Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center (MWCHC) has announced the winners of two awards: Dr. Henry W. Foster, Jr. will receive the Dr. Matthew Walker Sr. Legacy Award, and Dr. Stephaine Walker will receive the Michelle B. Marrs Health Care Advocate Award. MWCHC will also give a scholarship to a Meharry Medical College student, to be announced during the breakfast. These awards and scholarship will be given out at the Dr. Walker Legacy Breakfast, happening April 4 at Meharry Medical College. The event is free, and attendees can register here.
"Both Dr. Foster and Dr. Walker exemplify the advocacy and care for the community previously championed by Dr. Walker and Michelle B. Marrs," said Katina Beard, CEO of MWCHC. "We are honored to give them these awards for the incredible work they've accomplished in Nashville."
Michelle B. Marrs will forever be remembered as the visionary for MWCHC's state of the art medical, dental and diagnostic facility that serves the community today. Her focus for MWCHC was to be an organization the community saw as a place of health, innovation and collaboration. The Michelle B. Marrs Health Care Advocate Award is given to those who reflect these ideals.
Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr. was the founder of MWCHC. He determined that the health of a community included access to care as well as advocacy and education. Dr. Walker's legacy lives on through the organization, the many lives he saved through medicine and the highly qualified physicians he personally trained. The Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr. Legacy Award is given to those who worked with or who have continued his work.
The Dr. Matthew Walker Legacy Breakfast will also include a special presentation by Nashville Council Member Freddie O'Connell, an invocation by Tennessee State Representative Harold Love, and a keynote address by Dr. Stephanie Bailey, the Senior Associate Dean of Public Health Practice at Meharry Medical College and lifetime champion of health excellence.
About Dr. Henry W. Foster, Jr.
Dr. Henry W. Foster, Jr., is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the School of Medicine, Meharry College and Clinical Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University. In addition to having studied under and worked with Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr., Dr. Foster was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1995 to become U.S. Surgeon General and served from 1996 to 2001 as President Clinton's Senior Advisor on Teen Pregnancy Reduction and Youth Issues.
About Dr. Stephaine Hale Walker
Dr. Stephaine Hale Walker received her Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University and her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. Upon completing her fellowships at Harvard University, Dr. Walker joined the Harvard Medical Faculty Physician group as a Neonatologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center [BIDMC] and an Instructor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Pediatrics.
Targeting obesity and health literacy, in January of 2011, Dr. Walker helped lead the establishment of ChurchFIT, a Mt. Zion Baptist Church fitness and health awareness program. ChurchFIT was revealed by Mt. Zion in partnership with Full Circle Health Community Coalition to help the church's 30,000 plus congregation revive fitness goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle to promote and improve overall health and wellness. In 2016, Dr. Walker launched ChurchFIT International and now it has become a model and resource for congregations around the world.
