Georgia Statewide AHEC Network selected to receive the National AHEC Organization (NAO) Eugene S. Mayer Program of Excellence Award
The Georgia Statewide AHEC has been selected as the 2014 recipient of the Eugene S. Mayer Program of Excellence Award for having the best program nationally. It is given to an entire AHEC Program including its Centers and will be awarded at the NAO Diamond Awards Gala on July 10, 2014 at the NAO Conference, "AHEC: Driving Access to Quality Healthcare through Innovation, Implementation & Impact," to be held at The Westin Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Eugene S. Mayer Program of Excellence Award is given in honor of Dr. Gene Mayer, who provided dedicated leadership to the North Carolina AHEC Program and the national AHEC movement from 1972 until his death in 1994.
Dr. Mayer worked tirelessly on behalf of AHEC, speaking before Congress about AHEC, chairing the Legislative committee of National AHEC Organization of AHEC Program Directors
(NOAPD), and representing AHEC at numerous national meetings. Dr. Mayer provided assistance to many other states involved in developing AHEC programs, and spoke about AHEC
to university and legislative leaders from other states whenever called upon for assistance.
The Eugene S. Mayer Program of Excellence Award is given to an entire AHEC Program, including its Centers, based on the degree to which it exemplifies the best qualities of an AHEC Program as outlined in these criteria:
* Program comprehensiveness
* Community and university partnerships
* Responsiveness to community needs
* The degree to which the program has had a significant impact on improving access to health care for the citizens in its state
* And is limited to only NAO members