James Watkins and Robert Vaughn, Jr.: Trailblazing Surgeons in Medicine and Business
- Donald V. Watkins
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on November 2, 2025
In the Pursuit of Greatness
My two brothers were educated in medicine and trained as surgeons. Most people are familiar with Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., because he was the renowned heart surgeon who co-developed and implanted the first automatic defibrillator in a human patient at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in 1980. Today, more than 3 million heart patients worldwide have this life-saving device implanted in their bodies.
This article tells the remarkable and more impressive story of my younger brother, Dr. James A. Watkins, a general surgeon who co-founded a privately-owned surgical practice group in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Upon completion of his surgical training, James and his medical school friend and classmate, Dr. Robert D. Vaughn, Jr., started and grew one of the most successful surgical groups in Charlotte's history.
Levi, Jr., achieved his success in medicine while working as a high-profile surgeon/employee on an institutional platform that was built, owned, and maintained by Johns Hopkins University Medical School. James and Robert achieved their success on a medical services platform that they built, owned, and grew themselves into a surgical group powerhouse.
Inside of the close-knit Watkins family, James’s successful trailblazing in medicine and business was always more impressive to me. James and Robert rendered world-class surgical care while economically empowering a cadre of fellow surgeons, office personnel, medical institutions, medical vendors, and the Charlotte community as a whole.
Levi, Jr., co-developed an innovative medical device (i.e., the implantable defibrillator) and a new surgical procedure to install it in the human body, which was a monumental achievement. However, James and Robert developed a new, better, and privately-owned medical services platform that served and empowered an entire metropolitan community in a plethora of positive ways.
James and Robert Turned a Vision into a Privately-Owned Medical Empire
James and Robert moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in June of 1981 after completing the five-year surgical residency training program at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. They both graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1976 and have been friends since they met there in 1972.
James was born in Montgomery, Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama. Robert was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and graduated from Morehouse College. They decided to start a medical partnership, as they both had a strong desire to return to the Southeast to open a practice.
Robert had family ties in Charlotte because his sister attended Johnson C. Smith University and married a local realtor with strong ties in the city. James agreed to consider Charlotte as a potential place to start their new partnership. Later, they agreed that Charlotte was an up-and-coming progressive community and they wanted to become a part of it.
James and Robert were encouraged by many of the city's established black professionals to consider renting space in the East Independence Plaza Building for their office, which they did. This building project, near uptown Charlotte, had been led by Julius Chambers, a nationally renowned civil rights attorney. The impressive, black-owned, seven-story, glistening office tower created a sense of community pride and became a commercial hub for the city's surging number of black professionals.
James and Robert borrowed $5,000.00 from their respective fathers as initial seed money to open their surgical practice. Wachovia Bank (which is now Wells Fargo) was the only bank that would lend them any significant amount of money at the time. In July of 1981, they secured a $50,000.00 SBA-guaranteed line of credit to open the business. The interest rate was a whopping 21%.
Fortunately, the Charlotte community readily embraced James and Robert. Besed upon their reputations as well-trained surgeons, they quickly developed a steady and growing stream of patients. James and Robert reached profitability in record time. They only used about half of the $50,000 line of credit and were able to quickly pay off the debt.
Business Growth, Expansion, and a Merger of Equals
James and Robert were very interested in becoming a part of the training of surgical residents in the Charlotte metropolitan area. As such, they enthusiastically joined the teaching staff at Carolinas Medical Center.
They were also interested in growing their surgical practice and thought that having an inside track to a pool of well-trained future surgeons was a great idea. They were right.
Dr. Preston Fogle, M.D., completed his surgical residency training at Carolinas Medical Center and spent a year on the institution's teaching staff. Having been a part of Preston’s training, it was a very easy decision for James and Robert to invite him to become part of their surgical group.
After Dr. Fogle joined the group, James and Robert changed their business name from Vaughn and Watkins, M.D.s, P.A., to Dilworth Surgical Group, P.A. This name change coincided with their purchase of an office building on East Blvd. in the Dilworth neighborhood with plans for further expansion.
The next partner to join the group may have seemed somewhat controversial for the time period. Up until that point, the Dilworth Surgical Group consisted of three black surgeons working together, which was the norm in the South for that time period.
Dr. Robert Solyomvari, an excellent surgeon who happens to be white, also completed the Surgical Residency program at Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Solyomvari, an immigrant from Budapest, Hungary, eagerly sought a partnership with the Dilworth Surgical Group. He joined the group in 1991.
With the inclusion of Dr. Solomvari, James and Robert broke the color barrier in Charlotte by establishing a surgical practice where black surgeons worked as business partners with white surgeons.
In the years that followed, James and Robert added a good mix of world-class black, white, and female surgeons to the group. With ten surgeons, Dilworth Surgical Group moved to a larger office space closer to Carolinas Medical Center.
In 2009, Charlotte’s two largest general surgery groups created a "merger of equals" when Dilworth Surgical Group merged with Charlotte Surgical Group, P..A., to become Surgical Specialists of Charlotte, P.A.
In 2011, a smaller surgical group -- Southeast Surgical Associates -- joined Surgical Specialists of Charlotte, P.A.
Dilworth Surgical Group's Success Opened Many Doors of Opportunity
As their surgical practice grew, James and Robert racked up numerous personal and professional accomplishments. Additionally, James served as Chief of Surgery at Mercy Hospital and later served as President of the Medical Staff at Mercy Hospital.
Robert also served as Chief of Surgery at Mercy Hospital, Chief of Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center, and later as President of the Medical Staff at Carolinas Medical Center.
As part of the teaching staff at Carolinas Medical Center, James and Robert were both designated as Clinical Associate Professors of Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. James and Robert were Board Certified in General Surgery and they were both Fellows of the American College of Surgeons.
Pride in a Legacy of Success
Today, James and Robert are retired surgeons. Their goal of building a world-class, diversified, highly successful, large-scale surgery practice was achieved.
From the beginning, James and Robert were committed to providing the highest quality surgical care not only to the African-American community, but to the Charlotte community as a whole. This goal was achieved, as well.
As I look back on it today, I am in awe of what Drs. James A. Watkins and Robert D. Vaughn, Jr., achieved in medicine and business, and I am extremely proud of the way they did it.