Employee recognition
MCG employees with five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service will be recognized Oct. 12 during the annual Employee Recognition Ceremony in the Auditoria Center. The Beeper has been highlighting employees who have reached these milestones. In this issue of the Beeper we introduce you to a 25-year employee.
For more information, contact Training and Education at ext. 1-3196.
In March 1981, David Hann was managing a fried chicken restaurant in North Augusta, part of a franchise that was going under. Searching the classifieds, he spied an ad for something at MCG he was sure he could do.
With two years as a biology major at then-Georgia Southern College, followed by a degree from Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Atlanta and many years of experience working in funeral homes, he was well-qualified for the position. As an anatomical embalmer in the School of Medicine’s Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, David prepares and maintains cadavers for medical, dental and allied health science students.
“I feel that what we do is very important,” he says. “It’s a lot of work running these laboratories. We do a pretty good job.”
Indeed. In February 2005, David and the two other members of his department, David Adams and Dave Toole, were honored by the 249th General Hospital from Eisenhower Medical Center for their assistance in preparing the unit for deployment to Iraq. “It was most rewarding,” says David. “We were given certificates of appreciation thanking us for helping them on the war on terrorism. We held individual medical readiness training classes for their neurosurgeons to try new techniques before they shipped out.”
David’s uncle worked in a funeral home and, as a teenager, his best friend’s uncle owned one. “I started hanging around. Usually, all I ever did was move flowers; I was only 15 years old. I started doing a little more and they finally sent me in the embalming room. I thought, ‘This is interesting.’” He worked weekends in a funeral home during college, but became disenchanted with the business after graduation. He found a purpose for his skills at MCG.
David says he never gets bored. Even after 25 years, he doesn’t think about leaving. “Oh, I know I’ll be here, I won’t retire. I’ll probably stay as long as I can and do it as long as I can do it.”