The Physician category honors a physician whose performance is considered exemplary by patients, peers and other health care providers.
TOREN DAVIS
TITLE: Medical Director/Facility Physician
ORGANIZATION: NHRMC-Coastal Family Medicine
WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID:
“Dr. Davis takes care of many members of our community and also teaches the next generation of physicians what it means to care for a community.
“Under his leadership, the clinic has started programs such as ‘Reach out and Read,’ giving over 2,500 free books to children at their well child checks last year and a ‘Waiting Room Reading Corner,’ personally donating over 1,200 free books.
“He has made strong pushes to eliminate patient-identified barriers to care. With the rest of his Coastal Family Medicine Team and in partnership with Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear they provide quality care for Medicaid patients for over $1,100,000 less per year than expected. This is done while having admission rates, emergency room use rates and readmission rates lower than expected.
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, he helped to organize other NHRMC clinics who lost their buildings to the storm, to work at his clinic site in order to bring care to as many people in the community as possible.
“He also helped lead a group of resident physicians on a military caravan over the flooded roadways to supply aid to Pender County.”
–Sonali Batish
WILLIAM HOPE
TITLE: General Surgery Residency Program Director
ORGANIZATION: NHRMC
WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID:
“Dr. Hope is a remarkable surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive surgery. His area of expertise is hernia repair and he is an international leader amongst his peers. In addition to editing a hernia textbook, he is an accomplished researcher, having authored over 75 peer-reviewed research papers, written multiple book chapters, served as an invited speaker to medical conferences across the world and is a member of multiple professional societies.
“Patients come from near and far to seek out his expertise in hernia repair and other minimally invasive surgical procedures. His patients constantly praise him for technical expertise and reassuring bedside manner.
“During Hurricane Florence, he put his own life at risk traveling to the home of a family who was in urgent need of medical care. With the help of the NHRMC EMS, they got to the scene and were able to safely transport the survivors.
“Serving as the General Surgery Residency Program Director of NHRMC, Dr. Hope is responsible for overseeing the education and training of 16 residents during their 5 years of training. . . .
“In summary, Dr. Hope is an outstanding surgeon, researcher, educator and leader.”
- Joseph Pino
BILL SUTTON
TITLE: Medical Director/Physician
ORGANIZATION: EmergeOrtho
WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID:
“Bill Sutton is much more than a physician. He goes above and beyond in regards to community outreach, support and teamwork within our own organization to add value and success to employees and patients alike. He is the team physician for our own UNCW Seahawk basketball program, a donor and avid supporter of the Coastal Christian Centurions, and he still finds time to be the pitcher on the championship-winning EmergeOrtho softball team. . . .
“Dr. Sutton has made, and continues to make every patient feel like the individual person that they deserve by a provider, as opposed to a number or statistic. At first glance this could appear to be luck or a small sample size; however, over four years and countless interactions with patients and encounters with Dr. Sutton himself, I have come to the understanding that compassion, quality of care, humor and professionalism are just ingrained in Bill Sutton the man, which parlays directly into Bill Sutton, MD.
“Aside from this, I have personally witnessed Bill Sutton leave the stands at Coastal Christian basketball games, off the clock, as a fan, on multiple occasions to assist injured or potentially injured players.”
- Wayne Merritt
