruses are usually associated with contact with infected rodents or inhalation of contaminated dust from rodent urine, droppings, saliva, or nesting material. Andes virus, a hantavirus found in South America, is the exception known to spread person to person, but that type of spread is uncommon and typically linked to close contact with someone who is sick.

With the world cup bringing international attention and travel to North America this summer, Dr Cates emphasized that the public should avoid both complacency and alarmism.

"𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏," Dr Cates says. "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕."

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰:

*Do not sweep or vacuum rodent droppings or nesting material. Wet disinfectant first to avoid stirring contaminated dust into the air.

*Be alert after credible rodent exposure if fever, severe muscle aches, gastrointestinal symptoms, cough, shortness of breath, dizziness, or rapidly-worsening illness develops.

*Seek medical care promptly if concerning symptoms occur after wrote an exposure or close contact with a confirmed / suspected Andes virus case.

*Do not assume every respiratory illness is antivirus. Clinicians evaluate risk based on symptoms, exposure history, travel, and public health guidance.

04/22/2026

📣

🚧 Road Closure Notice 🚧

Bunker Hill Road will be closed April 23–24 as part of the Henley Drive expansion project. The road will also be closed overnight between Thursday and Friday. Local access will be maintained for residents, but all other traffic should use West Davis Road (from the south) or Sams Street (from the north). Please follow posted signage and plan alternate routes.

City of Cookeville TN- Laurin Wheaton, Mayor City of Cookeville - Luke Eldridge, Vice Mayor City of Cookeville - Chad Gilbert, Councilman City of Cookeville, TN- Ali C. Bagci, Councilman City of Cookeville - Eric Walker, Councilman

04/17/2026

📣Beginning Monday, April 20, 2026 we will be abbreviating our office hours to 7am - 5pm, Monday-Friday, through the Summer.📣

The Summer months have historically always been a slower season for our office with people traveling, school systems being on break, sickness slowing down (which means a healthier community!), and our general census for all visits being lower during this period. This will help us make better use of our resources during slower periods, it will give a little time back to our staff to be with their families and enjoy Summer more, and will allow us to reinvest saved expenses back into our office.

We tentatively plan to return to our regular office hours, 7am - 6pm, in the fall. As always, keep an eye on our social pages and websites for new information and updates.

Satellite Med
1120 Sams St
Cookeville, TN 38506
931.528.7312
[email protected]
https://linktr.ee/satellitemed

02/02/2026

Our phones are currently offline as we work on a power problem that occurred in our building over the weekend. We'll be back online in about an hour. We are still seeing patients.

01/25/2026

❄WEATHER UPDATE 01/25/26❄

Due to ongoing inclement weather conditions, Satellite Med office will be CLOSED on Monday January 26th, 2026 for in-office visits. Our telemedicine platform will be OPEN for virtual visits and we will be happy to see you there!

Start a Telemed Visit - https://telemed.satellitemed.com

Satellite Med
1120 Sams St
Cookeville, TN 38506
Ph - 931.528.7312
Fax - 931.528.7377

Office Email - [email protected]

For Website, Telemed Appointments, Patient Portal Access, etc - https://linktr.ee/satellitemed

Main Website - satellitemed.com

We do strongly recommend you to register your patient portal account for easiest access, messaging, and payments. Patient portal info can be found on our website and our Linktree, both listed above. Our Practice Code is: ABJGDD

01/06/2026

📣 1/6/2026 15:45 PHONE SERVICE HAS BEEN RESTORED! 🙌

Shout out to our Phone/Internet provider Lakes for working with Verizon (and whomever else was involved) to get services restored!