The Pitser Garrison Civic Center was filled with health care professionals Thursday night for the second annual "Salute to Healthcare" banquet, which honors those in the East Texas medical field with several awards.
The banquet is hosted by the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce,
Steven Alford/The Lufkin Daily News |
This year's award recipients at the second annual 'Salute to Healthcare' banquet, from the left: Dr. Anna Beth Connell, 'Lifetime Achievement;' Dr. Sidney Roberts, 'Healthcare Professional of the Year;' Ward Burke, 'Individual of Merit;' and Cathy Perry Busbee, 'Nurse of the Year.'
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Last year's banquet held 37 tables full of attendees, while this year's group filled the room with 60 tables and more than 450 people in attendance.
"It is so nice to see so many friends in attendance tonight. Having grown up in this medical community, I came to respect medicine and the East Texas way of medicine at a young age," said Tara Watson, chairman of the banquet.
"I am honored and proud to work with you and call you my family and friends. Your dedication and love for your patients and your respect for each other is to be commended."
Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce chairman Todd Kassaw opened the evening with a little history of the Angelina County medical field.
"The city of Lufkin was founded in 1882. By 1886 there were two physicians practicing in Lufkin, Dr. A.H. DuBose and Dr. W.B. Treadwell. Lufkin's population at that time was about 100 people," Kassaw said. "From those early days of a two-doctor town, Lufkin has mushroomed into a city of more than 34,000 people. Lufkin has always been a progressive, people-powered town with many energetic and ambitious leaders striving to improve and advance our community."
A few medical history facts about Angelina County:
* In 1961 the old Angelina County Hospital was renovated, added to and the name changed to Woodland Heights General Hospital. It moved to its current location in 1982.
* Lufkin's Memorial Hospital, now Memorial Health System of East Texas, was opened on May 12, 1949. It was started by a group of industrialists.
* In 1961, a physician by the name of Dr. Anna Beth Connell had made it to the top for women in her field — she had become president of the Angelina County Medical Society.
Guest speaker, Dr. Tedd Mitchell, president and chief executive officer of the Cooper Clinic, in Dallas, kept the crowd attentive with his speech on physical health and altering our behaviors to stay healthy as long as possible .
The end of the ceremony concluded with this year's awards, handed out by Kassaw and Van Watson.
* The "Nurse of the Year" award went to Cathy Perry Busbee, a nurse who was instrumental in the development of the open-heart surgery program at Woodland Heights Medical Center.
* The "Individual of Merit" award went to Ward Burke, who co-founded the Association for Retarded Citizens of Angelina County, an organization that was the initial force for the creation of the Lufkin State School.
* The "Healthcare Professional of the Year" award went to Dr. Sidney Roberts, who has served as the medical director of Memorial's Arthur Temple Sr. Regional Cancer Center in Lufkin, and also as a medical director served for Hospice in the Pines since 1995.
* The "Lifetime Achievement" award was given to Connell, the first and only female physician in Lufkin for a quarter century, and who was the first female president of the Angelina County Medical Society in 1961.
"I have so many colleagues that deserve this award more than I do," Connell said. "I'm just honored to be here tonight."
