July 31, 2023

Meeting Minutes

President Bill Keogh rang the bell and called the meeting to order. 

Steve Kaplan gave the pledge and invocation

Past President Faye Hargrove gave the Sunshine Report today.

Ashley Whitaker called on club members to introduce their guests in attendance today. 

Announcements

• President Bill announced that our GRSP Student Victoria Jorgenson would be arriving soon.
• Our schedule of speakers/topics for the coming weeks include,
  • Georgia Ports Authority - Deepwater Ports in Georgia
  • MAP International
  • Young Professionals of Augusta (YPA)
  • College Pick’em
• As a reminder, quarterly dues statements have been distributed.  Please make every effort to pay dues on time as those funds are already committed to fund club expenses.
• President Bill thanked Club Ambassador, AK Golati, who recently visited with a Rotary Club in Cashiers, NC.  He also reminded the club that on August 26 there will be the annual celebration of India’s Independence.  The celebration will include a parade, food, and a cultural program. For more information please reach out to AK.
• The Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival will take place in September and anyone interested in participating should contact Brenda Durant.
• Everyone is encouraged to use the DACdb website and app.  It is a great way to stay connected with fellow Rotarians.
• President Bill asked everyone to please continue to contribute to the blue buckets on the table or online at mycartfund.org using the same login credentials you use with DACDB.  Also, please complete our club’s Google form to sign up to be a Cart Challenger. 

Guest Speaker/Program

Dr. Paul Dainer introduced our speaker, Dr. Lily Henson, CEO of Piedmont Augusta.  Dr. Henson is a board certified neurologist and comes to Augusta following her time as CEO of Piedmont Henry County.

Dr. Henson shared information on the Piedmont Health System which includes 22 hospitals, 19 acute care facilities, 3 inpatient units and over 37,000 employees.  She is very excited about the new partnership that created Piedmont Augusta which includes Piedmont investing one billion dollars over the next ten years into the local facilities.  That is in addition to a two million dollar annual investment in the community. 

Dr. Henson explained that Piedmont Augusta is helping to meet the needs of our community by;

• Empowering the community with knowledge
• Giving to the community
• Volunteering time in the community
• Bringing healthcare to the community
• Lending its experience to the community

She also discussed the shared mission/vision/values that lead to a partnership with Augusta Tech to train nurses on the Piedmont Augusta campus. 

President Bill led us in reciting the four-way test and then adjourned the meeting.  

Easy links to pages on our website
Rotary schedule of meeting dates and speakers  
Member Proposal Form 
Online directory - Find a member or update your information
Bulletins - Weekly bulletins from 2014-current