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PRESS RELEASE: GW Lecturer Dan R. Hawkins, Jr. to Receive the 2009 APHA Award for Excellence

posted: November 9, 2009, 9:46 AM

WASHINGTON – Dan R. Hawkins, Jr., a lecturer in health services management and leadership and health policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, is the recipient of the American Public Health Association’s Award for Excellence. Mr. Hawkins, Vice President for Policy at the National Association of Community Health Centers, has devoted his career to the advancement of community health centers and primary health care for medically underserved populations. He has served on the faculty of the School of Public Health and Health Services since 2000. Over his four-decade career, health centers have grown from a small demonstration program into more than 1000 federal grantees, operating in over 5000 locations and serving some 18 million of the nation’s most vulnerable patients.

The APHA Award for Excellence is given each year to a living individual in recognition of his or her exceptionally meritorious contribution to the improvement of health of the people. The Award honors creativity of particular effectiveness in applying scientific knowledge or innovative organizational work to the betterment of community health. Individuals nominated for the award have made significant and well-recognized contributions to the improvement of public health and are at a point in their career where they will continue to make further contributions.

“We are incredibly proud of Dan’s accomplishments in the field of health care for the poor and underserved. He brings his passion for primary care to the student and provides his unique gifts and practical experiences to the teaching of primary health care management and policy and is one of our most popular lecturers. Dan is an outstanding advisor, as well as as a role model and valued mentor for the students at GW,” said Robert Burke, Ph.D.,Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Services Management and Leadership.

“Dan has functioned in high gear with abundant energy and great success in convincing legislators at every level of government in every part of the country of the critical importance of community health centers, said APHA Medical Care Section Secretary Mona Sarfaty, M.D., in a letter nominating Hawkins for the Award For Excellence. “He has been a creative exemplar, showing remarkable foresight and astonishing capability to conjure up new solutions to evolving challenges.”

Hawkins will receive this prestigious award at the 2009 American Public Health Association’s 137th Annual Meeting, held November 7 -11, 2009 in Philadelphia, PA.

About The George Washington University Medical Center

The George Washington University Medical Center is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary academic health center that has consistently provided high-quality medical care in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, since 1824. The Medical Center comprises the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the 11^th oldest medical school in the country; the School of Public Health and Health Services, the only such school in the nation’s capital; GW Hospital, jointly owned and operated by a partnership between The George Washington University and a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc.; and the GW Medical Faculty Associates, an independent faculty practice plan. For more information on GWUMC, visit www.gwumc.edu.

About NACHC

To address the widespread lack of access to basic health care, Community Health Centers serve 20 million people at more than 7,000 sites located throughout all 50 states and U.S. territories. Health centers depend in large part on public financial help and need a unified voice and common source for research, information, training and advocacy.

To address these needs, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) organized in 1971. NACHC works with a network of state health center and primary care organizations to serve health centers in a variety of ways:

Provide research-based advocacy for health centers and their clients.
Educate the public about the mission and value of health centers.
Train and provide technical assistance to health center staff and boards.
Develop alliances with private partners and key stakeholders to foster the delivery of primary health care services to communities in need.

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