2024 - Dr. Maureen "Mo" Yearta, Colquitt Regional Medical Center
Maureen Yearta, Ed.D, trustee of Colquitt Regional Medical Center received one of the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) highest honors, the Distinguished Service Award. The award was presented at the association’s annual Summer Meeting and recognized Dr. Yearta for her deep community involvement and spearheading education and healthcare initiatives.
Dr. Yearta grew up in England but has made her mark in Moultrie, Georgia for many years. She served as the principal of a small rural elementary school and became known for her passion for education, literacy, and helping students thrive. She moved into the role of assistant superintendent and became involved in helping migrant families address access to healthcare. This effort led to her becoming more involved in the hospital and county health system.
Upon her retirement from the school system in 2013, she was appointed to the Hospital Authority of Colquitt County. As chair of the quality committee of Colquitt Regional Medical Center, she promoted the importance of Colquitt Regional to the community, highlighting its important role in sustaining and growing a vibrant community. She has traveled many times to Atlanta and Washington, D.C. on behalf of the hospital, advocating for rural healthcare at the state and federal levels. She also worked with the Colquitt County Medical Center Board of Trustees to create a strategic plan and vision to move the hospital into the next decade.
“It is vital that healthcare communities have passionate advocates and the support of people like Dr. Maureen Yearta,” said GHA President and CEO Caylee Noggle. “Thanks to her dedication, access to quality healthcare has greatly increased for Moultrie residents and the patients of Colquitt Regional Medical Center. She is a most-deserving recipient of this award.”
Past Distinguished Service Award Winners
2023 - Dr. Ivan Allen and Dr. Paul Jones, Atrium Health Navicent
2022 - Dr. Anthony Parker, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital
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