Former Jacksonville Mayo Clinic CEO dies

The CEO of Mayo Clinic died at his Queen's Harbor home on Thursday.

Dr. Thane Cody was 82 and suffered from a form of prostate cancer.

Dr. Cody was instrumental in bringing the first Mayo Clinic to Jacksonville.

"It was a pioneering effort coming down here, and he took a tremendous chance because Mayo did not have any previous satellites," said Paul Brazis, a neurologist who was one of the 30 original physicians. "He recruited all the physicians personally. The first year there were tremendous growing pains, and he handled it very well."

Dr. Cody influenced the Jacksonville medical community when the clinic opened in 1986.

Joanne Cody, his wife of 51 years, said that he traveled across the country since 1979 visiting potential expansion sites before Mayo settled on Jacksonville. He would give speeches predicting its growth, and many people would scoff, she said.

"He knew all this would happen," Cody said. "He just could envision things. He believed in Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and in the doctors that he brought down and in those that would follow."

WJAX