Holly Gadd, chair of Southern Adventist University's AdventHealth Nursing Education; photo provided by Southern Adventist University
This month, the dean of Southern Adventist University’s School of Nursing was honored by the Champions of Health Care program for her volunteer efforts. Holly Gadd, Ph.D., chair of Southern’s AdventHealth Nursing Education, was selected by the Chattanooga and Hamilton County Medical Society to receive the 2021 Health Care Volunteer Award. Recipients of this award have demonstrated commitment and passion for serving those in need. The Champions of Health Care program recognizes excellence, promotes innovation, and educates the community about best practices to enhance the value and quality of health care in the Chattanooga area.
“Dr. Gadd has a decades-long history of using her nurse practitioner training to serve the needs of others, both locally and abroad,” said Robert Young, Ph.D., senior vice president for Academic Administration at Southern. “Dr. Gadd is clearly a worthy recipient of this award.”
Gadd has worked at Southern Adventist University since 2000, and among other service projects, for 14 years she has volunteered as the lead nurse practitioner at Volunteers in Medicine Chattanooga. The organization meets the medical needs of people with no health insurance or access to health care. According to Joel Henderson, executive director, more than 70,000 patients have benefitted from the efforts of Gadd and her colleagues.
“Holly is incredibly compassionate and exudes Matthew 25 — the biblical foundation on which our clinic was founded and continues to carry on today,” said Henderson, a 1994 graduate of Southern. “This embodies Holly’s ceaseless advocacy for the greater community in which she helps make a positive daily impact to the medically underserved and most vulnerable.”
Gadd is grateful for the volunteer work she has done over the years.
“I look forward to interacting with the patients, volunteers, and staff at the clinic; I love what I do there,” Gadd said. “When you’re giving of yourself, there’s a joy that you receive. It touches my heart that others recognize and appreciate that our community looks out for people.”