Heather Leigh Davis

Heather Leigh Davis, a family physician in Wilmington and Surf City, is the recipient of the distinguished 2017 T. Reginald Harris, MD Memorial Award.

The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME) presents this annual award to physicians with outstanding achievements in health care quality and service to the medical community, according to a press release.

The award was presented by John Mangum, past president of CCME’s board of directors, during the M3 Conference on Sept. 16 in Raleigh.

“We are very pleased to present this award to Dr. Davis in recognition of her outstanding service to the Southeastern North Carolina medical community, tireless advocacy for the underserved community in rural areas, and her commitment to patient-centered care. She exemplifies the values that Dr. Harris brought to health care and CCME,” Mangum said in the release.

Davis maintains private practices in both Wilmington and Surf City. She is an adjunct associate professor of UNC School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and serves as the chief medical officer and chief of medical staff at Pender Memorial Hospital in Burgaw.

Davis also works with the health departments in New Hanover and Pender counties to secure medical residents to work at the clinics run on migrant farms in Pender County; serves as a physician and clinical instructor with Coastal Family Medicine; and is a representative on the Quality-Safety and Strategy Committees of the Board of Trustees at both Pender Memorial Hospital and New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Davis obtained her degree in medicine in 2005 from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia. Following medical school, she completed her family medicine residency in Wilmington at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.