Swilley named Hospital Hero

VALDOSTA – The Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County recognized Cathy Swilley as the June Hospital Hero. 

Swilley is the nurse manager for women and children’s services and has been with South Georgia Medical Center for 24 years, hospital officials said in a statement. 

She was recognized for her recent acts of human kindness during the increase of COVID-19 positives in Echols County. 

Upon learning that COVID-19 had impacted the migrant farmworker community, she immediately started working to help the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic, hospital officials said. She reached out to her friends on social media asking for possible donations. 

Through her outreach, Swilley coordinated a significant donation to the clinic which included 100 cloth masks, 800 pounds of food, bags of toiletries and hand sanitizer, and non-touch digital thermometers. 

Swilley’s dad was a farmer and she said she knows how important this community is to the agriculture industry. 

“God laid this on my heart. I had to help,” she said. “I put one post on Facebook and that was all it took. Some mighty warriors for God heard my cry for help.”

“Cathy is known throughout the community and at SGMC for her kind and loving heart,” Cherise Giddens, assistant chief nursing officer. “We are so blessed to have Cathy as part of our team. She truly represents what all of us are striving for every day at SGMC – human kindness.”