Kelly Ward, MMSc, PA-C

Kelly Ward is a co-founder and the full-time clinical leader of FINISH Performance Health, with 28 years in orthopedics and sports medicine in Athens. The same clinician performs your exam, reads your imaging, builds your plan, and follows your case. A University of Georgia graduate, he completed his physician assistant training at Emory University, began practicing as an orthopedic PA in 1998, and served alongside UGA Athletics for 26 years, working with athletes at every level from youth to elite competition.

One of those athletes was Chris Gaunder. Kelly was his orthopedic PA-C during his playing days at Georgia, followed his career through medical school, residency, and a decade of military service, and ultimately recruited him home to Athens as a co-founder of this practice. It is the kind of relationship FINISH is built on.

His conviction is simple and hard-won: most musculoskeletal problems never need surgery; they need time, an accurate diagnosis, and the right conservative-first plan. FINISH is the practice he built to deliver exactly that.