Mitchell L. Mutter, MD
VIM Medical Director
Dr. Mitchell Mutter is described by friends and colleagues as an outstanding professional, mentor, teacher, leader, and humanitarian.
He attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville on a football scholarship, graduating in 1968. He then moved on to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis to pursue a degree in medicine.
After graduating from UTHSC in 1972, Dr. Mutter served until 1976 as a general medical officer in the U.S. Army at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Andrew Radar Clinic. He went on to complete his internal medicine residency, and cardiology fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He is double board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology.
After completing his service at Walter Reed, became Chief of Cardiology at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Mutter left active military service with the rank of lieutenant colonell, and returned to Knoxville in 1982 to begin private cardiology practice. He also served on the faculty for the UT Health Science Center as associate professor of medicine. In 1992 Dr. Mutter began practicing cardiology in Chattanooga, and he was Chief of Staff at Erlanger Hospital from 2004 to 2007. Since 2012, Dr. Mutter has served as the Medical Director of Special Projects for the Tennessee Department of Health. And also spearhead the state’s pain management task force.
Additionally, Dr. Mutter is the founder of the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti, which has employees in Chattanooga and Haiti. He began traveling to Haiti in 1988 to serve as a cardiologist and decided that the vast medical needs of the country might be addressed by a grassroots nutrition program designed to empower a generation of healthy Haitian children. In 2007 he was named a Citizen Diplomat by the Sister Cities International organization for his work in Haiti.
Dr. Mutter has been president of the Tennessee Heart Association, the Hamilton County Medical Society, and the Hamilton County Medical Foundation. He has also served as president of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, the regulatory and disciplinary board for physicians in Tennessee. Over his distinguished career, Dr. Mutter has worked on research teams as either a principal-, co-, or sub-investigator for more than 25 research studies in the cardiology specialty.
Dr. Mutter was named the 2007 Outstanding Physician by the Tennessee Medical Association, and also received the Medical Staff Meritorious Service Award from the Tennessee Hospital Association that year. In 2010, he received an “Angel for Children” award from Bethany Christian Services. In 2012 he received the Distinguished Physicians Award from Erlanger Baroness Foundation. And in 2022 recognized as the Champions of Healthcare Lifetime Achievement award recipient.
