The Georgia Public Health Association recently recognized UGA’s Archway Partnership for the expansion of the Federally Qualified Health Center in Clayton County with the Al Dohany Award for Community Service.
Established in 1999, the award annually recognizes individuals and organizations for their work in promoting public health in Georgia. The award was presented at the GPHA Annual Awards Luncheon on April 23 in conjunction with GPHA’s annual meeting in Atlanta.
The award recognized Jim Crissey, president and CEO of Southern Regional Medical Center; Dr. Alpha Bryan, district health director for District 3-3; and Gail Webb, Clayton County Archway Partnership professional for their leadership on securing Clayton’s Health Professional Shortage Area designation and the FQHC located in Lovejoy.
After years of research and work by graduate students from UGA’s College of Public Health, in June 2012, Clayton County was designated a low-income Primary Care HPSA. In September 2012, the FQHC was opened in Lovejoy. Lovejoy was selected because of its high population of low-income residents, lack of access to affordable healthcare and a move-in-ready building, which made for a seamless transition to a state-of-the-art FQHC.
The Archway Partnership, a unit of UGA’s Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, is an initiative to strengthen UGA’s land-grant mission. It creates portal counties through which the university’s teaching, research and service missions can address community-driven issues.