The Union Hospital District will say goodbye to Dr. Christopher McWhorter.

McWhorter announced Wednesday to his patients and office he plans to leave his posts at Carolinas Health Associates-Family Practice Associates and Wallace Thomson Hospital in Union in September.

“My last office day at CHA-Family Practice Associates will be Sept, 24, 2010,” McWhorter said in a written announcement.

He said his decision to leave the hospital district is based partly on recent declining health of some family members.

“We feel that our responsibility requires us to return home to be within the immediate area to care for our families,” McWhorter wrote.

The doctor and his family came to Union after he completed his residency at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Family Medicine Residency Program in 2004.

“We chose to come to Union where I joined Family Practice Associates with Dr. Keith and Dr. Wentz,” McWhorter wrote. “Union was, and still is, a promising community where we could raise our family and still allow us to remain close enough to travel to care for our families who are four hours away.”

The McWhorters think now is the best time to move closer to those family members.

The decision was not an easy one.

“It is with great sadness that I would announce that my family and I will be leaving Union,” McWhorter wrote.

But he’s confident his patients and all of Union County are in good hands with the Union Hospital District.

“I feel that I am leaving you in the best care as CHA-Family Practice Associates continues to be one of the best medical offices in the Upstate,” McWhorter wrote. “Since 2008 when Family Practice Associates became part of Carolina Health Associates, a multi-specialty group based in Union for the Union Community, the practice has allowed us to feel more secure about the wellness and care of the patients that I have had the joy of caring for.”

He and his family hope for the best for Union County and its healthcare providers.

“My family and I wish the best for the community and healthcare providers of Union County,” McWhorter wrote.