Lifetime Honorary Membership Presentation Dr. Alton and Mrs. Mary Cobb September 3, 2014 Presented by: Buddy Daughdrill, Executive Director, MPHA Contributions by: Amy Burrow, PHN and MPHA Member I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a couple of special guests that have joined us today and have been great contributors to public health in Mississippi, Mary and Dr. Alton Cobb. I would like to take just a few minutes to briefly talk about both of them for those here who may not be familiar with their backgrounds. Dr. Cobb met Mary at Johns Hopkins while he was a medical student and she was a student nurse. "She had a nice smile, and she always had candy in her pocket," he said. She gave him a "Walnetta" as an apology for having to assign him a back pain case to present to the attending physician. "Nobody wanted to work up a back ache, but I was late to the orthopedic clinic, so I got the worst case." The walnut covered sweet proved to be the beginning of a long-term romance and a dual commitment to public health. After his internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans he was obligated to the state because he had used the state loan fund for medical school tuition. He could go into general practice in a rural area or he could do public health. He decided on practicing and went to Pickens. After six months, he decided he'd try public health. "It wasn't a lack of patients. I just wasn't professionally prepared for so many patients," Dr. Cobb said. After he saw patients in the clinic all day, and made rounds in the Lexington Hospital, he'd go home for dinner to find patients lined up on his front porch in.” His move into public health proved beneficial for Mississippi. More on that to come, but let me talk about Mary Cobb and her contributions. Mary Cobb was a public health nurse in Mississippi who ran the newborn follow-up clinic for high-risk babies at UMMC. Her husband credits her with coming up with the idea of the newborn reunion - a once annual event at UMMC. "I got to see the children when they came back to clinic. I thought the other people who took care of them in the ICU might want to see them, too," said Mary Cobb. Her contributions are highlighted by the following story written by a long time public health nurse who still works in public health and is with us today.
Mary Cobb’s Babies As a MSDH public health nurse in the 80’s, receiving a referral from University Medical Center to follow up on one of “Mary Cobb’s Babies” was a special task. Sometimes it was a written referral/request, but most times it was a phone call from Mrs. Cobb directly to the public health nurse in the county health department. That meant a high-risk baby that had spent time in the NICU, a newborn to a teen mom, or a newborn she was “just concerned about” was to come home, and a home visit by the PHN was needed. Mrs. Cobb always asked for a report back regarding the conditions of the home that baby was going to. Her questions centered around a home assessment/running water in the house for bottle/formula preparation, safe place for baby to sleep, family support and number of siblings-their ages and health, transportation for the family to attend return visits to the High Risk Follow-up clinic at UMC, identification of a local primary physician/family doctor and definitely WIC certification. Once the baby was home, most times there followed a request from Mrs. Cobb for subsequent home visits to reinforce newborn care teaching that the parent received upon discharge or follow-up because the baby missed a High Risk Follow-up Clinic appointment at UMC. How Mrs. Cobb managed to keep up with these babies and touch so many lives – both the families and the PHNs that were her legs in the communities across MS – is amazing. --Written by Amy Burrow, PHN and MPHA Member The contributions by Dr. Cobb still impact public health in Mississippi today and I would just highlight a few due to time restraints: 1. Served as State Health Officer for 20 years from 1973-93 – Served 6 governors, sometimes in spite of them. 2. With the passage of Medicare in 1965, he directed the state survey and certification of hospitals and laboratories to participate in Medicare. In 1968, he joined the governor's staff to plan the implementation of the Medicaid program and became the state's first Medicaid director. 3. During Cobb's 20-year term and that of his successor, the late Dr. Ed Thompson, the state had the highest immunization rates and among the lowest tuberculosis rates in the country. 4. The health department during his administration was the first in the country to introduce directly observed therapy that so effectively controlled tuberculosis. ¡ 2 ¡
5. He is noted for the plan he devised to distribute baby formula to mothers on the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) nutrition program. We had the highest percentage of WIC-eligible recipients of any state in the country. 6. Maternal and child health was always his passion. In 1988, when federal legislation allowed the expanded coverage of Medicaid to mothers, he lead the effort in MS to expand coverage. He said, “It was one of the best things we ever did to improve maternal-child health in the state, because it provided access to obstetrical care in hospitals staffed to care for them." 7. He still serves his community today! He is the "CEO" of Gleaners, a voluntary organization that collects excess food by the truckload and distributes it to the hungry and the needy. He started out as a driver at Gleaners because, as his wife Mary pointed out to him, "You should volunteer; you have a truck." 8. He hired “ME” [Buddy Daughdrill] as a 29 year old young man who walked into his office in March of 1982 (not knowing squat about public health) as the District Administrator in Hattiesburg and who continued to teach and mentor for the next 10 years before his retirement. He still offers his wise advice today! 9. Dr. Cobb has been recognized for his achievements with several prestigious awards. In 1992, he received the Award of Excellence from the American Public Health Association. In 2007, he was surprised with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from his alma mater Johns Hopkins. While not as prestigious, the Executive Board of the Mississippi Public Health Association would like to honor you both by providing you with a Lifetime Honorary Membership in the Mississippi Public Health Association and a THANK YOU for both of your combined efforts to improve the health of our state. ¡ 3 ¡
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