Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinic News
Welcome Our New Midwife Maria Mock!
Effective February 1, 2023, Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics and Donalsonville Hospital will expand their women's health services to add a certified nurse midwife to their practice.
What is a midwife? A midwife is an advanced practice registered nurse with specialized training in the care of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. They are trained to provide collaborative care with physicians for high-risk pregnancies. Certified nurse midwives also provide annual exams and diagnostic laboratory tests, including pap smears and mammograms, and basic primary care. These professionals are educated in graduate-level midwifery programs accredited by the Accreditation Commission of Midwifery Education, have passed a national certification exam administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board, and receive the professional designation of CNM.
Maria Mock is a native of Miller County. As a child, Maria was fascinated with birth as she recalls impatiently waiting for the birth of many animals on her father's farm. Her first introduction to midwifery was accompanying her mother to Donalsonville to the bus station to greet the midwife to attend the birth of her father's dairy farmhand. Although midwifery has made many positive changes since this time, she remembers her excitement.
After graduation, she became a nurse and worked briefly as a med/surg nurse. She worked in a nearby hospital in the obstetrics department for many years before enrolling in the distance learning program at Frontier Nursing University to become a midwife.
After the closing of Bainbridge Midwife Center in 2003, Ms. Mock taught in the associate degree of nursing programs at Darton College and Bainbridge College. She returned to clinical practice as a midwife in 2007 with Albany Area Primary Health Care until 2016, when she received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree from Frontier Nursing University and became part of the college faculty.
Maria has continued working part-time in Albany in a private OB/GYN practice before joining Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics.
Ms. Mock is excited to begin her journey with Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics, providing care to women in her hometown area.
We Are Expanding!
CEO, Donna Williams is happy to be welcoming the following providers under its management:
Homer E. Breckenridge, III, MD, General Surgeon & Family Medicine
Gregory L. Hall, MD, Family Medicine
Sarah W. Hampton, MD, Internal Medicine
Jacob Holley, III, MD, General Practice
Tekoa Rogers, FNP-C, Family Medicine
Joseph L. Walker, MD, General Surgeon & Family Medicine
These providers will be joining our current staff:
Romana Yap Bairan, MD, Pediatrician
Mary Beth Griffin, MSN, RN, CPNP, Pediatric NP
Mike Henderson, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Craig J. Lenz, Jr., DO, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Katherine Hutchins White, FNP-C, Family Practice NP
Katherine White's office has moved locations to 804 North Wiley Avenue
Donalsonville, Ga 39845. All other providers will remain where they are currently.
Speaking about the expansion, CEO Donna Williams said
"With this expansion, Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics will be able to provide a broader span of healthcare as well as the ability to offer a sliding fee scale to any patient that qualifies. Reaching those that have put off medical care in the past because of cost is the most exciting part of our growing practice."
To find out more information about the sliding fee scale and find a provider, please
Click Here
Please Welcome Our New Pediatric Nurse Practitioner!
SWGHC Awarded $889,375 Grant
Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics, Inc. in Donalsonville, GA has been awarded $889,375 in funding to aid COVID-19 response and overall healthcare access in rural Seminole County. This grant is the only one awarded in the state of Georgia and will enable the clinic to expand healthcare resources and improve COVID-19 response in the community.
The funding will come from American Rescue Plan and is being administered through a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) program that supports "community-based health care providers that provide essential primary health care services to underserved communities and vulnerable populations" who do not otherwise have access to federal funding via HHS agencies.
SWGHC CEO, Donna Williams said
"We are so pleased to be able to expand healthcare resources in our community. The grant will enable our clinic to expand our telehealth services, purchase portable healthcare kits (including digital stethoscope, intraoral camera and otoscope), administer the COVID-19 vaccine, purchase new vaccine storage units, enhance communication with our patients and expand our community outreach efforts."
James Moody, CFO of Donalsonville Hospital stated, "I am excited about this grant opportunity for SWGHC because it enables the clinic to have the staff and resources that are much-needed in our community. The clinic will be able to add new equipment and technology that will bring the most advanced services to our patients."
Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics, Inc offers family, pediatrics and obstetrics & gynecology health care, patient education and self-management support for children, adults, and geriatrics. Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics is committed to providing quality healthcare to the patients we serve regardless of their ability to pay. Any patient may apply for a sliding scale fee adjustments based on their income and the size of their family.
Clinic Staff Among First Vaccinated
The first doses of Moderna's COVID-19 have arrived in Seminole county at the office of Seminole County Public Health. Southwest Georgia Healthcare Clinics physicians and Staff will be among the first vaccinated in Phase 1 of the CDC and Public Health guidelines.
According to Donna Williams, SWGHC CEO, the vaccine will be staggered to ensure adequate staffing remains in place in the event of vaccination side effects, known to be more common after the second dose. Once the front-line employees are vaccinated, the next tier of essential hospital and medical office workers will be offered the opportunity as more doses become available.
More information about when vaccines will be available for the general population will be coming in the next few weeks. In the meantime, Seminole County residents should continue to follow recommended safety precautions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
According to the CDC, everyone should wear a mask in public settings and when around people who don't live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
Dr. Dion Martin, SWGHC Pediatrician
Dr. Henderson, SWGHC OB/GYN
Dainyell Long, CNA
