Hearts and Hands Clinic names new Executive Director
Monday, 15 August 2011 06:58
Andres Montes, Chief Executive Officer for the Hearts and Hands Clinic in Statesboro, recently announced that Alive Coes, III has been appointed Executive Director of the Clinic.
Clinic provides care
According to Montes, Hearts and Hands is a free health clinic providing care to Bulloch County residents with no health insurance and income 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and below. The breadth of care provided includes primary medical care, dental care, and vision care with specialty care back-up. Since opening in September 2010, the clinic has been open two-to-four nights per month and has served over 300 people and provided nearly $50,000 in free dental care. “The Hearts and Hands Clinic is proud to be an alliance clinic with Volunteers in Medicine, a prestigious umbrella group of free clinics across the nation. Hearts and Hands is the first clinic in the nation to be a part of Volunteers in Medicine that had undergraduate college students as part of its main driving force,” said Montes. Montes was a student at Georgia Southern University when he spearheaded the movement to create the clinic, with assistance from other students, and a number of area individuals and organizations.
Coes, who is already working in the new position, manages the daily operations of the clinic, oversees volunteer staff, attains funding for the clinic through grants and fundraising, fosters relationships with community organizations, and helps grow the clinic to provide care to a larger volume of patients. “We expect Alvie to be the voice of the clinic in Bulloch County,” stated Montes. Coes voiced his own excitement about the new position. “I am very excited about this challenge. I can’t imagine a more noble cause than providing healthcare to those who would not otherwise have access. I am very happy to be affiliated with Hearts and Hands,” stated Coes.
GOAL win helped seal deal
“The selection committee was impressed with Alvie’s background and work ethic: holding two masters degrees, as well as a bachelor’s degree in human resources,” said Montes. “His education meshed right with the clinic, especially since the administrative portion of the clinic is steeped in business and human resource type problem solving. Furthermore, what caught our attention even more was the fact Alvie is the current GOAL winner for the State of Georgia.” Montes is referring to the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) which is the moniker given to the star student in the Technical College System of Georgia. Coes, who is a Funeral Service Education student at Ogeechee Technical College, received the award after a lengthy selection process earlier this year, first winning at the local, then regional level. “In learning the process it takes to become the GOAL winner, the committee felt that if OTC and the Technical College System placed their trust in him being their voice, the clinic would be in incredible hands if he could be a voice for us,” Montes stated.
Maximizing affiliation to benefit clinic
Coes sees his affiliation with Ogeechee Tech as a positive when it comes to supporting Hearts and Hands. “Ogeechee Tech has quite a few health related programs. While OTC has already been involved with the Clinic, I think that I can forge an even greater partnership to provide assistance to the Clinic while offering valuable clinical experience for OTC students,” Coes said. Coes is pursuing his associate degree in Funeral Service Education because his family owns a funeral service establishment in Unadilla, Georgia. “I don’t have any immediate plans to move home to work in the family business, but being in Statesboro already made it very convenient to go ahead and earn this degree which may be beneficial to me and my family in the future,” he explained.
“Alvie’s demeanor helped make the decision even easier for us. He presented himself with confidence, yet with a great deal of humbleness and eagerness to take on a challenge of great magnitude,” Montes said. In addition to his GOAL win this year, Coes was named by the Statesboro Herald as one of Bulloch County’s 20 under 40. He is active in his church and in civic activities as well. “He is just an all-around great guy who we are fortunate to have working with our Clinic,” concluded Montes. Information on the Hearts and Hands Clinic may be obtained by calling (912) 681-9519.
Contact Information
Barry Turner
Vice President for Community and College Relations
Phone: 912.688.6958 | Email: bturner@ogeecheetech.edu