Commissioner : Gregory C. Dozier

Director of Public Affairs : Joan Heath

Dr. Mary Alston recognized

Forsyth, GA. – The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) honored Dr. Mary Alston as Health Services Professional of the Year at the 13th Annual GDC Awards ceremony on August 8 at GDC Headquarters in Forsyth, Ga.

“Mary is an excellent clinician of adult medicine, who thoroughly reviews and assesses offenders and develops medically appropriate treatment plants, said Assistant Commissioner of Health Services Randy Sauls. “She has the respect of her colleagues and applies a no-nonsense approach, coupled with compassion and understanding, to her clinical and administrative responsibilities.”

This inaugural award recognizes a physician, psychiatrist, dentist, psychologist, advanced practice professional, nurse or other licensed/certified or non-licensed healthcare professional who provides direct or indirect services to offender-patients within GDC. The recipient of this award has shown they excel in their disciplines by acting, behaving and leading to improve the quality of care, promote the delivery of care and/or contribute to the overall effectiveness of medical care delivered to an individual, prison, or agency.

Dr. Alston is the Medical Director at Augusta State Medical Prison (ASMP), the most complex facility within the agency, with multiple missions, including overseeing delivery of medical care to some of the most medically fragile, complex, acute, and chronic care offenders. She has direct and indirect oversight of the other physicians, mid-level practitioners, nurses, and administrators, and provides outstanding leadership.  She is the statewide medical director for GDC and is responsible for the overall healthcare delivery system for 52,000 offenders.

Several key officials were on hand for the ceremony, which was attended by more than 250 guests.  Making the award presentation with Commissioner Greg Dozier were State Senator Tyler Harper, Board of Corrections member Christopher Clark,  Chief of Staff Timothy C. Ward,  Assistant Commissioners Ricky Myrick, Scott Poitevint, Jay Sanders, Randy Sauls, and Director of Professional Development Terry Edge and Director of Professional Standards Clay Nix.

The GDC has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 52,000 state prisoners. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 10,500 employees.

For more information on the GDC call 478-992-5247 or visit https://gdc.georgia.gov.