First Lady Deal’s Visit Highlights Importance of Childhood Immunizations

Key members of the health community on hand to support the initiative, from left to right:  Hospital Authority Member David Earl Keith, Governor’s Office for Children and Families Executive Director Katie Jo Ballard, State Senator Buddy Carter, First Lady Deal, Hospital CEO Joe Ierardi, Hospital CFO Greg Jones, Hospital OB/Nursery Director Anita Brewer, Hospital Nursery Charge Nurse Helen Raczkowski, and State Representative Chad Nimmer.

Jesup, GA – First Lady Sandra Deal visited the Maternity Ward Friday morning at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Jesup to share an important message. So important, that she delivered it in person. New mothers Kelsie Powell and Beverly Jones welcomed First Lady Deal into their private hospital rooms to meet their newborns and family members. While visiting with the First Lady, each mother was able to hear about the importance of newborn immunizations, a focus during the month of July for The Georgia Children’s Cabinet. Powell and Jones also received congratulatory cards from The Governor and Mrs. Deal with a warm message asking for parents help in ensuring that all Georgia babies be given an opportunity for a safe and healthy life. The Hallmark cards also include a blank, tear-off immunization card for the parents to keep track of their baby’s immunizations. More about the Cabinet and its initiatives may be found online at: https://children.georgia.gov/current-projects





First Lady Deal co-chairs The Georgia Children’s Cabinet alongside Katie Jo Ballard, the Governor’s Office for Children and Families Executive Director. This collaborative team works to eliminate gaps and achieve the Governor’s goals of ensuring that children and families are educated, healthy, safe, and growing. The Cabinet’s July initiative centers on immunizations and for the past few months, employees in the Maternity Ward have been handing out the cards from the Governor and First Lady to new parents. She also thanked the nursing staff and pediatricians for their work. Wayne Memorial Hospital, whose mission is to provide high quality health care services to all patients, built a new state-of-the-art facility in 2007. It is the 4th largest employer in Wayne County with 375 employees, 84 beds and is a Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals Small Hospital of the Year.