Dr. Jim Hotz is a Board Certified Internist and Master of the American College of Physicians, and began practicing medicine in what was considered one of the poorest and most medically underserved areas of the south. Volunteering to join the National Health Service Corp in the U.S. Public Health Service in 1978, he helped to form Albany Area Primary Health Care. His academic preparation includes a degree in chemistry from Cornell University in 1972, an M.D. from Ohio State in 1975, and a residency in internal medicine at Emory University from 1975 through 1978. He is a member of the Clinical Faculty of Mercer University School of Medicine and Medical College of Georgia.

Dr. Hotz is the former Chairman of the Board of the Southwest Georgia Community Health Institution, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, the Georgia Association for Primary Health Care, and the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center. He is on the Board of Health of Baker County, is Medical Director of the Baker County Emergency Medical Services, and serves as the Clinic Services Director of Albany Area Primary Health Care. Dr. Hotz currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Community Health Centers, Southwest Georgia AHEC as well as the Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition and on the Steering Committee of the Georgia State Cancer Plan.

Dr. Hotz was the 2009 recipient of the James Alley Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Georgia Rural Health Association for commitment and service to Rural Georgia. He has written numerous scientific articles and has published a novel, Where Remedies Lie, about his experiences as a rural doctor. According to the author, Neil Shuman, M.D., Dr. Hotz was an inspiration for the novel (and subsequent movie) Doc Hollywood.