Saint Joseph's Mercy Care Services will host its fifth Mercy Moves through Me Award celebration in the Georgian Ballroom of the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel on February 18 honoring Richard E. Besser, MD for his "committed and outstanding service and advocacy for the underserved." This year's Gold Sponsor for the event is UPS.
In September, 2009, Richard Besser, MD became ABC News' senior health and medical editor. Prior to accepting this position, Besser served as director of the Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Besser served as Acting Director for the CDC and Acting Administrator for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from January through June 2009, leading the CDC and its response to the "swine flu" influenza outbreak. He began his career at the CDC in 1991. Staff writer David Montgomery of the Washington Post said of him, "He is a scientist who has mastered the healer's delicate art of simultaneously projecting deep concern and profound calm, telling national audiences to worry but not to worry."
Introducing the honoree will be friend and colleague Anne Schuchat, MD, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC. Attending the luncheon will be Besser's colleagues, community and business leaders, members of state legislature and city government, church leaders, Saint Joseph's Health System and Mercy Care Services board members and staff and community partners.
The Mercy Moves through Me Award is given to individuals or organizations for committed and outstanding service or advocacy for the underserved. Inaugurated in 2005 in celebration of Mercy Care Services' 20th anniversary, it has continued as an annual luncheon event and vehicle for honoring outstanding community servant leaders. Inaugural honorees were Mayor Shirley Franklin and Congressman John Lewis.
Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, Saint Joseph's Mercy Care Services is celebrating 25 years of offering a health care and health related services safety net to some of the city's most needy citizens-new immigrants, persons experiencing homelessness, the uninsured and underinsured. Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and Saint Joseph's Health System, Mercy Care Services' clinics have become the medical home for thousands throughout the metropolitan area.
About Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta
Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1880, Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta is now a 410-bed, acute-care hospital recognized as one of the leading specialty-referral hospitals in the Southeast. Saint Joseph's is the regions premier provider of cardiac, vascular oncology and orthopaedic services and home to the most comprehensive minimally invasive robotic surgery program in the world. Saint Joseph's is one of the 50 top hospitals and one of the few hospitals in the world to receive Magnet Recognition for Nursing Excellence. Saint Joseph's medical staff is comprised of over 750 physicians. Saint Joseph's Health System is based in Atlanta and has several subsidiaries including indigent care services, employed physician group, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Greensboro, GA, and research facilities. Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Saint Joseph's is a member of Catholic Health East. For more information, please visit www.saintjosephsatlanta.org.
