Distinguished Service Award Winners

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