Regent visits university
Recently appointed Regent Felton Jenkins paid a visit to campus July 24 to see firsthand Georgia’s only public health sciences university. It was an afternoon packed with information.
“I’ve learned an awful lot,” he said that afternoon. “It’s amazing the things you all are doing.”
During tours of the new Cancer Research Center, the Life Sciences Business Development Center, the School of Dentistry and the Children’s Medical Center, Mr. Jenkins engaged in fact-finding discussions with many campus officials, including Dr. Andrew L. Mellor, director of the Immunotherapy Center; Dr. Michael Gabridge, associate vice president for technology transfer and director of the Life Sciences Business Development Center; Dr. Connie Drisko, dean of the School of Dentistry; and Sheila O’Neal, vice president for strategic support of MCGHI. Joining Dr. Daniel W. Rahn, president, and R. Bryan Ginn Jr., vice president for university advancement, in greeting Mr. Jenkins upon his arrival were Don Snell, president and CEO of MCGHI; Dr. Curt Steinhart, president and CEO of Physicians Practice Group; and Dr. Barry Goldstein, provost of MCG.
Discussions centered on MCG priorities – a new School of Dentistry building, addressing work-force shortages, bringing laboratory discoveries from bench to bedside, and the complexities of providing cutting-edge services and education in older facilities – and challenges in the health care environment, including reimbursement for services, access to care for the uninsured and changing dynamics within the health care industry.
“Having regents visit campus provides the MCG enterprise the opportunity to highlight the fact that Georgia has a significant resource here in Augusta,” said Mr. Ginn. “Regent Jenkins was impressed with the scope and breadth of our programming in educational, clinical and research areas.”
Mr. Jenkins was appointed by Gov. Sonny Purdue as an at-large member of the Board of Regents for a seven-year-term in January. He is a retired partner with the law firm of King & Spalding. A life fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the State Bar of Georgia, Mr. Jenkins has served as chair of the Georgia Justice Project. He has served on numerous authorities, commissions and foundations, and as president of the Atlanta chapter of the American Cancer Society.