Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center (MWCHC), Nashville's oldest non-profit health center, has announced further details surrounding the 2021 Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr. Legacy Breakfast. The event will take place virtually on April 22 at 9:00am. Admission is free, and donations are encouraged, with all proceeds benefiting MWCHC. Attendees can register here.
Dr. Matthew Walker was a pillar throughout Nashville both as a medical professional and community staple. He chaired Meharry Medical College's department of surgery from 1945 to 1973 and developed a rigorous residency program in order to cultivate exceptionally trained surgeons. He was a professor of surgery and gynecology from 1944 until his death in 1978.
Dr. Matthew Walker saw the need for a comprehensive health center because the regular clinics and hospitals in Nashville were overcrowded and understaffed. After receiving federal funding to make his vision possible, he founded MWCHC in 1968 as the Meharry Neighborhood Health Center, a family-oriented ambulatory health center. The Center was able to provide comprehensive health services to underserved community members in one convenient location, prevent and treat disease, and provide jobs for persons of low economic and educational backgrounds.
The breakfast will feature a keynote address by Charlene Dewey, MD, MED, MACP, Professor of Medical Education and Administration at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She will discuss "Preventing Burnout and Building Resilience in the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Dr. James Hildreth, President and CEO of Meharry Medical College and a member of President Biden's COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force will receive the prestigious Dr. Matthew Walker Sr. Legacy Award, and State Representative Harold Love, who pastors Lee Chapel AME Church, will accept the revered Michelle B. Marrs Advocacy Award. MWCHC will also distribute scholarships to local Meharry Medical College students.
"We are excited to once again gather as a community to recognize Dr. Matthew Walker's legacy," says Katina Beard, CEO of MWCHC. "It is an honor to continue Dr. Walker and Michelle B. Marrs's vision for accessible and affordable health care in 2021 and celebrate the community leaders who also support this vision."
"I am very excited about our first-ever virtual Legacy Breakfast. It allows people from all over the country as well as those living Middle Tennessee to join us to celebrate the founding of the center by Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr.," said Sandra Long-Weaver, Fundraising Chair and Board Member of MWCHC. "We are honoring two people who have worked hard this past year to get all of us through this tough pandemic year. And our featured speaker will inspire us to shift gears to live our best lives."
This event is made possible by Belmont University; HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health; Piedmont Natural Gas; Mt. Zion Baptist Church; AARP; Amerigroup; Artmas L. Worthy, DDS; Bank of Tennessee; The Ivy Center Foundation of Nashville, Inc.; Tennessee Hospital Association; Vanderbilt University; Dell Technologies; Dr. Christy N. Marrs; the family of Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr.; Nashville Medical News; and Tennessee Tribune.
Matthew Walker, Sr. Virtual Legacy Breakfast
Thursday, April 22, 2020 - 9:00am - 10:30am
Online via Zoom
Registration: Free (here)
