MCG dean honors champions of rural Georgia clinical education

Medical College of Georgia Dean David C. Hess, MD, gave his annual State of the College Address on Feb. 20, and honored multiple community advocates of rural health care in Georgia.

Georgia State Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, House District 173, was honored with this year’s MCG Advocate Award.

“State Rep. Taylor has been instrumental in the development of our MCG Thomasville campus,” Hess said. “She also attended our Jekyll Island Faculty Development Conference, where she was incredibly engaged with faculty and staff.”

Taylor has been serving as a legislator since 2011 and is the Chair of the Health Appropriations Subcommittee. She is CEO of Taylor Benefit Resource, a benefit administration company she founded 20 years ago to fill a void in the local and regional health care market.

Taylor has been a strong advocate for expanding medical education and health care access. Most recently, she championed a new fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at MCG, helping to strengthen specialized care for high-risk pregnancies.

In addition to supporting the new Thomasville campus, she supported the development of the St. Joseph’s/Candler hospital system residency programs with MCG in Savannah.

Raul Santos, MD, who serves in Thomasville as the Chairman of the Archbold Memorial Hospital Credentialing Committee, received the Community Advocate Award. The first cohort of students began their clinical years at MCG’s newest regional campus in Thomasville in January.

“He’s been a stalwart in getting us down there and setting up our Thomasville campus,” Hess said. “He has also been a key player in developing Archbold’s internal medicine residency program [a partnership with MCG].”

Santos arrived in Thomasville in 1996 and has since served in many leadership roles in the hospital, including Chief of the Department of Medicine.

He earned his doctor of medicine in 1985 from the Universidad Central Del Este in the Dominican Republic. He then spent three years in residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama before pursuing a fellowship in nephrology at Vanderbilt University. He is board certified in internal medicine and nephrology, and also trained in anesthesiology and critical care at the University of Pittsburgh.

Santos provides care for those suffering from hypertension and chronic kidney disease at the Georgia Kidney & Hypertension Clinic.

Ashley Saucier, MD, associate professor in Family and Community Medicine, was honored with the Professionalism Award. She also serves as assistant dean for Evaluation, Accreditation and CQI, and is instrumental in MCG re-accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

“She is a passionate supporter of the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) across the state,” Hess said. “Thanks to her hard work, we have affiliation agreements with 60% of the FQHCs in the state.”

The Georgia native earned a bachelor of science in biology and chemistry from Berry College prior to graduating from MCG in 2011. As a family physician, she has earned multiple awards, including Augusta University Physician Star Performer in 2023 and Wellstar MCG Health Physician Star Performer in 2024.

David Ringer, MD, a family physician at one of those FQHCs, also received a Community Advocate Award. He serves as the CEO for nonprofit Oconee Valley Healthcare in Greensboro, as well as Chief of Staff at nearby St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital.

“He is a longtime supporter of MCG,” Hess said. “He is the old-style country doctor who does both inpatient and outpatient care. He sees patients in local nursing homes, rotates as a hospitalist. Someone I deeply admire.”

Ringer received a bachelor of science in biochemistry from the University of Georgia before graduating from MCG. He completed his residency at Anniston Family Practice at the University of Alabama and later received a business management certificate from John Hopkins University.

Ringer is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, the American Board of Physician Executives, and the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Ringer owned Family Medical Associates of Lake Oconee for 22 years before joining his practice with what is now Oconee Valley Healthcare.