The UAB Department of Surgery was honored to recognize the 10 inaugural recipients of the Moore-McDougal Staff Excellence Awards in Surgery.

Created to spotlight the phenomenal staff who make the Department’s clinical, research, and administrative efforts possible, Executive Administrator Mary McDougal, MPA, and former Executive Administrator Christal Moore, MBA, MSA, collaborated to fund and jumpstart the initiative.

This year marks the first year of the Staff Excellence Awards – as the Department of Surgery sought to create a long-standing tradition to mark the exceptional staff representatives in each division across the organization. Moore, who now serves as the vice president of hospital services at Boston Medical Center (BMC),  spearheaded the effort to honor her prior department and assisted in the funding of a yearly endowed award to be selected out of the ten awardees.

Each awardee exemplifies an expertise in their domain, consistent dedication to furthering the tripartite mission of the Department of Surgery, a willingness to assist co-workers to accomplish organizational goals, and positive contributions through their work and departmental presence.

“Our staff go above and beyond to provide exceptional experiences for our patients, trainees, and faculty, while pioneering research efforts and organizational goals,” says McDougal. “It’s truly an honor to have the opportunity to recognize each of these outstanding individuals and the unique ways they make the UAB Department of Surgery a great place to work.”

Help us congratulate the following members who were selected as members of the first cohort of Moore-McDougal Staff Excellence awardees at this year’s Department of Surgery Staff Town Hall:

• Lori Higginbotham - Overall Departmental Endowment Recipient 
  Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
  “Lori is essential to the functioning of the Division. She is always knowledgeable and quick to help everyone who has a request. She truly keeps our operations running and our administrative tasks complete. We couldn’t make it without her.”
• Angela Glover
  Department of Surgery Chair’s Office
  “Angela goes the extra mile to make sure all shared goals are achieved. She immediately takes ownership in issues and will not stop until she has an answer. Angela is a team player who consistently works to protect the financial integrity of the Department of Surgery. Angela works tirelessly to make sure that faculty and staff are supported.
• Melissa Griego
  Division of Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy
  “Melissa is hard-working, efficient, pleasant, and intensely dedicated to providing excellent service to patients. Melissa also acts as a leader for all of our patient schedulers and is a strong advocate for them in meetings and in-person. I cannot say enough good things about Melissa.”
• Leigh Hadley
  Division of Breast & Endocrine Surgery
  “Leigh is the hardest working person I know and cares about her job. She is intelligent, thoughtful, detail oriented, and follows through. She is a doer and problem solver. She thinks ahead and gets the job done. She is honest, reliable, and a joy to be around. Leigh always is willing to help out. She is first to arrive and last to leave until the work is done.”
• Julie Marmurek
  Division of Plastic Surgery
  “Julie is very dedicated to her practice and patients. She is always more than willing to help anyone out, including other clinics and peers. Julie is the foundation for the plastic surgery clinics, and her experience and leadership is extremely valued.”
• Chandler McLeod
  Division of Transplantation
  “Chandler’s expertise and understanding of RStudio, and SaS has been key to multiple paper, abstracts, and journal submissions across the Department of Surgery and beyond. Chandler has been a consistent joy to work with and his willingness to work a problem from multiple angles demonstrates the ability to develop multiple alternatives to any research question imposed.”
• Allison Moss
  Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery
  “Allison makes our department a better place to work. She champions others. Allison is a constant source of encouragement for others, a positive role model, and a selfless leader. She makes work fun, and through her lively and vivacious spirit, brings out the very best in others.”
• Diane Rosato
  Division of Pediatric Surgery
  “Diane is the go-to person for our division. Everyone in the group goes to her to solve problems. Diane goes above and beyond to ensure everything is done well. She is indispensable.”
• Amber Sparks
  Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery
  “Amber is responsible for charge capture in the Division. She has worked tirelessly to develop a system to capture missed physician billing and has ultimately made significant financial impact for the division. Amber is self-directed and consistently looking for ways to avoid missed charges.”
• Amber Taylor
  Division of Surgical Oncology
  “Amber always goes above and beyond for staff and patients. She has an amazing positive, thoughtful attitude. She is flexible with the needs of staff and patients. Overall, just amazing to work with!”

About Award Founders - Christal Moore, MBA, MSA & Mary McDougal, MPA

Christal Moore, MBA, MSA, is the vice president of hospital services at Boston Medical Center. She has held several surgical services positions at both Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she served as executive administrator. Christal is a graduate of the Georgia Tech with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and obtained two master’s degrees from Georgia State University — one in business administration and a second in healthcare administration. She is a board-certified Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.   

Mary McDougal, MPA, is the executive administrator for the Department of Surgery at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Mary came to UAB from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she led teams working to establish the Sheltering Arms Institute, a 114-bed freestanding rehabilitation hospital. Mary received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and received a master’s degree in public administration from Seattle University.