January Newsletter

WE DID IT!!! OUR COVINGTON ASC IS NOW OPEN!!

Our team has been working very hard for MONTHS to get our BRAND NEW Ambulatory Surgery Center open in Covington, GA and it is finally OFFICIAL! See more details below.

February is Black History Month and the Howard Center for Women’s Health would like to acknowledge all of the incredible people from our past, our present and our future who have and will continue to pave the way for our youth!

Thank you for your courage, your strength and your determination to persevere, triumphantly, through any adversities that you may have faced!

The entire month of February, we will be spotlighting our Physicians, sharing their achievements and their stories! We hope that you all enjoy their videos and learning a little bit about them and their journey to get where they are today!

Birthdays

Anniversaries

Let’s Welcome some New Employees!

employee photoJarria ShipTWC Medical Assistant began in December 2022
employee photoKelly AtkinsOB Medical Assistant began in December 2022
employee photoLaura Stephens Albany Marketer began in January 2023
employee photoLaurie Linne Insurance Specialist began in January 2023
employee photoPeyton OdomUltrasound Tech Covington began in January 2023
employee photoTorie BloserFront Office Coordinator began in January 2023
employee photoAmanda BurtFront Desk for TWC began in January 2023
employee photoSara FlandersFront Desk for THC Main began in January 2023
employee photoEryn RuizCovington Marketer began in January 2023
employee photoBrakia BatemanOB Medical Assistant began in January 2023

Introducing A New Social Media Director & New Managers

Insurance Manager – Marquita Duffie
Tifton Marketer & Social Media Director –
Bekka Reese
WCAS Nurse Manager – Dianne Paulk

Announcements

  • HIPAA Training for all New Hires will be on February 14, 2023.
  • WEAR RED for Valentine’s Day!!! We’re inviting everyone to wear their Valentine’s Gear for Valentine’s Day on February 14th. You may wear a Valentine’s shirt of your choice with your black scrub pants.

UOG in the Community! Check out what we supported this past month!

School Sports Sponsorships

  • Blue Devil Dugout Club
  • Worth Co Baseball Boosters
  • Irwin County Youth League
  • Irwin County Baseball
  • Tift County Girls Basketball Team
  • Frostbite Golf Tournament to benefit Blue Devil Tee Off Club

Community Sponsorships

  • Literacy Volunteers of TiftArea – Choc It Up for Literacy Event
  • Pregnancy Care Center of TiftArea – Fill the Bottle Campaign
  • Coffee County Sherriff’s Office – Donation for Child Safety and Fire Safety classes
  • Easterseals of Southern Ga
  • Tift Co Special Olympics

Community Sponsorships

  • Darby Dash in benefit of Eli Griffin
  • Tift Gymnastics – Gold level from Howard Diet
  • Tift Gymnastics – Gold level from Howard Center
  • Howard Diet Basket for Tift Co CTAE Month
  • Howard Diet Basket for “An Evening at ABAC” Silent Auction

If you are ever interested in submitting a request for a sponsorship – please call Sarah Hayes at EXT 2509 or send her an email at sarah.hayes@howardcenter.com

THE HOWARD CENTER PHARMACY IS OPEN!

This is not just for UOG employees and prescribers!
Anyone can use our pharmacy!

Our prices are very competitive and often better than other retail pharmacies. We take most all commercial insurance plans and will bill insurance for you.
*We do not accept Medicaid or Medicare Plans**

For patients not residing within a comfortable drive of Tifton, we can send your medications to you in the mail.

LOOK FOR A PHARMACY WEBSITE AND APP, COMING SOON!!!!

Women’s Center for Advanced Surgery in Covington!

Our amazing team passed State Inspection on January 25th! On January 31st, Dr. Jim Nix performed our very first surgery in our brand new Operating room! It was an incredible day!

We are so excited to have the Surgery Center open in Covington!!! It’s an honor to have the opportunity to serve the women in Covington and surrounding areas like Atlanta, Athens, Lawrenceville and so much more! Our surgery team will be helping women with Heavy Periods, Pelvic Pain, Endometriosis, Bladder Control and IUDs!

December’s Excellence Awards

Marketing Department

Lizzy Lott – Lizzy Lott always goes above and beyond what’s expected of her. Her work and dedication is outstanding! She has been marketing for Douglas and Tifton by herself. She has been building these two clinics diligently. She has taken the past few weeks training our new Tifton marketer and killing it! So blessed to have Lizzy part of our UOG family!

Ultrasound Department

Leah Ross – Leah has been the definition of a leader this month. She has been my saving grace these past two weeks. Leah has pulled her weight plus some. She is encouraging, a team player and she’s volunteered & traveled to our outlying clinics several times this month. Leah has an incredible drive and passion for ultrasound. She is very attentive when scanning. Leah identified major abnormalities on ultrasound this month including an ovarian torsion, a cystic ovarian neoplasm and a ruptured ectopic tubal pregnancy just to name a few. We thank you for your hard work & the positive impact you make in women’s lives in our community.

Tifton Women’s Center

Brandy Castanon – Brandy has been so amazing to have with our front desk team at TWC. She is so sweet with our patients and she cares about each one. She is always willing to learn and do anything to make herself and her team better. Brandy always makes sure her work is done before leaving each day. She was even worrying about her work being done during our Christmas Brunch when everyone else was eating. We love having her uplifting energy and positive attitude as part of our team!

