--- title: HR 488. Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center; commend collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr488 cite_as: HR 488, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr488 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr488.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr488/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71143 date: 2025-03-04 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr487.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr489.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 131 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr488.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 488 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-03-04 last_action: House Read and Adopted sponsors: - Gerald Greene - Darlene Taylor - Bill Yearta - Joe Campbell - Noel Williams - John Corbett text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR488/2025 upstream_id: 1991503 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - healthcare workforce - rural health - southwest Georgia - legislative commendation --- # HR 488. Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center; commend ## Text House Resolution 488 By: Representatives Greene of the 154th, Taylor of the 173rd, Yearta of the 152nd, Campbell of the 171st, Williams of the 148th, and others A RESOLUTION Commending the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (SOWEGA-AHEC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase access to healthcare by improving the number and equitable distribution of healthcare providers across 38 counties in southwest Georgia; and WHEREAS, the vision of SOWEGA-AHEC is to cultivate a healthcare workforce that closely reflects the state's population in diversity, ensuring communities have an adequate number of practitioners in key disciplines, particularly primary care, to improve access to healthcare; and WHEREAS, under the leadership of Chairman Dr. Winston Price, Executive Director Laura Calhoun, Administrator Zina Whittaker, and Board Member and Co-Founder Dr. James Hotz, SOWEGA-AHEC has exceeded its goals year after year; and WHEREAS, Zina Whittaker dedicated 25 years of service to SOWEGA-AHEC before her retirement, Dr. James Hotz served for 34 years before transitioning to Emeritus status, and Dr. Winston Price served for nine years before moving to Emeritus status; and WHEREAS, despite the challenges of a global pandemic, major structural damage to its headquarters necessitating temporary relocation of operations, and a statewide shortage of available housing for students on rotation, the number of students successfully placed on clinical clerkships continued to grow; and WHEREAS, in 2024, SOWEGA-AHEC engaged more than 5,800 participants, recruited 3,898 students, and facilitated the retention of 1,266 healthcare providers in southwest Georgia communities; and WHEREAS, SOWEGA-AHEC conducted more than 2,000 classroom presentations through its AHEC Scholars IPE program, Pathway to Med School, high school camps, and health professional facility shadowing experiences in 2024; and WHEREAS, since 2022, SOWEGA-AHEC has coordinated a highly successful Community Paramedicine Program in Clinch Memorial Hospital, Coffee Regional Medical Center, Colquitt Regional Medical Center, Irwin County Hospital, and Southwell, enhancing community wellness, reducing hospital readmissions, and minimizing patient use of emergency departments for chronic and non-emergent cases; and WHEREAS, the SOWEGA-AHEC RN Reentry Program, which has been active since 2007, has played a critical role in strengthening the healthcare workforce over the past nine years, ensuring that the state could meet the demands of first responders during the global pandemic and beyond. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body commend the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center for its outstanding contributions to healthcare workforce development and its continued efforts to improve access to healthcare across southwest Georgia as well as extend best wishes for continued success. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House resolution commends the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center for its work training and retaining healthcare workers across 38 counties in southwest Georgia. ### Plain-language summary This resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives honors the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (SOWEGA-AHEC), a nonprofit that works to increase the number of healthcare providers in 38 counties across southwest Georgia. The resolution describes the organization's leadership, its history, and its recent achievements, including engaging thousands of participants and recruiting nearly 4,000 students in 2024. It highlights specific programs such as the Community Paramedicine Program and the RN Reentry Program, both credited with strengthening the local healthcare workforce. The resolution formally commends the organization and directs the Clerk of the House to send a copy of the resolution to SOWEGA-AHEC. It does not change any Georgia law, create funding, or impose any new requirements. ### What it does - Formally commends the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center for its healthcare workforce development work in southwest Georgia. - Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to prepare and send a copy of the resolution to the organization. - Extends the House's best wishes for the organization's continued success. - Does not create any funding, program, or change to Georgia statutes; it is a symbolic honor only. ### Who it affects The resolution directly names the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center and its leaders. It also references healthcare providers, students on clinical rotations, and residents of the 38 southwest Georgia counties the organization serves. ### Why it matters The resolution carries no legal force and changes no law, but it publicly recognizes an organization involved in training and retaining healthcare workers in a region of Georgia that relies on programs like this to address provider shortages, especially in primary care. ### Key provisions - The whereas clauses describe SOWEGA-AHEC's mission to improve the number and distribution of healthcare providers across 38 counties in southwest Georgia. - The whereas clauses cite 2024 statistics, including more than 5,800 participants engaged, 3,898 students recruited, and 1,266 healthcare providers retained. - The resolution clause commends the organization for its contributions to healthcare workforce development and access to care. - A further resolved clause directs the Clerk of the House to distribute a copy of the resolution to the organization. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-03-04) - Last action: House Read and Adopted (2025-03-04) - Sponsors: Gerald Greene, Darlene Taylor, Bill Yearta, Joe Campbell, Noel Williams, John Corbett - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71143 > The history, votes, and amendments (131 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr488.md?full=1