SAVANNAH — Armstrong State University’s College of Health Professions was awarded the Georgia Medical Society’s Institution/Organization Award at the 14th annual Health Care Heroes Awards Banquet held Nov. 18 in Savannah. Armstrong President Dr. Linda M. Bleicken, Interim Assistant Dean of the College of Health Professions Sandy Streater, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Sciences Department Head Doug Masini and Health Sciences Department Head Robert LeFavi accepted the award on behalf of Armstrong.
The Institution/Organization Award recognizes organizations that have taken health-care initiatives outside the confines of their own institutions and into the community at large, making demonstrable improvements in the quality of life for area residents. This prestigious award is given annually by the Georgia Medical Society, the first chartered medical society in the state of Georgia and the oldest county medical society. The society’s current membership includes approximately 500 physicians practicing in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, McIntosh and Long counties.
Armstrong’s College of Health Professions is the largest undergraduate health college in Georgia, offering a range of academic programs that prepare students for careers in nursing, public health, health administration, respiratory therapy, radiologic sciences, physical therapy, communication sciences and disorders, medical-laboratory sciences and sports medicine. Currently, more than 2,400 students are enrolled in the College of Health Professions, and the alumni base includes nearly 9,000 graduates, 6,000 of whom remain in Georgia.
Armstrong’s College of Health Professions is committed to the community through public service. Communication sciences and disorders students provide free hearing screens to approximately 2,000 children each year; the RiteCare Center, supported by members of the Scottish Rite, provides speech/language therapy services to adults and children at little or no cost; nursing and public-health faculty and students provide services at St. Mary’s Community Center through a $1.5 million Health Services and Resources Administration grant for interprofessional care; and physical-therapy faculty provide free continuing education for area clinicians in orthopaedics and rehabilitation.