OB Nursing

McKinley DeCosta – McKinley has been a huge help to OB these past couple weeks. She is really passionate about what she does. She never complains and is always willing to help in any way she can. Thank you for your dedication. YOU ROCK!

WCAS

Shanna Lopez – Shanna Lopez is the employee of the month for WCAS. She has been a team player and never complains about anything. She goes far and beyond for her physician and patients, and they love her so much. Anything that is asked of her she does, and she always takes initiative to do what needs to be done. She is always going above and beyond to assist the surgery center to make things run smoothly. We are blessed to have her as a part of our team!!

Insurance Department

Shaynia Taylor – She has really stepped up recently in our department with helping out. She shows great leadership skills and has the sweetest demeanor. Shaynia is a great asset!

Medical Assistant

Gracie Brumfield – Gracie Brumfield is an amazing nurse! She’s always willing to travel and go the extra miles to help her co- workers and patients. She has a great attitude and is always professional! We are so lucky to have you on our team!!

Congratulations to our very own Marcy Tankersley NP for winning the Provider Excellence Award! Marcy has been part of our family for a year. She has excelled in her performance and has taken care of many OB patients! She takes care of high risk Obstetrical patients and many more. Her reviews prove how much she’s appreciated! Never a negative remark. Thank you for being a part of our UOG family!

January’s Excellence Awards

Ultrasound: Rebekah DavisRebekah is a highly motivated, hard working individual who consistently arrives on time and shows great dedication towards her professional duties. She is always willing to go above and beyond when it comes to making sure her patients are well taken care of. She helps out wherever is needed and is always willing to go the extra mile. Rebekah is a pleasure to work with and we are very fortunate to have her on our team. Thanks for being a great team player!
Tifton Women’s Center: Connie LeverettConnie is our Triage nurse at TWC and we appreciate all the hard work she does for our patients. Triage is not an easy position and she is amazing at keeping up with the work. Connie goes out of her way to help our patients by helping with any questions, getting patients medications corrected, and getting precerts for patients medications. The precerts alone come in by the dozens and she always gets them taken care of. Our patients love her and ask for her by name when they call. Connie is also available to help any of her coworkers with any questions. She has been with the company a long time and knows a thing or two about OBGYN care. Thank you Connie for all the hard work!
WCAS: Dianne PaulkDianne Paulk our new Nurse Manager stepped in this month and completely took on one of the most stressful jobs ever, getting us ready to pass our State Inspection for Covington. She worked day and night to make it happen.
Insurance: Laurie LinneI would like to nominate Laurie Linne as employee of the month for our department. The reason I picked her is because whatever I have asked of her to help with she is always willing to go over and beyond. She has a positive attitude and great personality!
Medical Assistant: Carolina CraigCarolina Craig is recognized for going above and beyond and for her outstanding job performance. Carolina is dedicated, hardworking and dependable. She goes above what is asked of her and is a strong asset to the company. Above all, we appreciate her positive attitude and helpful approach to her co-workers and patients. Thank you, Carolina, for all you do! We are lucky to have you!
Howard Diet: Idali Ayala Idali Ayala would be this month’s employee of the month. Idali has done nothing but improve and grow over the past few months she’s been with us. Idali has taken on FMLA for all clinics as well as making sure Diet patients are taken care of and never complains!
Front Desk: Camille SowellCamille has been with us for 3 months now! She has always been on time and very dependable. When she has questions she searches for her answers, and truly wants to learn. This month I had another manager reach out to me to let me know what a blessing she was to our Valdosta office. She is a true asset to our team, and I can’t wait to see how far she goes!
Manager: Jessica Robison, Paulo Vargas, Jennifer Harvin & Kristin MerrittI definitely cannot pick just one out of these four!! They have all went way ABOVE and BEYOND to get our Covington WCAS up and going. Really most of the managers put in extra work to make this happen and I am extremely grateful to each one of them. It truly took a village to pass our State Inspection… and I praise God for our village!!! It is such an honor to work with the best managers ever!

These four had a lot of hard tasks and they each faced them head on! There is no way possible we would have been able to pass our State Inspection and do cases if it wasn’t for them!! This month…I am picking all 4 as the Manager of the Month!!

Provider: Rose SmithCongratulations to Rose Smith NP for winning the Nurse Practitioner Excellence Award for January. Rose provides excellent care for all her patients. She goes above and beyond their expectations. She’s well known in her community and in the Coffee County area. She’s a great supporter for Irwin County wrestling and is very active in the organization. Most of all, she’s an amazing Nurse Practitioner and her reviews prove her expertise in Women’s Health. We are blessed to have her as our UOG family. Thank you Rose!
Photo of shining star winner

Bekka Reese
Tifton Marketer and Social Media Director
$250 and a Trophy!

Thank you for bringing a smile to everyone on the team and our UOG patients. Your consistent positive attitude has made a huge difference on our team. Thank you for always being the first to volunteer a helping hand. Having you be a part of our UOG family makes all the difference. You have grown so much from Marketing to also being our Social Media Director. You go above and beyond for us all. Thank you for bringing your BEST every single day.