Each year, the Methodist Healthcare Foundation presents its Living Awards ceremony to recognize leaders whose faith-based initiatives have made a positive impact on health care locally, nationally and globally.
Each year, the Methodist Healthcare Foundation presents its Living Awards ceremony to recognize leaders whose faith-based initiatives have made a positive impact on health care locally, nationally and globally. The 2009 awardees include two leaders from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) – Hershel P. Wall, MD, chancellor, and Charles R. Handorf, MD, chair, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Both were honored in the category of physician inspiration during a benefit dinner on August 20.
“I am grateful for this recognition, but my success is due to those who ‘packed my parachute’ along the way through physical, emotional or spiritual gestures,” said Chancellor Wall. Before becoming chancellor for UT Health Science Center, Dr. Wall spent much of his career at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center. He is trained as a pediatrician and is considered a top expert in his specialty. His career spans more than 40 years, and in that time, he has developed a strong reputation for being a compassionate physician, dedicated teacher and energetic administrator.
Dr. Wall has been intricately involved with the Church Health Center where he served on its board and influenced its pediatric section. He continues to assist in positioning Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center as a pediatric leader and is committed to strengthening the partnership between UTHSC and Methodist University Hospital (MUH). In 2008, he received the Health Care Heroes Award for Administrative Excellence from the Memphis Business Journal.
Charles Handorf has been instrumental in building the partnership between UTHSC and MUH due to his roles at both institutions. When asked his thoughts about receiving the Living Award, Dr. Handorf stated, “To be recognized by my colleagues in such an amazing way is the thrill of a lifetime – Methodist Healthcare has always been a large part of my professional career.”
Dr. Handorf has served on the senior leadership council for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and has held roles as its associate chief of staff, chief of staff and president of the medical staff. He continues to provide counsel to the MUH quality management committee and the credentialing committee. The medical leader is president of Duckworth Pathology Group, Inc., and is a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and the College of American Pathologists. He received the 2003 Sherard Physician of the Year Award from Methodist Healthcare, is a past recipient of the UTHSC College of Medicine Lange Award for Outstanding Scholarship, and was a Memphis Business Journal Health Care Heroes nominee in 2007.
Additional 2009 Living Award honorees include, for individual inspiration, Alice Warren, a retired 36-year MUH patient advocate; for community inspiration, Rev. Frank Lewis McRae of St. John’s United Methodist Church, and for national and international inspiration, The Carter Center Mental Health Program, Atlanta, Ga.