2022 - Dr. Anthony Parker, Phoebe Putney Memorial Health Board of Directors
Dr. Parker served on the Phoebe Putney Memorial Health Board of Directors from 2004-2008 and was a member of the Phoebe Putney Health System Board from 2009 until his death in 2022.
He was the longest-serving president in the Technical College System of Georgia and transformed Albany Technical College, or ATC, from a small vocational school to a thriving regional college that has improved thousands of lives in Southwest Georgia by making superior technical education accessible to those who otherwise might not have had an easy path to higher education.
Not only did Dr. Parker help make education accessible, he was always looking for ways to ensure the health care programs at ATC continued to grow. In 2000, ATC opened the Nathaniel Cross Health Technology building, and Dr. Parker continued to build on this transformative project through the years.
In 2008, ATC opened the Charles B. Gillespie First Responders building and completed a $350,000 renovation of the nursing lab in the Nathaniel Cross building. In 2016, ATC further enhanced its health care educational offerings with the establishment of an Associate of Nursing program. Dr. Parker was instrumental in each of these transformations.
Dr. Parker also worked to make sure ATC students successfully graduated and assisted them in finding local employment. Whether working as EMTs in the community or fulfilling essential nursing and tech jobs at the hospital, Dr. Parker helped boost the community’s health care workforce at a time when the entire country is struggling with the same issue.
Dr. Parker was a strong proponent of the Phoebe Health Sciences Pathway, an innovative educational partnership between Phoebe Putney Health System, Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy, or 4C Academy, and Albany State University. It allows 4C students to dual enroll in ATC while still in high school. They have the opportunity to complete their core college classes at no cost, earn their nurse assistant certification, and apply for a paid internship position at Phoebe – all while still in high school. Upon graduation, they can immediately go into the nursing program at either ATC or Albany State, getting a head start on their professional training and education so they can enter the workforce earlier.
While working to bolster the workforce pipeline, Dr. Parker was also busy touting the extraordinary care available at Phoebe. As a cancer survivor, he led efforts to raise awareness about cancer prevention and money to help cancer patients in the area. He spoke forcefully and gracefully about the outstanding care he received at the Phoebe Cancer Center and was a strong patient advocate, always encouraging Phoebe to continue its investments in cancer care so the people of southwest Georgia have access to exceptional cancer treatment without leaving home.
Past Distinguished Service Award Winners
2019 - Sen. Dean Burke, Memorial Hospital and Manor
2018- Starr H. Purdue, Navicent Health
2017 - Charles Moore, M.D., Grady Health System
2015 - Don Thomas, M.D., Hamilton Medical Center, and William Pannell, M.D., Crisp Regional Hospital
2014 - Walter C. McNeely, Southeast Georgia Health System
2013 - Aretha Neal, Monroe County Hospital, and Lila Hertz, Piedmont Healthcare
2012 - Benjamin H. Underwood (Gold Honor Award of Excellence), Charles 'Pete' Wood, WellStar Health System, and W. Woodrow Stewart, Northeast Georgia Health System
2011 - A. D. 'Pete' Correll, Grady Health System
2010 - Leonard Fant, Hutcheson Health Foundation, and R. Lee Smith, Jr., University Hospital
2009 - Sen. Greg Goggans (R-7), Coffee Regional Medical Center, and Norman Morris, Upson Regional Medical Center
2008 - James Lanier Allgood, Jr., Fairview Park Hospital, and Richard B. Hubbard, III, Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, Inc.
2007 - Levi W. Hill, Augusta, and William Waters, III, M.D., Atlanta
2006 - H. Duane Blair, M.D., Decatur, and Eldred Tippins, Jr., Claxton
2005 - Romeo Adams, Royston, and Howard Stroud, Sr., Athens
2004 - David Apple, Jr., M.D., Atlanta, and Wayne T. Sikes, Lawrenceville
2003 - Robert L. Brown, Jr., Atlanta, and George Jeter, Columbus
2002 - James Floyd, Jr., Hinesville, and Judy McMahan, Decatur
2001 - Rosemary Evans, Forsyth, and Willie (Bill) H. Odom, Macon
2000 - William M. Huffman, Rome, and W. Harry Wilson, Albany
1999 - Frank S. Dennis, Jr., Augusta, and John B. Prince, III, Tifton
1998 - Clarence C. Butler, M.D., Columbus, and Damon D. King, Macon
1997 - Jeff Kinlaw, Alma, Edward D. Griffin, Sr., Columbus, and Pauline Channell Richardson, Greensboro
1996 - Charles B. Eberhart, Decatur
1995 - B. G. Early, Rome, and Harley Langdale, Jr., Valdosta
1994 - T. Richard Daniel, Augusta, and Hulett D. Sumlin, Atlanta
1993 - Edward C. Loughlin, Jr., M.D., Atlanta, and Perry G. Busbee, M.D., Cordele
1992 - Alana Smith Shepherd, Atlanta, and C. Jackson Bandy, Dalton
1991 - Harold Nichols, Blairsville, and Charles R. Underwood, M.D., Marietta
1990 - J. William Pinkston, Jr., Atlanta
1989 - J. N. Cook, DeSoto, and Richard L. Olson, Columbus
1988 - Richard E. Bird, Statesboro, and W. Carl Gordon, Jr., M.D., Albany
1986-87 - T. W. Lord, Jr., Marietta, and J. Roger Sumner, Rome
1985 - Frederick Higginbotham, Atlanta, and James P. Hollis, Newnan
1984 - William T. Barnes, Macon, and Charles Yager, Dahlonega
1983 - George M. Rooks, Jr., Hartwell, and Aldine Rosser, Statesboro
1982 - Jack Hughston, M.D., Columbus, and Edwin B. Peel, Atlanta
1981 - Norman Dorminy, Fitzgerald, and Byron L. Southwell, Tifton
1980 - Mary W. Schley, M.D., Columbus, and Charles D. Hudson, LaGrange
1979 - Harry W. Jernigan, Jr., Augusta, and Robert W. Woodruff, Atlanta
1978 - J. P. Turner, Jr., Dalton, and Samuel R. Hunter, Sr., Americus
1977 - John Holt Moye, Columbus, and William C. Wardlaw, Jr., Atlanta
1976 - Hugh B. Landrum, Jr., Columbus, and James R. Lientz, Savannah
1975 - Lucius H. Atherton, Sr., Marietta, and John W. Gates, Rome
1974 - Glenn M. Hogan, Atlanta
1973 - Carl T. Barrett, Canton, and J. W. Fanning, Washington
1972 - John Rufus Evans, M.D., Decatur, and Fuller E. Callaway, Jr., LaGrange
1971 - Harry H. Purvis, Cornelia, Judge B. B. Heery, Savannah
1970 - Louie D. Newton, Atlanta, and George Lamar Westcott, Dalton
1969 - Boisfeuillet Jones, Atlanta, and Elbert P. Peabody, Augusta
1968 - John A. Sibley, Atlanta, R. C. Williams, M.D., Atlanta, and Reuben G. Clark, Savannah