Dr. Jerome Covington Receives State Award Honoring Service to Underserved
8/1/2016
Florida Association of Community Health Center’s Presents Jessie Trice Outstanding Clinician Award
KEY WEST, Fla., August 2, 2016 – Key West physician Jerome Covington, M.D., has received the Florida Association of Community Health Center’s (FACHC) Jessie Trice Outstanding Clinician Award. The prestigious award was presented on Tuesday, August 2, at the FACHC’s 35th Anniversary Green Tie Gala and Awards Ceremony in Fort Lauderdale, FL, at the Marriott Harbor Beach.
“Each year we recognize a clinician serving at a Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC) for their outstanding commitment in providing services for the underserved; their dedication to continuous quality improvement, evidence-based medicine and healthcare innovation; their willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ for their patients and their willingness to work collaboratively with peers to ensure the best possible outcomes for all their patients,” said Jon Shiver, communications coordinator.
Covington has provided care in Key West for more than 25 years, primarily serving indigent, uninsured and underserved individuals, providing care at two clinics. For more than four years, he has worked with Rural Health Network of Monroe County, an FQHC, serving at the Key West and Lower Keys Clinic at 3710 North Roosevelt Boulevard. He also serves at the Primary Care Clinic affiliated with Lower Keys Medical Center at the dePoo Medical Building at 1200 Kennedy Drive.
Jessie Collins Trice, BSN, MPH, for whom the FACHC award is named was a nurse, administrator, mother, humanitarian, and champion for healthcare with a record of service recognized at the local, state and national levels. Trice’s legacy lives on through this award and through the Community Health Center named for her. Earlier in his career, Covington served on the board of directors for the Jessie Trice Community Health Center in Miami.
“I am incredibly honored to be receiving this award which is named in memory of an outstanding caregiver I remember well,” Covington said. “The award has reminded me that there is an old-fashioned way of providing care which still has a place in society today. It is easy for clinicians to forget that care should be about the sum of all parts, not just the parts.”
Covington shares credit with his co-workers as well as with his longtime friend and associate Mark Whiteside, MD, with whom he was in private practice for several years. They also previously worked together at the Monroe County Health Department and remain good friends.
John Emery, Chief Operating Officer for LKMC, attended the awards ceremony along with other hospital staff members. “We are very proud of Dr. Covington and the care he provides for so many people from our community. He has always been selfless in his service, putting others before himself and giving not just of his time and talent but financial resources as well to help those in need.”
Covington earned his medical degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, completing a residency in internal medicine at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. He has served in numerous leadership positions for Lower Keys Medical Center, including as Chief of Staff for multiple terms. He has also served on a number of local community boards.
Shown at the ceremony are (from left): Daniel Davis; Kim Hutchinson, RN, Primary Care Clinic-LKMC; Dr. Mark Whiteside; Meylan Lowe-Watler, retired COO-LKMC; Dr. Jerome Covington; Jasmine Shirley, MSPH, SVP-Broward Health; and John Emery, COO-LKMC
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