| Newsmakers |
Jul. 16----North Mississippi Medical Center recently presented a DAISY Award to registered nurse Rebekah Townsend and a BEE Award to case coordinator Kearsee Foster, both of 3 West.
The pair were nominated by a coworker who observed their extraordinary actions at the end of a patient's life. "His son was at his bedside, as he and the patient had just mended their relationship," the nurse wrote in their nominations. "Rebekah was so loving and kind to this heartbroken son. She reassured him and educated him so beautifully while his father transitioned to the other side. Tears filled my eyes as I saw a grieving son with a nurse right by his side.
"Kearsee held him as he wept and constantly reassured him, and truly breathed life into this family member. Kearsee's heart is nothing short of gold, and she treats everyone she meets with love and grace."
The nurse went on to write, "This is what health care is all about — being everything a stranger needs in that time of need."
Townsend joined the NMMC staff in June 2021 after earning her bachelor's degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in Columbus. She lives in Saltillo.
Foster is a licensed clinical social worker who joined NMMC's Case Management team in 2015. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and a master's degree in social work from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She resides in Tupelo.
—Belmont native Ashley Horn Pickering, M.D., ophthalmologist recently joined the staff at Tupelo Eye Center.
Dr. Pickering treats eye diseases and disorders including cataracts, glaucoma, retinal diseases, macular degeneration, trauma, diabetic retinopathy and more. She joins Drs. William Brawner and Lee Walker at the clinic and will also be on the medical staff at North Mississippi Medical Center.
Pickering earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Mississippi State University in Starkville in 2014 and her medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson in 2018. She recently completed residency training in ophthalmology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport.
—Meghan Luter, M.D., who has been seeing adult and pediatric patients at IMA-Tupelo since January 2019, will see children each Thursday at Children's Clinic.
Dr. Luter graduated magna cum laude from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. She received her medical degree at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson. She completed her internal medicine and pediatric residencies at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
She joins pediatricians Jennifer Grisham, Charles Meeks, Katie Meyer, Amy Price, Van Stone III, Eric Street and Veronica Valdez, and nurse practitioners Tina King and Lauren Parrish.
—Jonathan Blossom, M.D., recently joined Cardiology Associates of North Mississippi and the medical staff of North Mississippi Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute.
Dr. Blossom recently completed an interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He earned his medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson in 2015. He completed residency training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2018 and a cardiovascular diseases fellowship there in 2021.
Dr. Blossom graduated from Mississippi College in Clinton with a bachelor's degree in medical sciences in 2010.
